Halloween is the biggest holiday in North America second only to Christmas, and it’s not hard to see why. What’s more enjoyable than being terrorized by the constant ringing of your doorbell as tiny ghosts and goblins howl “Trick or Treat!” while demanding candy so they’ll just leave you alone to your horror movies and mini chocolate bars?
All joking aside, it’s a hoot, and with so many different types of decor available from the drugstore to the hardware store, there’s no excuse you can make for not decorating your home for the spooky season — both easily and economically — from scary to stylish and everything in between. Whether you prefer full-on terror or something more subtle and chic, if you haven’t started decorating yet, don’t be afraid (be very afraid!), there’s still time.
Set the spooky stage
If you aren’t a hardcore Halloween decorator, dressing up your front entry is the minimum requirement. There’s no reason not to at least hang a Halloween-themed wreath to welcome all those candy-grabbers to your door. Change the exterior light bulb to ghastly green or eerie red, and you’re done! Better yet, get a black light bulb and use glow-in-the-dark decor items. You get extra points for effort if you set up a speaker and broadcast haunting sound effects. A single chair with a flickering pumpkin resting on it wrapped in gauzy cobwebs is always effective. Bonus points if you dress up, too! I speak from experience when I say that kids really appreciate an adult in a scary or goofy costume handing out candy.
Terrify with tombstones
If you have a bit more ambition, try adding larger props to your yard and porch. Sure, realistic tombstones can be purchased at the store, but what’s the fun in that? They also tend to be smaller than life-size. If you’re the least bit crafty, you can create your own easily with Styrofoam insulation panels. Cut the panel to the shape you want, paint it to look like stone with grey outdoor paint, add black highlights like spackling and cracks, and write a fun saying. For example, set up a scooter with a skeleton sitting on it, write “Let ‘er RIP” on your tombstone, and you’ve got an instant photo op! (Yes, we did that.) Or “Your name here.”
Pick your colour scream, er, scheme
Inside the house, decorating requires a bit more finesse so it looks moody rather than cluttered. If it looks like you’re holding a garage sale in your living room, you’ve gone a smidge too far. Limiting your decor’s colour palette to just a few shades creates a cohesive look. Try the classic black and orange colour scheme with the orange adding pops of brightness. Or try a dramatic black-white-and-grey theme. All black looks especially striking against white walls. Or go for an all-white theme with lots of cobwebs. There really is no right or wrong choice.
Mixing in touches of old brass or tarnished silver amps up the vampire glam if that’s what you’re after. Matte black and pops of gold are a very chic gothic option. This look is even more brooding if you favour Modern Gothic or Dark Academia decor with its dark walls, oversized furniture and mysterious corners. Utilize what you own. Drape a chair in a white bedsheet. Cover a painting with black gauze. Stick a bare branch in a vase on your dining room table and hang bats or spiders from it. And don’t forget to add strategic bowls of candy hidden in the nooks and crannies.
Add scary spiders
Spiders are fascinating and terrifying at the same time. All those legs and eyes! Make your own small spiders using styrofoam or plastic balls spray-painted black with black pipe cleaners for legs. If you want really big ones for drama, black garbage bags and black Halloween garland wrapped around heavy-gauge wire are perfect. These are also weather-resistant materials if you want to put spiders outside on your front yard or hang them above your entryway to scare visitors before they scare you. If you have an unlimited budget, you can buy a giant spider and a web big enough to cover the entire front of your house. Illuminate it with a spotlight for extra drama.
Go batty!
A bat template, scissors and black card stock are all you need to give your front door or interior walls a scary transformation. By tacking the bats to the door in the center of their folded body, leaving their wings free, you’ll have a cauldren of fluttering bats every time you open the door or when a gust of wind catches them. And yes, a group of bats flying together is called a cauldren, while a really big group flying together is a cloud. (Can bats be any cooler?) Vary the sizes for extra interest, from largest to smallest. If you have more minimalist Modern or Skandi decor, a colony of them looks especially great indoors against white walls or across your kitchen cabinets. You could even add a few tree silhouettes and a half moon to the haunting scene.
Create eerie window silhouettes
This one is especially eerie if you live in a two storey home. You can suspend the silhouette of a hanging man in an upstairs window and set a strobe light behind it to create a lightning effect. But you don’t have to go quite that gruesome for great results.
Using black poster-sized stock, cut out a silhouette of a skeleton, flying witches or a huge cobweb and spiders, and tack those to the inside of your windows. Hang a white bed sheet behind them and then turn on the room’s lights. Don’t forget your garage door which lends itself perfectly to a haunting scene in silhouette if it’s a light-coloured door. There are also light shows that you can purchase to create a moving swarm of ghosts or bats over your exterior, or project a haunted house effect on the windows from the inside out.
Haunt with ghastly ghosts
It’s scary-easy to create a yard full of ghosts. Bend chicken wire into the desired shape and height, then cover it with inexpensive gauze. You can spray starch over it to keep it stiff and mould it into terrifying shapes, or let the wind move it in eerie tendrils. You can also raise this on a tall pole and drape it down to the ground so it looms over the heads of trick or treaters. If you have a tall tree in your front yard, you can suspend the ghost from an overhead branch and light it up with a spotlight. Place an LED lantern directly below each of the shorter ghosts to lead people on a scary journey up your sidewalk. Don’t forget to say boo!
Bonus: For the easily spooked or if you’re currently selling your home
Do you prefer a less terrifying Halloween? It’s super-easy to make your home look well dressed for the season without resorting to black cats, fog machines, and the gory mess of carving pumpkins. This is especially important if your house is currently on the market and you have potential buyers dropping by to visit. The last thing you want to do is scare them off!
Set out orange or red mums in black pots and surround them with pumpkins and gourds. Instead of wrestling with sharp instruments, especially if you want to involve children, paint the pumpkins with fun designs, bats or classic Jack-o-Lantern faces. Add some LED candles, and you have a welcoming but still festive front porch, kitchen island or fireplace focal point. Setting out a small dish filled with nut-free candy treats next to a carved pumpkin is a simple touch that buyers won’t overlook. You want them to picture themselves living there and doing the same. Ask your REALTOR® if you’re unsure about which decorations are appropriate to use.
Decorating for Halloween is a great activity for the whole family. Not only do all the trick or treaters appreciate your extra effort to join in the fun, it’s also a fantastic opportunity to meet people from all over your neighbourhood who you might never have met otherwise, creating a strong sense of tradition and community.
Stay scary and stay safe!