Halloween will be here in just a few weeks, and if you’re planning on doing anything to mark the occasion, it’s worth starting the preparations early. A well-thought-out Halloween party can be a thing of beauty, and you don’t need to spend an enormous amount to make it work.
Setting a budget
Halloween decorations will tend to be brought out just once a year, so there’s no sense in spending huge amounts. Set yourself a budget early on, and look to track down smaller pieces from smaller retailers.
Add lighting
If you’ve installed colour-changing LED lights throughout your house, then you’ll be able to get a lot of mileage out of them at this time of year. Unusual, otherworldly combinations of green or purple can be instrumental in creating that elusive spooky vibe. If you’re feeling technical, then you can set your bulbs up so that they guide your guests on a tour of the haunted house!
You can also use lighting to create features. A few one-off decorations will make the house that little bit more memorable.
Make use of sound
If you don’t have the right sounds, then your haunted house isn’t going to be all that intimidating. You might find that your guests simply talk over everything and undermine the effect! With that said, less tends to be more. You might arrange for a few ominous creeks and distant moans and cackles at strategic locations. Naturally, you might also throw in a really loud noise to create a jump-scare, too.
If you’ve got an Alexa-powered smart speaker, then generating spooky sounds is as simple as asking the question.
Garden graveyard
If you’re going to decorate your front lawn, then it only makes sense to have the dead rising up from the earth. A few Styrofoam limbs, or plastic bones, will generate just the right George Romero effect. Of course, the headstones themselves should also be included. Make sure that you inscribe yours with a few appropriately spooky messages and names. The more puns the better!
Add characters
Generating a character from scratch can be difficult. But if you get the lighting right, you might be able to do a lot with very little. Chicken wire and cheesecloth might be all that it takes to create a ghost, for example. Arrange a trip-wire system and have that ghost pop up just as you play that really loud sound we’ve already mentioned.
Ideally, you’ll want to make sure that you take your haunted house for a few test runs before you unleash it on your unsuspecting guests. The more surprises you can throw in there, the better – but don’t go too ambitious. It’s better to have a few elements working well together than lots of elements that aren’t quite up to scratch.