Halloween is just around the corner, and it’s time to start adapting your property such that it’s fit for the occasion. You don’t need to go to too much effort to make your home suitably spooky. Let’s see whether we can find some inspiration by running through a few themes.
Haunted House
The most obvious theme is probably the haunted house. You’re trying to evoke a property that is occupied by ghosts, and not much else. Here, the imagination of your visitors is your best friend. If you can dim the lights and create the right ambience, then all of those shadows will start to look as though spirits could be hiding in them. Lighting things from beneath will also help to make things look unnatural.
Haunting music, and a selection of macarbe props, like skeletons and tombstones, might help to generate the right vibe. It’s generally better to have a small selection of high-quality props than it is to have a large selection of low-quality ones. Quality Halloween decorations can be used year after year, which makes it worth investing in something that will last.
Witch’s Lair
Of course, ghosts aren’t the only scary entities that might take up residence in your home over Halloween. You can also make the place appear to be occupied by users of dark magic. A suitable pot from your kitchen, along with some dry ice, can make a great witch’s cauldron. Scatter around a few broomsticks, dusty old leather-bound books, and vials filled with suspicious-looking liquid, and you can create a convincing lair. Scatter around a few cobwebs and spiders, and light them from beneath to create menacing shadows.
Vampire Crypt
Vampires are a staple of Halloween. You might decide to model your décor around a particular kind of fictional vampire, like Dracula, or even a particular scene from a favourite vampire-related book or novel. The more specific you can get, the more fun that your guests can have, spotting little details left around the place. The centrepiece should ideally be a coffin – perhaps even one that can spring open to allow the vampire inside to give someone a fright.
Ghostly Gathering
You can summon spirits, or at least suggest them, with a few simple techniques. Generally speaking, it’s all about lighting. Hang white sheets from the ceiling, and generate a gentle breeze with a few well-placed fans.
You might also use a projector to project human-shaped moving phantasms around the property. All you need is some footage of a white-clad person moving against a pure-black background. Use digital editing software to make it look supernatural, and then play it on repeat.
Or, you could simply buy a few pre-built models, complete with white sheets and faces, and position them somewhere prominent – like the front porch.
