A popular festival spread across continents, Halloween is a principal US holiday celebrated with fervor and enthusiasm. Observed on the 31st of October every year it marks the beginning of ‘Allhallowtide’. This is a Roman Catholic triduum during which people remember their dead and follow the traditions which have been in vogue over ages.
All Hallow’s eve or Halloween is followed by All Saint’s Day and All Souls Day on November 1st and 2nd . The traditions followed in this triduum are influenced by the Celtic harvest festival, especially Samhain which has roots in heathenism.
Halloween decorations deal with the themes of death, evil spirits and monsters. It is associated with black cats and colors like black, orange and purple. The autumn season adds its flavor to the festival with elements like pumpkins, turnips, corn husks and scarecrows. The gaiety is further enhanced by some decorations which are distinctive to this festival.
Let’s discuss the top 10 decoration ideas for your home and make it budget friendly as well as outstanding. You can begin from your garden and make the entire decoration feel like an uninterrupted Halloween chain of events.
1. Lawn décor:
An open space has many possibilities
● You can start with wooden tombstones scattered in the garden with white sheets folded in the shape of ghosts hanging upside down from trees.
● Props like skeleton limbs can be fixed to the soil giving the impression of the dead rising from graves.
● Make a spooky wreath with snakes curled all around. Buy rubber snakes which can be easily coiled among the twigs creating an effect of live hissing reptiles. You can hang this wreath on the front door and raise the fear quotient by several notches.
● A large garden can be decorated with hay or corn stalks creating a wilderness for guests to walk through and get an earthy feel of this festival.
● Are you willing to dole out some cash? Animatronic figures like howling werewolves or headless horsemen can be installed to frighten any visitor who approaches them. They also make sounds enough to scare the daylights out of people.
2. Haunted doorway:
After walking through the garden, the front door is the next logical area of Halloween decoration.
● The front porch or doorway can be done up with cobwebs, huge fake spiders and skeletons hanging from the door frame.
● Witch’s broom and bats placed beside the doorway increase the eerie vibe of Halloween decorations.
● The favorite jack-o’-lantern is an essential add on. It can be kept among a stack of pumpkins to look artistic and appealing.
● While at the door greet your guests with mist from a fog machine and creepy noises from motion activated devices. Even the doorbell can be made to shriek as it is pressed.
3. Light up your house with Halloween friendly colors:
Any space can be made eerie by the right selection of lights and their placement.
● The outdoor lights can be red, purple or orange for an ominous effect. It can be further complemented by string lights in the shape of skulls or bones along the roof’s edge.
Strategic placement of black lights inside the house evoke fear and suspense. They make white objects glow and create ghostly images.
● To enhance indoor decorations you can hang Halloween themed lanterns from the ceiling as they create weird images on the wall.
4. Haunting soundscapes:
Sound effects are perfect to maintain the tone for a spooky atmosphere inside the house. Halloween playlists with creepy tunes can be played from the background or if you like, record the sound of creaking footsteps, screams, whistling winds etc. to keep up the eeriness. Place speakers in dark corners, underneath the staircase or behind the door to create a surround sound effect. The guests will enjoy the audio and visuals for an unforgettable immersive experience.
5. Tapestry and fabrics:
You don’t need to spend a fortune on fabrics. With imagination and a little knack the curtain and furniture fabrics can be remodeled to create an old abandoned look. Draping windows with old and torn curtains, using lace fabric with skull and spider web patterns, covering couches with white sheets and use of dusty and Halloween themed cushions go a long way in completing the forlorn ghostly look of the house.
6. Set the dining table:
Like all festivals Halloween parties are incomplete without food and gaiety around the table. This gives you an ample opportunity to set the table with Halloween appropriate decoration ideas and impress your guests with your creativity.
● Cover your table with a black, deep red or purple table cloth.
● Placemats and napkins with images of skulls, bones and creepy reptiles are a perfect add on.
