How to Make Your Entrance Spooky for Halloween
Decide what can fit in your entrance area before planning., Begin with some staple additions., Add something large and scary., Include a moving scare., Add some fangs for a monster mouth entrance., Mummify your door., Put graves and/or tombstones...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Decide what can fit in your entrance area before planning.
There's no use trying to put a headless mannequin on the front porch if it takes up all the standing room and nobody can reach the door.
Be realistic about what will fit and whether you might need to extend the entrance way beyond the built area and onto the pathway as well. -
Step 2: Begin with some staple additions.
There are a few standard items for the spooky entrance way, including:
Artificial spiderwebs.
Drape these over the door, porch pillars, across the roof area, etc.
They are even more effective if you can add fairy lights behind them in neon colors, to make the spiderwebs glow.
Fake spiders.
A few large and not-so-friendly looking spiders sitting inside the webs makes for a good scary feel.
Add a sign hanging over the door or porch entrance.
Have the sign say something spooky, such as "Beware"
or "Enter at own risk"
or "A night to dismember"
etc. , If you have the room in the entrance way, consider adding something which is large and realistic, such as a headless corpse, a skeleton or a floating ghoul.
If you don't have the space under a porch or doorway, place it on the outside, perhaps on the pathway leading to the door or even at the gate.
If you have a mannequin, dress it in a cloak with a hood.
Use face paint to give it a really scary face.
A whole row of these hooded beings would be really effective.
Giant spiders or zombie black cats are another fun yet scary addition to the entrance way.
You could make your own using papier mâché, or purchase ready-made ones from a party store. , Make a mechanism which will spook people all of a sudden because it moves or descends as they walk in.
For example, you could rig up a spider falling from the roof or have a motion-sensor creature that howls or screeches as people walk past.
Dangle items such as cut-out black cardboard bats.
If you can make a lot of these, they can look very effective. , Depending on how your entrance way is shaped, you could turn the whole entry area into a monster's mouth.
To do this, measure the width of the entrance front and use this to determine the length of the fangs.
Then draw a row of fangs template to this length, making the fangs in the middle the longest (but not so long that they'd hit someone's head) and decreasing the size of the teeth as they go along.
Attach the fangs along the top of the entrance way, hanging down.
For a complete finish, add a pair of monster eyes above the teeth, to give the impression that the entrance way is the monster's mouth.
This works best if your house has an archway entrance. , Mummies are a great Halloween icon, so let your door become part of the fun.
Use bandages from the dollar store to wrap around your entire door.
Attach ends at the unseen side of the door, using knots and/or duct tape, so that visitors cannot see the messy side.
Finish by adding two large round eyes cut from white cardboard with smaller black cardboard inserts for the pupils.
When wrapping, do not wrap the door handle or lock, as you still need to be able to use these; work around them. , Use creepy messages on the headstones.
You can also place skeleton figures, ghosts and other scary things around the headstones and graves.
If you can make mannequins, make the Grim Reaper, standing amid the graves. , For the pumpkins to be spooky, steer clear of the happy, pretty carvings and instead, choose scary faces, with fangs, leers and mean grins.
Use evil eyebrows and wicked eyes.
Bandit masks can be placed over the eyes of the wicked pumpkins, to give them an even more sinister appearance. , Enjoy scaring them but be sure to reassure any of the little ones who burst into tears. -
Step 3: Add something large and scary.
-
Step 4: Include a moving scare.
-
Step 5: Add some fangs for a monster mouth entrance.
-
Step 6: Mummify your door.
-
Step 7: Put graves and/or tombstones along the pathway.
-
Step 8: Make sure that all of your carved pumpkins have menacing faces.
-
Step 9: Wait for your first trick and treaters to arrive.
Detailed Guide
There's no use trying to put a headless mannequin on the front porch if it takes up all the standing room and nobody can reach the door.
Be realistic about what will fit and whether you might need to extend the entrance way beyond the built area and onto the pathway as well.
There are a few standard items for the spooky entrance way, including:
Artificial spiderwebs.
Drape these over the door, porch pillars, across the roof area, etc.
They are even more effective if you can add fairy lights behind them in neon colors, to make the spiderwebs glow.
Fake spiders.
A few large and not-so-friendly looking spiders sitting inside the webs makes for a good scary feel.
Add a sign hanging over the door or porch entrance.
Have the sign say something spooky, such as "Beware"
or "Enter at own risk"
or "A night to dismember"
etc. , If you have the room in the entrance way, consider adding something which is large and realistic, such as a headless corpse, a skeleton or a floating ghoul.
If you don't have the space under a porch or doorway, place it on the outside, perhaps on the pathway leading to the door or even at the gate.
If you have a mannequin, dress it in a cloak with a hood.
Use face paint to give it a really scary face.
A whole row of these hooded beings would be really effective.
Giant spiders or zombie black cats are another fun yet scary addition to the entrance way.
You could make your own using papier mâché, or purchase ready-made ones from a party store. , Make a mechanism which will spook people all of a sudden because it moves or descends as they walk in.
For example, you could rig up a spider falling from the roof or have a motion-sensor creature that howls or screeches as people walk past.
Dangle items such as cut-out black cardboard bats.
If you can make a lot of these, they can look very effective. , Depending on how your entrance way is shaped, you could turn the whole entry area into a monster's mouth.
To do this, measure the width of the entrance front and use this to determine the length of the fangs.
Then draw a row of fangs template to this length, making the fangs in the middle the longest (but not so long that they'd hit someone's head) and decreasing the size of the teeth as they go along.
Attach the fangs along the top of the entrance way, hanging down.
For a complete finish, add a pair of monster eyes above the teeth, to give the impression that the entrance way is the monster's mouth.
This works best if your house has an archway entrance. , Mummies are a great Halloween icon, so let your door become part of the fun.
Use bandages from the dollar store to wrap around your entire door.
Attach ends at the unseen side of the door, using knots and/or duct tape, so that visitors cannot see the messy side.
Finish by adding two large round eyes cut from white cardboard with smaller black cardboard inserts for the pupils.
When wrapping, do not wrap the door handle or lock, as you still need to be able to use these; work around them. , Use creepy messages on the headstones.
You can also place skeleton figures, ghosts and other scary things around the headstones and graves.
If you can make mannequins, make the Grim Reaper, standing amid the graves. , For the pumpkins to be spooky, steer clear of the happy, pretty carvings and instead, choose scary faces, with fangs, leers and mean grins.
Use evil eyebrows and wicked eyes.
Bandit masks can be placed over the eyes of the wicked pumpkins, to give them an even more sinister appearance. , Enjoy scaring them but be sure to reassure any of the little ones who burst into tears.
About the Author
Maria Coleman
Specializes in breaking down complex home improvement topics into simple steps.
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