Blood, guts, and gore are trademarks of most horror movies and Halloween costumes. But bad fake blood can ruin even the goriest costume. A visit to the costume shop might solve the problem, but with these simple tools, anyone can create scream-worthy innards.

Recipes can be tailored to the purpose of the fake blood-for example, blood to be displayed in glasses should be thinner while blood used for simulating wounds should be thicker. A word of warning: any fabric that touches fake blood will probably be stained forever, so watch your bloody limbs and don’t wear your favorite clothes.

Basic: This recipe for fake blood calls for corn syrup, flour, and red and blue food colouring. Proportions vary, but one part water to three parts corn syrup is a good starting-off point. Add red food colouring a few drops at a time to the mixture, until the color resembles real blood. Repeat with blue food coloring. To thicken it, add flour, corn starch, chocolate syrup, or condensed milk. Use syrup sparingly as too much will make the blood too sticky. After stirring, let the mixture sit for a few minutes to thicken. Basic blood can be applied to shirts or body parts to create bloodstained-attire and oozing wounds.

Chunky blood: For blood that looks like it contains pieces of flesh, add oatmeal, cherries, or bread crumbs to the basic mixture. To make the fake guts look goopier, add some gelatin or jam (strawberry or raspberry). For blood with bits of bone, use chunky peanut butter.

A brain: For a fake brain (great as a table centerpiece or on your head) use the leftovers from your jack-o-lantern. When you scoop out the insides, remove the seeds (don’t forget to roast them), and saturate the stringy pumpkin bits in the basic fake blood. Mold the final product into a brain like structure.