Halloween is always a great way to get entice cheap thrills or bone-chilling terror. The night is long, the moon is out, and if you’re lucky you will see a rolling fog come in. These are all ingredients in creating a truly terrifying and haunting Halloween experience. This year in 2017, there are a bunch of ways you could improve your Halloween haunt. But the real question is how do you go about doing it?
There are few components you could focus on if you are trying to frighten trick-or-treaters or anyone approaching your house.
The first step in decking out your home is to make subtle, yet impactful changes. The first thing people see when they approach your house is your attention to detail, if done correctly it should give them an uneasy feeling.
If you have a way to make sure people follow a certain path it guides them and forces them to experience the terrors you set out for them. Making sure you have enough lighting for them to barely make out the next step is important. Try using candlelight to slightly illuminate the path.
If you have built-in lamps lined up with your stairway you may be able to replace the standard yellow or white bulbs with colored dim purple black light options.
Using shadows to make things appear is a great way to set the mood. You can do this by positioning objects or branches in front of the light.
If you really want to set the mood then music and audio is your best friend. The trick with audio is that you don’t want it to be too quiet that no one can hear it but at the same time not too loud. Bluetooth wireless speakers are a great tool in setting up sounds that really frighten people. If you place them in bushes, behind pillars, or even in your Halloween decorations it may play tricks on people as they approach your house.
Now some people could go crazy on the props and deck out their entire lawn with pop-up ghosts and skeletons. This may work to create a fun kid-friendly haunted house but when trying to improve your Halloween haunt, less is more. There are a few noticeable classic props that people will recognize and appreciate: Skeletons, hanged people, ghosts, and real people acting.
Despite looking kind of cheap, a well-placed web that is hard to see can easily surprise anyone. Adding them to the tips of the stairway, in the corner of pillars and other corners on your porch is an effective way to present a crypt vibe. Another wait to improve the web is to spray fake blood on it or tiny silicon spiders positioned just right.
Placing a well-detailed skeleton equipped with Bluetooth speakers, mangled clothing, and realistic features can really trick people. Positing is important, a skeleton sitting on a chair that is fully clothed may trick people into thinking there is someone sitting on your porch. Something like that 5′ tall life size skeleton is a great for positioning and dressing up.
This one borderline disturbing and may not be the best option for some people. But if you are ok with it, setting up a fake dummy that is hanging by the end of a rope is scary for anyone. Considering shows like The Walking Dead, most people are accustomed to seeing a walker just hanged. The way to make your hanged man less gimky is to people on a tree preferably a few feet away from your door. That way anyone approaching your door can see it in the distance. This makes it more real looking since they can’t see the fake dummy so well. Good lighting shinnying just capturing the outline of the dummy is really effective.
If you are really dedicated, a great way is to dress as a prop and freak out people as they approach you. Be forewarned, some people may not react politely to being scared out of their mind. If you are wondering where you can buy terrifying costumes you can check out our last post on the Top five places to buy Costumes.
For those who have braved the terrors of your Halloween Haunt display, they should be welcomed with a delicious treat. Getting the right candy could make all the difference. Again, disturbing candy such as treats that look like human guts or eyeballs may not be the best option. It is definitely creative and for anyone ok with eating human eyeball gum drops it is awesome. For everyone else, often tricking them into thinking they are getting something gruesome is another option.
Try placing a pop-out head in your Trick-or-Treat Bowl or if you are entertaining guests, make the coat rack a severed arm. Little accents like this give people one last scare.
The last thing to remember is to be committed to your role as a scary house and to your goal of providing Halloween haunt at its finest. Your unwavering attitude and unwillingness to break character are what drives people to want more and to enjoy the experience.
By making your house the scariest in the neighborhood, setting it up just right, you too can create an enjoyable experience for everyone which can be easily repeated year after year. Remember, by using Reship you can save a bundle on shipping and order all of these great products for less.
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