Introduction: Zombie Nightmare

In this Instructable,  you will be shown how to turn an ordinary landscape into a grueling Halloween Zombie Rampant Nightmare.

The program I will be using is Photoshop CS5 but feel free to use other versions of Photoshop or editing software to complete your scene.

The steps I will be using are not difficult processes but some experience  with photo editing will simplify this step by step.

Step 1: Preparing Photoshop and Choosing a Landscape

First Start by opening a new Photoshop document and saving the file with an appropriate title.

Next either select an image you would like using an internet browser, or maybe a digital photograph you have recently taken.
I have chosen a wooded landscape for this tutorial, and notice that it does not have to be a night scene.

Load the image into your Photoshop Document.

Step 2: Darken and Highlight

Locate the menu bar and select the Image pull down tab.
Image----> Adjustments------> Black & White, and/or Brightness/Contrast.
Within the Adjustments menu, adjust the options in the black & and white category as well as the brightness to darken the image but still allow for highlighting of shapes and forms.

Step 3: Adding an Unsuspecting Subject

Select an Image of a person to place into this scene and open the image into a new document.

Next carefully selecting the person in  this image with the quick selection tool; highlight their body and once selected drag them into your scene.



Once the subject is in the scene you may wish to scale them to make them larger or smaller. Go to the edit tab in the menu bar and select transform, then scale.
Edit-----> Transform-----> Scale.
Hold the shift key to transform the image proportionally.

Step 4: Adding Flesh Eating Zombies

 Once again find and select an image, This time a picture of a group of Zombies(Or other terrifying Creatures).

I have chosen an image with a large group that way I may choose multiple Zombies I would like to use.

Just as in the previous step, use the quick selection tool to select a zombie.
I have chosen to color the selected zombies with the paint tool to make them seem more like shadows in the scene but it is your choice how you want them to look.


After choosing your zombies, drag them into your scene using the move tool.

Step 5: Adding Outer Glow to the Zombie Shadows

After Placing your zombies and scaling them appropriately, you may choose to add an outer glow or halo to make them stand out in the scene.
To do this, Select the layer or layers the zombies are on and go to Layer in the menu tab. Select the layer tab then layer style and outer glow.
Layer----> Layer Style-----> Outer Glow.

In the Outer Glow menu box that appears feel free to adjust the opacity of the glow as well as the spread and size to set the glow to your liking.  

Step 6: Adding Bats And/or Ravens and Some Finishing Touches

To add more Drama into the scene I have decided to place Bats circling in the moonlight.
As well as to add a zombie head into the foreground of the image.

I have selected a few different bats to place into the scene and using the same principles as in the previous steps.
Quick Selection Tool------>  Paint tool(To darken)------> Move tool (To drag the bats into the scene). 
I selected the bats with the quick selection tool and painted them black.  Then i arranged them into the scene in a way that I felt was suitable.

Step 7: Comparison - Before and After

Thanks For Viewing...Happy Halloween and as always Happy Creating. Enjoy!

Halloween Photo Editing Contest with Pixlr

Participated in the
Halloween Photo Editing Contest with Pixlr