● Make use of dark colored plates and goblets. Their vintage look will add to the uncanny feel maintaining the ghostly aura of the house.
● Flickering candles in iron candelabrum further deepen the ambience of suspense.
● Buy plastic googly eyes and stick them on broccoli, kiwis, eggplants etc to create a multicolored Halloween décor on the table or mantle.
● The entire apparitional look gets complete with skull shaped salt and pepper shakers and miniature tombstones as place card holders.
7. Potions, jars and cauldrons:
No Halloween decoration can be complete without these items. Make a potion station or display these in your kitchen.
● Fill old candle jars or glass bottles with gummy candies or artificial bloody fingers to give an appearance of ripped body parts. Pour colored water in the jar for the parts to float around and give a sinister appearance.
● Take an iron cauldron and place it on a grapevine wreath. Place paper flames around its sides and ice cubes inside. The smoky effect created by melting ice will make it a perfect witch’s cauldron.
● Glass bottles in different shapes and sizes can be filled with colored water to look like potions. To make it look genuine, label each bottle with names like ‘Witch’s brew’, ‘Bat Wing Extract’, ‘Eye of Newt’ etc.
● Witch hats, brooms, spell books can be scattered on the potion table to add an authentic look.
8. Halloween Decorations for a Gory Bathroom:
With minimal effort the bathroom space can be transformed and made horrifying.
● Shower curtains with the look of splattered blood or prints resembling shadowy figures lurking behind the curtain look ominous and scary.
● Messages like ‘get out’, ‘go to hell’ etc on the bathroom mirror replete with faux bloody handprints create a genuine blood curdling effect.
● Hand towels with embroidered ghastly images are a perfect add on to the gory mood.
● You can attach a sensor device to the bathroom door which howls every time the door is opened completing the dreadful experience.
9. Haunted Windows and Hallways:
You get an immense opportunity to create an eerie atmosphere by working on the windows and hallways.
● Draw spooky figures like witches, bats, cats on cardboard and stick them inside your windows. They are associated with the Halloween theme hence very helpful in projecting a sinister look. If lit up from behind they give a real and terrifying appearance.
● Some windows and hallways can be covered by faux spider cobwebs made of tulle or cheesecloth. Or you can use curtains made of skulls and bones to give a more tactile feel.
● In the hallways, use lanterns placed on the floor for lighting. Even flickering LED candles give a scary feeling.
● Create an optical illusion by arranging mirrors opposite to each other for a disorienting impression of space. It will totally confuse the visitor by its multiple images.
● For those interested in DIY, take the help of photo editing softwares and add red eyes and ghostly figures to old pictures. Hang such pictures together in the hallway to trump up the ghastly effect.
● Carve a headstone template on a big dark pumpkin and place a light source inside. You can put it in a corner in the hallway or in your yard. Its forbidding appearance highlights the ominous Halloween theme.
10. Themed Candies:
Candy is an integral part of Halloween celebration and can also be used as part of its decoration.
● Instead of candy bowls, use large quaint shaped cauldrons to serve candies. Hollowed pumpkins, witch’s hats and skull shaped containers are other popular options.
● Make a candy station where jars in different shapes and sizes are filled with gummy worms, candy corns and chocolate eyeballs. They can be labeled with weird names like ‘Witch’s Fingers’ or ‘Goblin Teeth’ to make it more interesting.
● To make it eye-catching, place a chandelier on the ceiling above and drape it with fake spider webs. You can hang plastic giant spiders on the webs to give a realistic look.
● Place a skeleton or ghostly figure next to the candy bar as a guard. It will add an element of surprise and admiration for visitors who will be impressed by your personal touch in Halloween decorations.
Conclusion:
There can be multiple Halloween decoration ideas to suit all pockets and still be imaginative, artistic and appealing. The trick or treat groups dressed in Halloween attire, the candies, the decorations and the sentiment behind this popular festival are something to look forward to for both children and older age groups.
