“It’s Halloween, everyone’s entitled to one good scare.”– Brackett, Halloween (1978)

Halloween is a festive occasion that was originally started as a part of Samhain which was a Celtic festival. This festival dates back to as early as the 18^th century. Samhain was observed on the 1^st of November every year. People lit up bonfires and dressed up in scary outfits to get rid of ghosts. The evening before Samhain i.e. 30^th of October was originally called All Hallows Eve that later became Halloween. Halloween incorporated many traditions and activities with time like Trick or treating, jack o lanterns, and festive gatherings. A truly enjoyable and fun occasion to celebrate with family.

How can you make your next Halloween more festive and scarier? 

Decorations

The first impression is the last Impression. That is true for many things. The first things that guests will see coming to your home are your decorations. How you have decorated your home and outdoor area. 

Some decoration ideas for outdoors

Screaming witches

Sisterhood can be scary if there is a set of three sister witches haunting your backyard. It’s a perfect prop to decorate your outdoor area. These witches scream at whoever passes by them and add the sudden scare element in your decorations. 

Halloween Decorations Outdoor

Skulls

Accidentally seeing some skeletons passing by can be a real scare. These hear, see and speak skulls would add an element of horror and humour. You can put them around the fountains in your garden, on the patio or on the front of your main door. 

No Evil Skulls

Spooky candle holders 

Candles with their golden rays give out a gloomy shine. Candles are associated with horrors and terror from the early ages. Candles and their light can be made more terrifying with Halloween-themed candle holders. These candleholders can be placed on each side of the door. You can also lay them down along the path leading to your home passing through the garden. 

Triple Skull Candleholder

Wall decorations

Utilize every part of your home and make the walls scary as well. Walls can be decorated with cotton dipped in red paint. They can also be decorated with old worn-out white wool or linen cloth to give the similarity of a spider’s web. You can use decorations too like stickers. Another idea is to use a decorative item that seems like a skeleton stuck in your wall. 

Scary PVC Wall Stickers

Decoration ideas for indoors

Use Halloween themed glasses and mugs

Using Halloween themed utensils can be a good idea. Serve some punch with red edible food colouring and an edible fake eyeball.  Add a dab of an extra scare with the Halloween-y glasses and mugs. This will add more in depth and detailed scary as well. 

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Chandeliers and Lighted orbs

If you have the right lighting, you have the right decoration. Lighten up your home with chandeliers, candle holders, and light orbs that will add to your scary setting. These decorations will be worth the money as they can be used afterwards on normal days to give your home a mysterious and antique look. 

Midnight Elegance Chandelier

Use fake insects 

Insects are gross and scary when they are in a large number. Using artificial insects can be an easy and random idea to decorate your home. These insects can be placed anywhere in the corners of rooms or in the bathrooms on the toilet seat. You can also use them outdoors in the fountain or on the front porch. 

Toys Cockroaches Spiders Centipedes

Don’t forget your bathrooms

When you are decorating your homes, that includes your every nook and cranny. Most of the scenes in horror movies take place in bathrooms. Decorate your bathroom with red paint. Use a broken old mirror as a bathroom mirror.

Bears On Log Toilet Paper Holder

Glow in the dark decorations

You can use candles to light up your place with their low intensity and peaceful light and add to it a little more with glow-in-the-dark Halloween decorations. These would look perfect outdoor and indoors. Buy some trendy glow-in-the-dark brackets.  

You can also make random doodles and write quotes on your wall or clothes with luminescent glow-in-the-dark paint.

Glow in The Dark Spray Paint

Old furniture

Instead of buying new decorations, you can raid your attic and use the old broken chairs and tables to decorate your home. For an extra dazzle, add drops of red paint and fake insects. You can use distressed and corroded furniture here as well. Add a more unique element with squeaking sounds of old furniture. You can make your furniture squeak by itself after attaching them with moving support like the needle of an old-timepiece. As the needle moves so will the furniture. This will help you add a realistic and unique component to your home.  

Use makeup

Utilize the old makeup that you do not use for this purpose. Use your fake broken nails painted and dripping with red paint. Use foundation and lipstick to make your pumpkins pretty and lifelike. Use foundation to coat over wooden fingers and make them realistic. There are just some random ideas. You can play around with this idea to your advantage. 

Make your own lanterns

Take a khaki paper and draw creepy faces on it and make a lantern. Take help from the internet or use your imagination. Light it up with a candle to illuminate your scary lantern. You can use white and black butter paper to make lanterns as well. The light of the candle will light up any material you use if it is thin enough. 

Pumpkin carving is a must

The tradition is believed to start as a tactic in Ireland, where turnips were carved up into scary shapes to ward off and scare away spirits and birds thought to be passing by the farms. This tradition was taken up and has become an utmost necessity when it comes to Halloween. It is a fun activity performed with the whole family.

