If Halloween is your favorite time of the year and you’re looking to host a haunted house that will send your kids and their friends running and screaming in fright, we have 10 tips for a fun and frightful night that will spook just about anyone.
1. Set the Scene
Your yard should let your guests know they are about to enter the spookiest haunted house ever. Here are a few ideas:
- Arrange faux tombstones to create a spooky cemetery.
- Have scary masks looking out from the house windows and ghosts hanging from the trees or shrubs.
- Use fake spider webs and spiders on your patio for the perfect spooky setting, letting guest know they are in for a frightfully good time.
2. Make a Grand Entrance
Any haunted house needs a host. Appoint a family member or friend to be a cackling witch in charge of pointing guests to the different areas of the haunted house—the kitchen for poison apples, the science lab for experiments and the Tunnel of Terror for a good scare!
3. Go All-Out with Decorating
A haunted house should look old and abandoned. To give your home that haunted feel, make sure it is cold. Open up the windows and let the night air in. Cover your furniture and mirrors with sheets, turn off your overhead lights and set up dim lighting or battery-operated candles. Using double-sided tape, attach realistic plastic spiders to the doors. Place plastic mice throughout the house, peeking out from under the furniture.
4. Create Illusions
Make it seem as though your guests are being watched with these glow-in-the-dark eyes made of toilet paper rolls and glow sticks. Or, create a glow-in-the-dark googly eye photo frame and have it sitting in a dark hallway. Fill a mason jar with red juice and fake eyeballs, setting it on a shelf or mantle. Hang witches’ hats from the ceiling with fishing line and leave a broom in the corner. Be as spooky as you’d like!
5. Build a Tunnel of Terror or a Spooky Maze
A long hallway is the perfect spot for this trick. You can line the Tunnel of Terror with white streamers and spiders, having your guests crawl under and over them. Using cardboard boxes, create a maze marked with glow-in-the-dark duct tape to help guide your guests. Line the boxes with different items to make them feel creepy—bubble wrap, fake bugs, rubber gloves and spooky signs warning them to turn around. A spooky maze can be set up just about anywhere in the house, but it is always a favorite for the kiddos.
More Tips for Hosting Your Haunted House on Page 2...
6. Provide Themed Snacks
Instead of caramel apples, try making black toffee apples and calling them poison apples. Serve witch brooms and mummy pizza bites. Create a fizzy green monster drink with frozen lemonade, Sprite and green food coloring. Go all-out and serve roasted red peppers with this delicious anti-vampire garlic hummus recipe:
Ingredients
- 15 oz. can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 2 large cloves of garlic
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- ¼ cup tahini
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- 1 teaspoon of kosher salt
- Cayenne pepper to taste
Directions
- Combine everything but the olive oil in your food processor.
- Turn the food processor on and slowly drizzle in your olive oil until it is well incorporated and your garlic is no longer chunky.
- Serve with roasted red peppers, pita and veggies.
7. Play Games
The best haunted houses have games. Here are some classic ideas:
- Hide gummy worms in a plate of whipped cream and have the kids find them. Beware: It gets messy!
- Create a spider web on the wall and play “pin the spider on the web.” The winners receive fancy plastic spider rings.
- Fill a large jar with candy corn and have guests guess the total number of pieces. The one with the closest guess takes home the candy corn.
8. Turn Up the Music
No haunted house is complete without spooky music. There are dozens of free songs and background noises on the web and CD for sale at any big box store. Whatever you do, don’t forget the tunes. Even a good old song like “Monster Mash” could start a haunted house dance party!
9. Create a Science Lab with Mystery Boxes
Using Tupperware and blindfolds, have the children guess what type of food is in each different “mystery box.” Try using cooked spaghetti for brains, corn kernels for monster teeth and peeled grapes for eyeballs.
10. Take It Outside
Don’t limit a haunted house to the indoors! Set up a maze of hay bales in the backyard or a Jack-o-Lantern trail leading to a bonfire for families to enjoy. Let the kids play flashlight tag outside with sheet ghosts hanging from the trees and spooky music playing.
Take this quiz to find out what your Halloween decor “Spook Level” is for decorating, and remember to keep in mind the age of the children you are inviting as you plan your spooky haunted house. Whatever you do, have fun and take tons of photos!
Sommer Poquette is a popular mom blogger, proud mom of two, children’s book author and social media consultant and strategist. She loves to decorate for Halloween and provides great decor ideas to amp up the fun. Get more Halloween decor ideas like these by visiting The Home Depot.