Halloween Discussion Forums, Costumes, Horror!

Anybody got any themes running through their heads yet? I'm working on one or two things but this will only be our second year with an actual yard to do a haunt. What ideas are floating out there?

I don't really do themes. I always have a mix of pumpkins (real & acrylic, the acrylic ones being carved to commemorate pets who have passed on). I have my purple bat lights I hang in our dogwood tree; a scarecrow or two; some ghost lights made of old milk jugs. I also have a wizard manikin I hang from a planter hook. Not really a themed yard, just an eclectic assortment of seasonal decorations.

Some people do go all out in our neighborhood. Except for the one or two who do graveyards with dry ice smoke and someone costumed in a coffin who jumps up to scare the kids--most of the yards are just busy with lots of different things. One house in our town does the "mad scientist" laboratory, where people stand in line to touch/examine weird things. That same house usually has something rigged up to go from their third story roof top into a (lower) tree in the front yard--could be a giant spider, or a space alien, or a witch.
They change it every year.

We did the massive swarm of jacko's last year. I think we had about 25-30 done cme Halloween night. It was hard labor carving them all (yes they were all real) but it was so amazing! They looked awesome. I definately suggest it. I even won points with the "I hate Halloween!!!" old lady down the street!

I learned last year that our new neighborhood loves creativity but not many people here have it. I really want to become a landmark in our neighborhood but most of the kids are so young that I can't make things super scary. I love the mad science lab thing but I don't know if I could pull it off Halloween style. You think little kids (3-5 yrs) would get it?

My thought for this year so far was a spider tunnel. I wanted to craft a PVC tunnel from the street to the door and cover it with webbing. Thoughts?

Make sure your webbing is glow in the dark, and hit it with some blacklights. That would look awesome!

I know this year I probably build a mausoleum, also I'm still thinking about making an old haunt tent with props and light inside where people can walk in and out of the tent. Good idea?

One of our neighbors has ToTers walk through a tent where a "gypsy" gives out the candy. This, of course, is after one has witnessed an OTT yard haunt of epic proportions. Usually there is someone alive among all the monsters, aliens, and spooks haunting the yard, so if you go too close you will get a surprise! This yard is a major attraction around here, so I'd say, go for your haunted tent, if you want to!

Another neighbor has a booth set up with a strobe light where he hands out the candy in costume. Another family member chases ToTers with a chain saw. He hides among bushes and around the porch, and charges people randomly.

Mike, if you wanted, you can use recycled trash to create certain decorations. One of my more successful ones involves several gallon & half gallon milk jugs (I think some juices are sold in them, too). The plastic ones, you know. You can cut or carve out a small hole in the back for miniature crystal Christmas lights, and paint jack-o-lantern type faces with a Sharpie on the front, plug them in, and voila! A cute Halloween decoration that cost you almost nothing. I call mine ghost lights, since they are white rather than orange.

Another cheap and cute one is what I call a ghost dance. You get five or six wooden dowel rods (for pennies apiece at a hobby store), top them with a plastic milk jug or styrofoam ball fixed onto them with duct tape, then cover them with something white. I use trash bags, but they look better with an old sheet or some cheesecloth. use a string or Halloween ribbon to tie at the base of the jug or ball (to create a "neck" so it will be obvious they have heads). Arrange them in a circle, and pin or tie the ends of their white robes together to make it look as if they are holding hands in sort of a ring-around-the-rosie position.

Obviously, these ideas are not so much about a grotesque or scarey yard haunt, but they are festive and seasonal, and passers-by seem to enjoy them.

Murfreesboro wrote:I don't really do themes. I always have a mix of pumpkins (real & acrylic, the acrylic ones being carved to commemorate pets who have passed on). I have my purple bat lights I hang in our dogwood tree; a scarecrow or two; some ghost lights made of old milk jugs. I also have a wizard manikin I hang from a planter hook. Not really a themed yard, just an eclectic assortment of seasonal decorations.

Some people do go all out in our neighborhood. Except for the one or two who do graveyards with dry ice smoke and someone costumed in a coffin who jumps up to scare the kids--most of the yards are just busy with lots of different things. One house in our town does the "mad scientist" laboratory, where people stand in line to touch/examine weird things. That same house usually has something rigged up to go from their third story roof top into a (lower) tree in the front yard--could be a giant spider, or a space alien, or a witch.
They change it every year.

If I may trouble you, do you have a photo of the milk-jug ghosts?

That sounds interesting.

I will have to ask my tech-savvy husband or sons to help me up-load stuff. I haven't yet learned how to do photos!

I think I got the idea from a Family Fun magazine, though, and I saw the same idea published in their most recent Halloween special issue. I'll see if I can find a link with photos--

Here you go:

http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/spirit-jugs-673388/

OMG, where do all you ppl live? I am so moving there! My neighborhood does nothing! Last year the timing was not right to decorate the yard, but I really would like to do something spooky this year. Some grave stones with a creepy fence maybe. Right now it all comes down to timing

I live in the middle of the woods where no one goes, so I don't really do much of a setup. However it is in a cabin and I do keep my Camp Crystal Lake sign up! Last year I just did a halloween screensaver with a projecter and creepy music.

What kind of music do you guys use for your setups?

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I know how you feel Shadows Symphony. I live on a very busy, one-way street at the end of a parkway, in a mostly commercial area. No foot traffic whatsoever, meaning no ToTers at Halloween. The one time I tried projecting onto the side of the building a couple doors down it almost caused accidents. People slowing down from 70mph to take a look and almost getting rear-ended. If I wasn't so terrified of the suburbs I'd move there just so I could set up a yard haunt.

I really need to start looking at the different forum boards that are on here before i post topics into Halloween General. Anyway I want to set up a dark tunnel on my walk way. Here's the topic I posted that is very similar to this one
http://halloween.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=8188

Well that's my idea and I'd really appreciate any tips from people who have set up a tunnel before. It won't be long just about ten feet long and seven feet tall