Halloween Discussion Forums, Costumes, Horror!

I'm preparing for my Halloween party, but the streetlight in my front yard is so bright it may as well be daylight. does anyone know of a way to black it out safely and effectively? (Besides shooting it out) It's got a rather Victorian look to it, and is only probably eight or nine feet tall. I've considered either trying to cover it with something (what?), or painting it with water-based paint that could be sprayed off the next day.

has anyone had and solved this problem before???? THANKS

I have no ideas how to do this safely (or leagally - I like the shooting idea hehehe) But i do caution you because if you cover it and its a type of bulb that produces heat you may end up with a fire, and if you spray it and its a high heat producing bulb you can also start a fire that way too. Just be careful in what ever you decide to do and consider safetly as well as liability risks.

Here's an idea... take a decent sized piece of cardboard, decorate one side, and with a ladder, put it up around the light so that it's not touching the heat area of the light, and the deoraction faces your house. This should effectively block the light raining down on your house/area, provide a decoration, and be easy to take down the next day. Maybe use a couple of clamps or some rope or something to tie it around. I assume this lamp has a pole, so somehow the cardboard surface area should extend up and outwards a bit to cover the lamp, but still be able to be tied to the pole below the lamp area securely.

I would find a giant pumpkin and instead of cutting a whole in the top, cut a hole in the bottom large enough so the pumpkin can fit over the light (if it's the kind of light I'm think of . . .). Carve the pumpkin just like a Jack O'Lantern and put it over the light. Voila!

The Light would have to have a photo cell on it somewhere. On quite a few, it's on the top. If so you could remove it and it wouldn't come on. Be careful though. It might still be illigal.
Doc

Man that is a bit of a tricky one!!! I always drive down this one street and the street light is ALWAYS out. Sometimes I think that people shoot it out because it never works.

I would say just try to one up your decorations...or hope that it magicly burns out. The other stuff is prolly illegal.....but the cardboard thing may not be a bad idea...or perhaps some creepy cloth.....let us know what you do.

If you can get to the bulb why not put a blacklight bulb in it now that would be cool!!!!! or put a scary colour celefane on it like red or somthing and you would have a spooky setting with light so use it insted of geting rid of it!

Thanks for the suggestions! I love the jack-o-lantern idea, but i'm not sure where i'd find a pumpkin big enough. Now, the photo cell is something i hadn't thought about. the fact is, all I'd really have to do is somehow block the light from triggering that cell. I could cover the photo sensor with a piece of cardboard, just for the night. there would be no heat because the light wouldn't come on. I really don't think I'd have a problem with the legality of it either, because i'm not doing anything destructive. I'd remove the cover the next day.

We've got black lights in our two lanterns on either side of our door, but because of the streetlight, you can't really tell that the lights are even on. I have a party every Halloween, and every year I curse that streetlight. This year it has been burnt out for a month!! I was crossing my fingers, but they fixed it YESTERDAY (my party is Saturday). Figures.

I'm going to try covering the photo sensor. I'll let you know how it works. Again, thanks for the ideas. Y'all have given me some new directions to go!

That wont work.. the sensor detects when its dark (no light) and activates the light. By covering it, if that even really triggers it (and no timer in the unit), you'll just turn it on sooner. If it is truly working by turning the lamp off when its light out, maybe you can flash a bright flashlight on it and see if it turns off. If it does, try putting one up there for a while before halloween and see if it stays off. If so, then just make sure you get a long lasting battery for the light, or run a cord out to it and turn some light on that you can direct at the photo cell.

DUH!

For my party, though, I'd really only need a flashlight that lasts an hour or so -- while people are arriving. Once they're inside, the streetlight won't matter.

Hope something works out - that flashlight idea sounds good. Let us know if it works.