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Go with the flow and an idea. 

Some common budget-friendly ideas for Halloween themes and parties are as follows. 

Murder mystery

Hide the edible clues in the dishes, and let the guests figure out who is the killer. A perfect theme to keep everyone interested. And as a bonus, you can add a prize for whoever figures out first. You can also divide the mystery into different stages with appetizer, main course, and dessert. With each course of the meal, the guests will get closer to solving the crime. It’s a great theme for an active and interesting Halloween party. 

Horror movie night 

Who doesn’t love a good scare? Probably people who easily scare. Anyways, everyone would love a horror movie night for sure. You can rent out a projector and attach it to a laptop. You would need a blank wall or white sheet to project your movie onto it. Decorate your backyard with the setup. Spread white or black quilts and pillows to go along with and enjoy a lot of junk food. 

You can stream movies like

• The Exorcist
• The Witch
• A quiet place
• Hereditary
• The Conjuring 
• Sinister

And so many others, you can simply google the list (just like I did) and invite your friends, a great idea for a great spooky night. you can decorate your home with items from the horror movies like, quotes, items, and figurines of famous ghosts. 

Costume party

You can turn the basic principle of Halloween into a theme. Host a Halloween costume party but limit the choices to make a theme. It can be just related to real famous serial killers who got convicted (I know, dark!). It can be ghosts from famous horror movies. It can be about mythical creatures like fairies, gargoyles, werewolves, and vampires. It can also be about characters from a random movie not just the horror movies like Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman with a scare element of guest’s choice. Such as possessed Batman, evil Superman, Wonder Woman with no limbs but all powers. (Just an idea. Of course).

Ghost stories and fortune telling

You can make a cosy setting with comfortable matters and quilts and pillows with scary black and white lighting. Keep the drinks and junk food nearby and tell ghost stories. Assign it to everyone invited to the party to search for a real ghost story from the internet. Take turns and listen to the stories from everyone. You can also hire a fortune teller and entertain your guests with some news from their future. Everyone likes to know about their life and what life has in store for them in the coming years. So, this idea can make up for a comfortable, yet chilling and spooky night with all the ghost stories. It would keep everyone engaged and excited to participate. You can also choose the best horror story and arrange a little surprise for them after voting. 

How do they dress up for a Halloween party? 

Decorating your home with Halloween decorations is different and decorating your own is another story. Even if you are the host, you need to look scary and evil (occasional requisite). You can achieve a perfect look by following some of the following tips. 

• Overdo your makeup. This creates a touch of haphazardness. No one in their sane mind would mess up their makeup unless they are possessed by an evil spirit. 
• Use some accessories like rings and jewellery, for example, skulls and spider rings and earnings. This kind of jewellery will look good as well as give a Halloween touch to your attire. 

Halloween Earrings

• Go for a gothic look. All black is the signature look for a gothic theme and helps you blend in with the Halloween occasion very well. 
• Choose your favourite character. You can dress up as any favourite tv show or movie character of yours. You can even choose a famous public figure like Donald Trump or Kylie Jenner. Just a little zing of Halloween to your costume. Drip a lot of blood, make eye bags with black eye shadow, tuck your arm inside to make your character handicapped. 
• Use artificial wax (or clay made of water and flour with makeup to make it look realistic). Using this clay, you can make your nose longer like a witch or ears elongated like Yoda. You can also make an artificial layer of skin to show scars and cuts. 
• Choose the color according to the theme. The theme of the party and your color combinations should coincide for a better view and appeal. Most of the time some textbook Halloween colors that always work are dark colors like Red, maroon, dark green, black. White is a universal color that always works. 

Cleaning and maintaining your Halloween decorations

After searching and surfing the internet and investing your money in the Halloween decorations, it is important to care for them as well. To keep these decorations intact and long-lasting for up to many years. 

• Protect your decoration from direct sunlight and store them in a garage. 
• Store them in a dry and moisture-free area so there is no mildew and fungal build-up. 
• Store the decorations in a cardboard box to protect them from damage. 
• Clean the decoration if needed be, simple water and detergent added in the water is sufficient to clean any surface. 
• You can also swap your decoration with your BFF so you both have new decorations without wasting money. 
• Don’t throw out your old broken furniture. They can be used as discussed above. The same is true for broken glasses, you can use the pieces to decorate your home. 

Expert’sAdvice

Halloween is an occasion that brings people and families together, from carving up the pumpkins to decorating your homes. On this night, everyone escapes their tiring routines to engage in the festivities. Make the most out of this holiday and enjoy yourself with your friends and loved ones. We are here for you and are only “One (or two) taps away and we’ll be here to save the day” so you can get all the needed assistance. Happy Halloween-ing!