Spooky Science Awaits

Step into our haunted lab and unlock spine-tingling science — if you dare.
Each of the 13 experiments reveals a new trick (and treat) of chemistry, biology, or physics. 

The Halloween Science Shop

Every mad scientist needs the right gear. From eerie dissections to candy chemistry, stock your lab with supplies to keep the thrills (and learning) going.

EXPERIMENT #1

EXPERIMENT #1

Extract DNA

We begin our haunted science journey by peering into the very building blocks of life. Using simple supplies, you’ll extract DNA at home — the same molecule that makes you who you are. It looks like a ghostly string, rising from your experiment like a specter. Creepy? Yes. Real science? Absolutely.

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1. Create a saline solution in a beaker by adding two lab scoops of salt to approximately 25 ml of distilled water. Stir until the salt is completely dissolved.

2. Pour the saltwater into the paper cup.

3. Without swallowing, swish a mouthful for at least 30 seconds, occasionally scraping your teeth along the inside of your cheeks. It’s best to do this with a clean mouth.

4. Spit your mouthwash solution back into the cup. Then bend the cup and pour the solution into the test tube until it fills about one-half inch of the bottom of the test tube.

5. Carefully add two drops of the liquid soap.
 
6. Tilting the test tube approximately 45 degrees, use the pipette (or dropper on the alcohol bottle) to add 20 drops of the chilled alcohol so it slides down the test tube without disturbing the solution. Since it’s less dense, the alcohol will sit atop the mouthwash and soap solution.

7. Tightly put the cap on the test tube and very slowly and gently tilt it upside down then right side up three times. Do it carefully so as not to make bubbles.

8. Let the test tube sit undisturbed in an upright position for one minute. At this point, you should begin to see a milky white thread, possibly interspersed with bubbles, appear between the solution and the alcohol. That’s your DNA! After several minutes, the DNA should be suspended in the alcohol layer.

9. If you wish, insert your skewer or stir rod into the test tube and gently wind the DNA around it.

10. To save it, carefully scrape it into the small vial with a few drops of alcohol. Stored in the freezer, you can preserve your DNA almost indefinitely!



Genes provide the code for the production of a protein and control hereditary characteristics, such as eye color or personality behaviors. Proteins determine cell type and function, so a cell knows whether it is a skin cell, a blood cell, a bone cell, etc., and how to perform its duties.

When you swished the saltwater around in your mouth and scraped your teeth along the inside of your cheek, you were also collecting cheek cells. The salt helped them clump together.

The degreasing agents in the soap worked to break down the cell membrane to release the DNA, which is housed inside the cell’s nucleus. Gently mixing the soap and mouthwash solution ensured you didn’t break up the DNA clumps too much. The rest of the cheek cells remained in the saltwater-soap solution.

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EXPERIMENT #2

EXPERIMENT #2

Crime Scene Science

Something mysterious is afoot in the Halloween lab… The candy bowl is empty, and sticky fingerprints mark the scene. Was it a ghost? A ghoul? Or your little brother? Time to put your detective hat on and let science crack the case. You’ll learn how real forensic scientists use chemistry, fibers, and fingerprints to solve mysteries — one clue at a time.

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Note: Fingerprint powder is very messy, so practice with it in a controlled area. Start out dusting a microscope slide to get the technique down and then you can move on to dusting other surfaces in your house.

1. Touch a microscope slide with your finger a few times to leave prints. (If you want, use lotion on your hands for more obvious prints.) Set the slide on a piece of paper before dusting, for easier cleanup.

2. Sprinkle a little bit of powder on the microscope slide, then gently swipe off the excess powder with the soft brush, being careful to leave the fingerprint intact. This may take some practice to get right.

3. Stick a piece of clear tape over the fingerprint firmly, and then lift it up; the print should adhere to the tape. You can then stick it to contrasting paper to maintain a record of the print.

4. After you become proficient with dusting a slide, try to test other surfaces like doorknobs or faucets.

5. See if you can identify any of the prints you develop. To do this, take the prints of your family members and compare the known prints with the “mystery” prints. Color a couple square inches on a piece of paper with a pencil, have a family member rub their finger on the square to pick up graphite, then have them press their finger down on the sticky side of a piece of tape. Stick the tape to a white sheet of paper and label whose print it is. Compare the known prints to a print you lifted around the house using the procedure on the Fingerprint Analysis Sheet.

