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 Whether
your call them Halloween light sticks or glow sticks, those little magic
wands that when bent produce an eerie glowing light, all without batteries
or other electrical source a very cool. They come in a variety of sizes,
colors and light emitting duration and can be used for a number of Halloween
related purposes.
A light stick
uses a chemical reaction to create energy, in this case
light, by mixing multiple chemical compounds together. The
typical light stick is a plastic tube that contains phenyl
oxalate ester. It also holds a small glass vial of a
hydrogen peroxide solution, often called the activator,
because it activates the chemical process and causes the
fluorescent dye to glow.
 When
the tube is bent, the glass vial containing the hydrogen
peroxide breaks and mixes with the phenyl oxalate ester
solution and creates a chemical reaction that causes the
fluorescent dye to emit light. This is called
chemiluminesence. The particular fluorescent dye used is
what gives the light a particular color. Light sticks will
glow for minutes to hours depending on the amount and
strength of the chemicals used.
Temperature
does have an effect on light sticks. In general, when a
light stick is cold it will glow less, but for a longer
period of time. Conversely, when it is hot, it will glow
brighter, but for a shorter amount of time.
Below are
some of the ways that light stick can be used for Halloween.
Halloween Safety
You can attached one or more light sticks to a Halloween
costume as a safety device, making the wearer more
noticeable at night. Glow bracelets and necklaces can
also be worn for added safety.
Halloween Prop Lighting
When only a small amount of light is needed or desired,
they can be used to illuminate a Halloween decoration or
prop from within or behind it. Example, you can place a
glow stick behind a Halloween tombstone to create a
spooky glow. Just remember that they don't produce a lot
of light, so they should be used in low light area's.
Pumpkin Light
You can use a light stick to light the inside of a Jack
O' Lantern. Just remember that they do not flicker like
a candle, nor do most of them produce as much light.
These are a safe way to light artificial foam and
plastic pumpkins as well. If you want to use a non heat
producing light in a Jack O' Lantern that flickers like
a real candle, use a battery powered
Pumpkin Light.
Goblin
Lights
Here's a special effect we can up with years ago. You
attach a small glow stick to a string connected to a
helium filled balloon and suspend it above your house.
This effect looks really spooky.
Click
here to read the full article.
Glowing Liquids
Here is how we make a liquid glow in our mad scientist
laboratory. In the clear or translucent bottle that we
want to glow, we drop in a glowing light stick. Next, we
fill it almost to the top with water and if its a clear
container, we add a little corn starch to make the water
milky. We do this so that the actual light stick cannot
be seen. Top off the container with water and cap. Shake
the bottle to mix the water and corn starch and you have
a bottle of glowing liquid. We also used this to create
a bottle and syringe of "Re-Animation" reagent in our
Herbert West costume article.
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