How to Decorate a Haunted House

Everyone loves to be scared, especially on Halloween. Decorating a haunted house for the holiday can add to the mood of this holiday. From the front yard to the spooky attic, here are some tips for a howling good haunted house.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Set the scene for the haunted house with a graveyard out in the front yard. Decorate the haunted house with headstones that are hand-made or purchased and write on them whatever your fiendish little heart desires. Toss bones and skulls around the headstones.

2. Use haunting lights. Use strings of lighted bats and ghosts, or select red, black or a festive orange string to set the spooky mood. Decorate with the right light to add the mysterious shadows in the corners for hidden haunts.

3. Recruit friends and family. A house without haunters is not haunted. Get your friends and family involved with the fun by having them play the living dead or ghosts that roam around your yard or home when guests arrive. Decorating a haunted house doesn't have to mean only props.

4. Use props and music. Use white sheets to mask festive furniture, and use lots of fake spider webbing for an eerie effect. Top all of that off with creepy music, or howls and groans. Buy a cassette, or make it personal with homemade tapes of your own screams and groans. To decorate a haunted house, keep all the senses involved for the eeriest effect.

5. Know your audience. Decorate your haunted house specifically for those who will be attending. If you have small children stopping by, don't go over the top with gore. For the more adult audiences, the sky's the limit with gory props and frightening fiends.

Resources

• Tips for a haunted Halloween.
• Tips for haunted houses.