Read more for even more ways to lift fingerprints.


Oils from your finger left an impression of your prints on the slide. When you brushed the powder off the smooth slide, some of it stuck to the oils, allowing you to see the patterns.

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EXPERIMENT #3

EXPERIMENT #3

Owl's Odd Offerings

When the moon rises, owls take to the night, leaving behind mysterious little packages. These “owl pellets” are like time capsules of their last meal, holding tiny bones, fur, and secrets from the food chain. In this experiment, you’ll become a nocturnal detective and reveal what’s inside. It’s spooky, fascinating, and a little bit gross — the best kind of science.

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Owl Pellet Dissection Kit

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Watch our video for a full introduction

1.  Carefully inspect the outside of the pellet and note its size, whether there are any feathers visible, and whether there are any clues to where the pellet was found. 

2. Next, gently pull apart the pellet, being careful not to break any of the bones inside it. Use toothpicks or a teasing needle to separate the bones from the fur or feathers. Take special care when removing the skulls and jawbones, since they are the best way to identify the animals that the owl ate.

3. Group similar bones together. When you’ve finished sorting the bones, roll the last bits of fur between your fingers to find little bones or teeth that might have been overlooked.

4. Once you’ve found all the bones, try to reconstruct the skeletons of the animals. Use an identification key to classify the bones. Owls usually eat more than one rodent before regurgitating the remains, so you should be able to find multiple bones that are similar. 

5. How many different kinds of animals did you find evidence of in the pellet? What can you conclude about the eating habits of the owl that made your pellet?

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Owl pellets are the regurgitated remains of an owl’s meal, including all the bones of the animals it ate (usually small rodents). Owls usually swallow their food whole, digest the edible parts, and then expel the indigestible parts through their mouth as a pellet. It might sound gross, but dissecting these is a project most kids love!

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EXPERIMENT #4

EXPERIMENT #4

Pumpkin's Peculiar Playground

Ever wondered what happens when your jack-o’-lantern starts to decay? It’s not just spooky — it’s alive! Turn your pumpkin into a petri dish and watch microbes take over. You’ll discover how bacteria and mold compete for space, thrive in different conditions, and transform your Halloween décor into a living lab of decomposition.

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  • 1 pumpkin (or part of it)
  • Ziplock bags
  • Marker (to write on bags)
  • Data sheet or paper
    Pencil/pen


1. Cut a pumpkin into pieces that will fit inside the ziplock bags, placing one piece of pumpkin in a bag. The size of these pieces of pumpkin is not important; just make sure they fit in the bags and the pieces are fairly uniform in size.

2. Close the ziplock bags most of the way (the environment needs to be moist, yet fresh air needs to enter.)

3. Place the bags in various areas around the house such as the refrigerator, a sunny area, a shady area, a warm area, a dry area, a moist area, etc. (You may want to label each bag with its location)

4. After choosing the locations for your pumpkin petri dishes, predict which pumpkin will grow the most mold during the course of the experiment.

5. Each day, look at all your pumpkin samples and record how much mold has grown on each piece.

6. Print out and use the charts below to record your pumpkin petri dish data.

Pumpkin Petri Dish Chart + Project
Pumpkin Petri Dish Chart Example

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Not all microbes are the same — each species of mold or bacteria has unique “tastes” and growth preferences.

When your pumpkin begins to decompose:

  • Nutrients vary: Different parts of the pumpkin have different levels of sugars, proteins, and water.

  • Microbes compete: The ones best suited to each micro-environment will grow fastest.

  • Environment counts: Light, temperature, and airflow all affect which microbes thrive.


That’s why you might see:


  • Green fuzzy patches of Penicillium where moisture is higher

  • Black dots of Aspergillus in drier spots

  • White or gray web-like threads of Rhizopus spreading across the surface

In short, each color and texture reveals a different microbial community—a microscopic ecosystem built from your pumpkin’s nutrients.


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