Faux blood splatter makes this bathmat the ultimate Halloween trick
Norman Bates would approve
Credit:
Getty Images / nikkytok / Reviewed / Cheryl Fenton
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Confession: I start celebrating pumpkin spice lattes, autumn colors, and Halloween earlier than most. So, satisfying my early bird nature, my home will soon be transformed into a fright fest.
For entertainment, we invite Jason, Freddy, and Michael. Gimme all the old-school murderers.
For décor, I bring out glitter skulls, skeleton things, and plenty of pumpkins. Even our front yard is an homage to the macabre.
With Halloween treats, of course, come plenty of tricks. If you can combine my love of horror movies, all the better. This year, my plan was to make my house a blood bath—well, not literally.
Enter: the Bloody Bath Mat by IntroWizard. Much like a situation you think is safe until the knife-wielding murderer enters the bathroom à la Psycho, this seemingly normal white bath mat turns a shocking red the second water hits it.
Yes, there are a few other bath mats that “bleed” on the market, but from what I gathered from reviews, IntroWizard’s version is a cut above the rest.
I had to have it, and it couldn’t arrive at my house quickly enough.
What we liked
A creative mat for your bathroom floor that gives a whole new meaning to the word bloodbath.
When the Bloody Bath Mat arrived, I immediately became engrossed in testing it out. I didn’t even fully unroll it before I was standing at the sink, flicking water on it like a stark-raving lunatic on Halloween morning. I even placed a full-on wet hand print on it and was giddy with delight on how realistic it looked.
To explain, this “mat” doesn’t really look like a true bath mat. It comes in a tube (reminiscent of contact paper) that you have to unroll to its full size. The large rolls were too long for my bathroom space (they measure 16 inches by 39 inches), so I decided to cut them down. Although this wasn’t in the instructions, it’s actually quite genius. The thin “bath mat” sheets are less than 1 mm thick, so they’re super easy to cut with just a pair of scissors.
Bonus: They don’t rip (I tried with my hands, to no avail).
I took the majority of the mat and placed it outside of the shower. The smaller leftover mat sections could really be put anywhere you want to freak people out – by the kitchen sink while they’re washing dishes, food prepping for dinner (butcher knife, anyone?), etc.
The mat is conveniently black on one side, which makes knowing which side should face up a no-brainer. Once it was outside the shower, I stepped on it, and it truly is non-slip.
The slightest amount of water produces the blood effect immediately. The red that appears is a nice, deep color, very true to what you'd expect if you had actually cut yourself.
The mat claims to return to its original white slowly, and this is true. When timed, the small splatter dried and disappeared in five minutes; the larger drips took 15. Perfect timing for it to be ready for your next victim.
I won’t divulge my husband’s reaction upon exiting the shower and stepping innocently onto the mat—he’d kill me, pun intended. Let’s just say, there was screaming rivaling any Mike Myers meet-up. This mat is so realistic that I didn’t try it on our daughter. We’re still working past the time I placed a fake spider on her shoulder. Baby steps.
What we didn’t like
This scarily realistic bath mat is sure to put a fright into anyone who steps onto it.
The mat itself is pretty thin, so it’s not for everyday use. Although I’m not so sure you would want this every day anyway. Once the gotcha quotient has been met, it’s sort of useless. But what a great gotcha moment it is.
When I first unrolled the mat, it had a tendency to roll back up. Solution: I let it sit flattened and weighted down on the edges for an afternoon (hidden from my family to avoid suspicion).
Also, I discovered that if you don’t dry the mat in the proper way noted on the instructions, there can be leftover outlines of larger blood splatters. Did I mess up once? You’re bloody right I did. Thank goodness I ordered the two-pack.
After returning to show a friend how it worked, I did notice that after three or four uses, some of the watermarks did leave a little outline on the mat.
Should you buy the Bloody Bath Mat?
You don't have to be a Halloween fanatic to appreciate this creepy novelty item.
Yes. If you love Halloween and horror movies, or just want to pull a prank on a family member, this Bloody Bath Mat is totally worth the splurge.
With its realistic red blood and quick dry action, I’m pretty sure even the OG of shower stabbers, Norman Bates, would approve.
Get the Bloody Bath Mat at Amazon starting at $16.99
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