Animatronic Tentacle

Lightman500 volunteered to help a friend with an ornate Halloween yard display. As part of the project he's developed an impressive animated tentacle powered by a 2-axis servomotor system. As you can see in the video, the tentacle has a pretty amazing range of motion. You'll find a full discussion of the tentacle's development at the DIYChristmas forum, including dozens of photographs and multiple videos.

If you're not particularly confident in your electronics skill, keep in mind that a cable system like this can be manually driven. Two levers with a wide arc of motion are a viable low-tech alternative to using electric motors.