If you’ve always envied the neighbors who went all out for Halloween, why not join them this year? You don’t have to spend a fortune to turn your yard in a horror movie set or a creepy graveyard. Make your own fright-inducing decorations with scrap materials and cheap supplies.
Here are some DIY ideas to put some scare into your haunt:
* Crime scene tape on doors, windows, gates, or strung across the yard will give your house a forbidden feel.
* Tattered curtains blowing in the wind will add an abandoned air to your abode. Cut jagged tears into old sheers and rub them into some sand to dirty them up a bit before hanging them on the outside of your windows.
* Construct ghoulish gravestones using scrap plywood (if you’re handy with a saw) or stiff cardboard. For chilling epitaphs, use the dark side of your imagination or consult a website like howl2000. Buy a skeleton head to make a graveyard sentry for under $5 online or spring for a whole skeleton.
* Spread a bag or two of fresh topsoil unevenly on a grave-size plot. Use whatever convenient materials you have on hand to construct the grave’s unearthed occupant much as you would construct a scarecrow. A life-size doll head is ideal but lacking that you can ad lib with a ball, wig and mask. Use make-up and dirt to give your corpse a decaying look. Alternative to a full corpse including the head or hands reaching out of the grave or bones scattered on the freshly overturned grave dirt.
* There are no better yard monsters for Halloween than those that give the illusion of being statues – until an unwary trick-or-treater approaches and gets the scare of his life as the monster reaches for him, gurgling, howling, or grunting. And there’s no better place to find * free * monsters ready for dress up than your own family room.
* A witch’s circle demarcated with tealights will give trick-or-treaters a chill as they contemplate the mysterious happenings afoot. Feed their imagination by leaving the witch’s discarded hat and broom alongside magic items such as jars of dessicated potions, a pentagram, ouija board or voodoo doll. A cauldron dispersing powerful scents will add to the occult atmosphere.
* Drip ectoplasm slime from doorways and gravestones.
* Eerie lighting and sound effects will complete your nightmare yardscape. If you’re willing to spend $50-60, a texture projector creates an ominous visual effect. Floodlights, black lights, strobe lights, and jack-o-lanterns are other popular lighting options.