Florida man builds working guillotine for Halloween

Lynn Haven - A Florida man has built a 13-foot-tall working guillotine, which he has placed outside of his home as a Halloween decoration.

Kash Shirvan, 26, built the device in his garage, and brought it out just in time for Halloween. It took him several months and several hundred dollars, but he is happy with the result. “Every single weekend I’ve been spending anywhere from 8-12 hours a day working on this thing,” he told the News Herald. “Since I built the electric chair last year, I was thinking about something else to do and the guillotine sounded like the most fun.” He said building the electric chair, which is able to deliver a small, harmless shock, was an easier project. Shirvan, who works as a corrections officer, looked at various guillotine designs for a couple of weeks, and after choosing one spent about three months on the construction. He said that, so far, the neighbours seem enjoy it, and the blade is only in place when he is doing demonstrations. When the blade is not inserted, no part of the machine passes the neck hole. “We’re really huge Halloween fans,” added Shirvan, “I’m hoping to use it every year for quite a few years.” His fiancée, Jessica Summers, said that people laughed when he told them he was going to build a guillotine. “I knew he could do it,” she told the News Herald. “He’s so proud of it. “I’m so glad everyone has a good sense of humour.” She was afraid that Shirvan might lose a finger or hand while working on the machine, but he completely it without injury. Shirvan is considering the addition of gallows or a stockade for next year.