Greetings, fellow Fango freaks! Welcome to The Evidence Locker. This is where you’ll find everything you need to know about at-home, do-it-yourself special makeup FX techniques as presented by yours truly, Johnny Crime Scene. Need to make some fake blood? You got it. Got a hankerin’ for some brains? I’ll hook you up. Thoughts, ideas, and suggestions are welcome. I will be updating this blog periodically to fill you in on the next morbid makeup method!

So, for one reason or another, you’ve found yourself badly in need of some blood. There are a lot of things you could do to get it, but before you go robbing a hospital or sacrificing a goat, let me show you a cheap and legal way to make your own delicious fake blood from common items you can find at a grocery store.

THE SHOPPING LIST

For this effect, you will need:

1 cup water

4 tablespoons powdered coffee creamer

200 drops red food coloring

5 drops green food coloring

6 ounces light corn syrup

6 ounces chocolate syrup

Something into which to pour your concoction

Something with which to stir your concoction

(Optional) mint extract

Step 1: First, pour 1 cup of warm water into a container of your choice. I recommend a quart-sized clear plastic container with a wide top and an air-tight lid. The warm water makes it easier to mix/dissolve your ingredients, and the features of the container make for easy viewing, stirring and storage.

Step 2: Add four tablespoons of powdered coffee creamer and stir until all the chunks are gone and you have something that looks kinda like milk. This makes the mixture more opaque. Real blood is not translucent, and you don't want your audience seeing through your effect!

Step 3: Now, add 200 drops of red food coloring. Yes, 200. You should go with the large single bottle of red food coloring for this, as you may bleed the smaller one dry (rimshot). Counting all those drops can be a bit tedious, but well worth it in the end.

Step 4: What you should have now is a very thin, very bright red mixture. Got it? Good. Now add 5 drops of green food coloring to take down the red a bit, followed by 6 ounces of light corn syrup because, of course, blood is thicker than water.

Step 5: Next, add 6 ounces of chocolate syrup to further thicken and darken the mixture. Remember that what you’re going for here is realism, and blood starts to turn brown once it’s been exposed to air. I don’t recommend opening an artery for reference, but try to remember what the blood looked like when it poured out of your nose after taking that hockey puck to the face. Blood that is too thin and too light will give your effect away faster than you can say, “Hey, that blood is too thin and too light!”

Step 6: At this point, you should have something that looks like blood, but tastes like candy! You can even add a few drops of mint extract if you’d like. How much you add depends on how minty you want it, but don’t overdo it because man—that stuff is powerful. Once you’re happy with your mixture, seal the container and keep it in the fridge to extend the life. Pull it out whenever you want to create an effect. Fake a nosebleed! Replicate your favorite murder scene! Pour it into a glass with ice and try to convince your friends that you are The Lord of Darkness as you sullenly sip your chocolaty beverage in a candlelit room!

For added realism, I suggest labeling the container “Totally real, not fake, actual human blood.”

About Johnny: A longtime fan of horror flicks, he found early interest in special FX makeup in films like AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON, EVIL DEAD II and Savini's NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD. A graduate of the Tom Savini Makeup Effects Program, Johnny now runs Leftwich Effects and has worked on many movies, TV shows, theatrical events and music videos. Johnny sums up his work by saying, “All the zombies and werewolves in cinema history can’t hold a candle to how scary I find the thought of being trapped doing something I hate. In more ways than one, fear is my driving force.”

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