Spooky Footprints  (Monster Footprints, Handprints, UV, GITD) - Halloween Ideas

Last Update : 02/10/2011

Here are some ideas around creating spooky footprints, handprints, body outline, or some other design on your floors, walls, etc.

ClearNeon or other UV (Ultra Violet Paint) invisible paint sources are a great effect. Invisible UV paint really mystifies when the regular lights are on and then the go out and the black lights go on.

Wildfire Luminescent UV paint is another good choice. This type of paint usually looks white with lights on and glows an intense Florescence color under black light.

Glow in the Dark Chalk is an easy way to do footprints, but I have found that it doesn’t show up under black light very well. It does “energize” well under black light and glows intensely once you turn the black lights off and enter total darkness (allowing the phosphorescence process to emit energy), although not very useful overall.

Glow in the dark paint (with phosphorescent luminescent pigment) is showing up in home improvement stores (Lowes). The glow is pretty good in complete darkness (after being energized) and very bright under black lights.

Glow in the Dark Hot Glue Sticks - sold for Spider Web Shooters (hot glue guns with a pneumatic connection to shoot glue and air simultaneously to create a spider thread/web effect). These are standard size glue sticks that can be used in a standard glue gun to create footprints or other designs. I found the glow in the dark effect weak, but under black lights, a pretty good showing.

RIT whitener with polyurethane - A good home made solution that works well under black light. It is a little more permanent than some may want, but the brightness is very intense and is a cheap alternative.

Florescence paint is a great choice. Again, it makes for a permanent footprint if painted on a floor surface. However, painting footprints on poster board and sticking it the floor is a good solution, but doesn’t wear well up against high traffic.

Glow sticks. Another option is to open those “glow sticks” and somehow use the fluid inside
to paint footprints. I haven’t tried this, but it seems like an interesting idea.

Scotch Magic Invisible Tape is another material that glows under black light. This is a cheap and semi-permanent option for creating an effect on a surface that you are hesitant to paint.