Halloween may be over, but that hasn’t stopped YouTube creator BLACKHAND from making one of his creepiest chain matchstick pieces yet. SolidSmack previously covered one of his chain matchstick reactions, but while the old one was a hodgepodge of smaller matchstick structures stuck together, this new one is a bit more… bare bones.

YouTube video

His latest foray into burning matchstick art is a giant skull – because seeing giant skulls go up in flames is just dang cool, okay? Using about 10,000 well-placed matchsticks, some superglue, and metal wiring, BLACKHAND can create an upright skull ready to set the world on fire.

BLACKHAND skull

He starts at the center of the skull by making a matchstick framework which he glues to some metal wire. This frame is what keeps the skull together and is the basis for its shape. With this, he now has a rough guide as to where to put the succeeding matchsticks.

BLACKHAND skull

From here, he adds the “brain” of the skull – which is made up of many wooden splinters. He covers the most delicate part of the head with a bevy of red matchsticks using both the brain and the frame as guides. BLACKHAND also works on the eyes and upper jaw: using black matchsticks to represent eyeholes and a toothless jaw to make room for the “teeth”.

BLACKHAND skull

After cutting out the lower part of the metal frame, he starts putting the final touches on the skull. By cutting wooden spoons (you know, the ones used for small doses of ice cream), BLACKHAND was able to create a set of believable wooden teeth. He adds these to the top and bottom jaws before covering the rest of the skull with some more red matchsticks.

BLACKHAND skull BLACKHAND skull

Now for the moment everyone’s been waiting for: the burning! Watching this 10,000 stick work of art aflame is downright impressive and scary at the same time. On the one hand, it looks like Marvel’s Ghost Rider come to life. On the other, you wouldn’t want to see this flaming skull flying at you on a dark night.

BLACKHAND makes a lot more than just matchstick art. He has previously used cardboard to make a controllable basketball game, more cardboard and an iPad to create an arcade game machine, and much more. Find all of this and more on his YouTube channel.

Author

Carlos wrestles gators, and by gators, we mean words. He also loves good design, good books, and good coffee.