So you want to haunt your yard this year? If you want to create an eerie effect that makes the neighborhood kids think twice before approaching the door to trick or treat, here are some chilling ideas.
The House
You will want to make our house look as much like a haunted mansion as possible. Take down any happy-looking curtains and either cover all windows from the inside with black trash bags, or have spooky silhouettes in each window – these are available in many styles, from spiders and cats to skeletons and witches.
Or you can make them from painters’ drop cloths and black paint. Sketch the silhouette you want (collect images first) and paint the reverse black. Place a yellow or green lightbulb behind each window silhouette you wish to be illuminated from the outside. Add other accessories to the house, such as spider webs around the door, a skeleton in a porch rocker, or a witch in a window. Add orange flickering bulb (Christmas-style) candle lights in windows that do not have silhouettes (like attic windows).
The Graveyard
Everyone wants to do a graveyard in their yard for Halloween. Great, it’s a real crowd pleaser. But if you’re going to do it, don’t just stick a couple lame graves with ‘funny’ sayings in the ground. Take the time to do it right. If you don’t have fencing in front of your house, purchase inexpensive garden fencing in rolls at a home improvement store (Halloween stores make fake fencing in sections, but it’s expensive). Spray paint the fencing black and break and remove some of the pieces. Add spiderwebs, and a raven perched on one corner. Save broken sticks and twigs and dead leaves to scatter near the fence.
Purchase the gray headstones in different shapes and sizes from the Halloween store, or if you are feeling industrious, make them yourself – but they are cheap at big box stores as well. Create a ‘grave peeper’ (coming out of the ground near one or two graves) out of old gloves and a mask (stuff them and insert into ground with garden stakes)
Spooky Lighting & Music
Your graveyard will need some spotlights – there are solar spotlights if you don’t want to run wiring. On Halloween night (or other nights on timers) strobe lights are very effective, even in bushes or aimed at the front porch. If you use smaller strobe lights, you’ll need quite a few. You’re going to want to pipe spooky music from either a window or behind the bush – look up Midnight Syndicate. Theirs is the best for a creepy effect. Also, don't forget fog machines, one of the best ways to create a creepy yard.
Spook on!
Read more about Halloween décor, adult Halloween parties, or popular new Halloween costumes…or check out the best Halloween site on the WEB.
