Sunday 17 October 2010

How to Make a Haunted House in Your Front Yard

How to Make a Haunted House in Your Front Yard

When the little goblins and ghouls come knocking
at your front door and asking "Trick or treat?",
double their thrills and fun by turning your
front yard into a haunted house! This article
will help you to design a haunted house front
yard that will make your house the highlight of
the street.

!! Steps !!

Plan what you need and where it'll go.Plan. Before spending your
Halloween savings, it's a good idea to have a plan in mind to
guide your purchasing. It's very likely that you'll be able to
reuse existing decorations and recycle items in your home as well
as purchasing decorations, and this will keep down the costs
considerably. Things to plan include:

* An overall design or theme for your front yard haunted house (see
next step).

* Areas that will be "out-of-bounds" (such as mom's favorite rose
garden) and how you'll prevent people from accidentally wandering
into such areas.

* A color theme (if relevant).

* What you'll use to provide the "house" walls - a tent, a marquee,
or simply draping sheets, black plastic, or tarpaulins up as
"walls".

* Lighting and electrical requirements – you'll need outdoor
quality electrical fittings as well as safe means for running
cords outdoors without them becoming tripping hazards.

Decide on the front yard haunted house theme.
As part of the planning, you'll need to design
a layout. It's important to have at least three
interesting things in your haunted house
display for the trick and treaters to be
thrilled by, so think carefully about what
you'll include that's different from the usual
Halloween decorations. Some suggestions for
your haunted house theme include:

* *A graveyard theme*: dedicate the area to
graves, coffins, crosses, zombies, and skeletons; the color theme
will be dark, with grays, browns, and blacks being predominant.
Your surprise elements might include a grave or coffin that opens
with lots of squeaking noises, dry ice smoke billowing up, a very
ugly zombie effigy, etc.

* *A ghoul theme*: have lots of phantoms,
ghostly figures, and flying, flapping elements in the front yard;
the color theme will have lots of white and light grays. Your
surprise elements might include a ghoul that rushes out now and
then (use a person for this), strange ghostly noises, things
brushing against cheeks, etc.

* *A wizard and witches theme*: include
effigies of wizards, witches, their familiars such as black cats
and wolves, cauldrons, broomsticks, etc. Your surprise elements
might include cackling noises or thunderbolt cracks, a bubbling
cauldron with some unidentifiable concoction brewing,

* Try to find unique items that provide a scare, thrill, or
amusement element for all ages.

Make or purchase the props. There are a number of things you can
make yourself at home, or you can purchase items at stores
specializing in Halloween decorations. Some ideas of things to make
include:

* Gravestones: Get some gray cardboard, and cut
them into the shape of grave stones. Write some "cutesy" names on
it, such as Frank N. Stein, Zom B., Jack O. Lantern, or I. M.
Dead, etc.

* Cotton wool works wellSpider webs: Take rolls of toilet
paper, and "string" them along the branches on the trees outside
of your house, in the shape of spider webs. An alternative to
toilet paper is cotton wool.

* Ghosts: Take white kitchen garbage bags, and
fill with old newspapers. Tie up, and then, with a black marker,
draw two eyes and a mouth on each of them, to make little ghosts.

* Jack-o-lanterns: When raking up leaves,
purchase orange biodegradable leaf bags which look like
jack-o-lanterns, and leave on the lawn for the big night.

A fancy purchased haunted house for the front yardSet up the
"walls" of the house. If you're using a tent or marquee, put it
up according the instructions. If you're using sheets, black
plastic, or tarpaulins, you'll need to find items to hang them
from (such as sturdy tree branches or fences) or place bamboo or
similar posts into the ground to secure them to. Tape and rope
on firmly to prevent falling during the evening.

* A clear entrance wayMake sure that the entrance way to the
house is clear of clutter, garden beds, fragile plants, etc. that
you don't want people to accidentally tread on. Also try to close
off any sides that might encourage people to wander off into the
rest of your garden and become lost. Use simple props like chairs,
cardboard signs, etc., to direct people away and back into the
haunted house.

Adding propsAdd your props. Follow your plan when setting up the
items. Keep checking that your theme is being evolved clearly
and that any color theme is adhered to.

* Ensure that it's easy for visitors to move
around.

* Include items that are exciting and can be touched if
possibleEnsure that all electrical cords are out of the way of
feet and that nothing presents a fire hazard.

* A strobe light can be excellent inside the
haunted house – it will add to the eerie effect.

* Set up music. Scary music CDs can be purchased from dollar stores,
or you can download Halloween themed music online.

* Make space for standing and sitting either inside the haunted
house or just outside it – this will allow you to keep an eye on
the trick and treaters viewing the haunted house and to give out
the treats.

Make the lead-up to your haunted house invitingThink about
creating the trail to the haunted house. Perhaps a row of
old-fashioned or antique lanterns could lead the way? Or a
series of fairy lights? Or signs? The choice is up to you.
Whatever you use, make sure the pathway is easy to navigate and
free of obstacles.

* Buy a nice, big fat pumpkin, or several. On a
piece of paper, draw a design of the kind of face you'd like to
put into your jack-o-lantern. Once you've chosen the face you
like, carve it into the pumpkin.

* Halloween themed lanternsLight the lanterns for Halloween. The
only lights that should be evident from your haunted house are
those emanating from decorations, lanterns, strobes, and
jack-o-lanterns, with your house kept dark. This is why it's
important to ensure that there is nothing for trick and treaters
to trip over!

!! Video !!

!! Tips !!

* If you can't spare space or find the time to set up a front yard
haunted house, consider whether there's a front room of your house
that you could dedicate to a haunted house, or the garage (park
the car somewhere else for the evening).

!! Warnings !!

* Beware that nobody touches your jack-o-lantern or other things
with candles; keep these out of reach or well watched to prevent
accidental burning or tipping over.

!! Things You\'ll Need !!

* Cardboard

* Toilet rolls or cotton wool

* White garbage bags with old newspapers

* Biodegradable garbage bags (orange) filled with leaves

* CD with scary music

* Pumpkin

* Any other old fashioned lantern

* Candles

!! Related WikiHows !!

* How to Make a Haunted House

* How to Find a Haunted House

* How to Survive a Haunted House

* How to Live in a Haunted House

* How to Play Haunted House

* How to Tell if Your House Is Haunted

* How to Build a Haunted House

!! Article Tools !!

* Read on wikiHow

*

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