Snapper Walkway

With Independence Day on Monday, I want to highlight a simple trick my brother and I used during our yard haunt. It's cheap, easy, and highly effective. During the holiday season, firework stands and retail stores carry ample amounts of small noisemakers (they go by several names - poppers and snappers are the most common). Because these fireworks possess an extremely high mass ratio of gravel to explosive, their detonation is rather weak and they rarely produce any form of physical damage, making them a popular novelty toy sold to children. Scatter a few along the walkways of your haunt. As trick-or-treaters travel down the paths, they'll trigger one or two. Stock up over the holiday weekend when retailers are running blow-out sales to unload excess merchandise. If stored in gallon-size freezer bags away from light and moisture, the product will keep for quite a while (my brother and I stockpiled dozens of boxes in a closet for years).