Decorate your home for Halloween

Thinking of throwing a Halloween party? Kit your home out with these ghoulish ideas.

It is that time of year again when thoughts turn to Halloween. Celebrated on 31 October, Halloween celebrations commence worldwide. Traditionally a pagan festival, today Halloween is a much loved event and another excuse for a party. If you are thinking how you can bring Halloween to your home, then consider one, or all, of these ideas. 

1. Create a haunted front door.

Start the eerie Halloween vibe off at your front door. Decorate in fake cobwebs, skeletons, spiders or even gecko’s and cockroaches for something a bit more Thai. Drape large pieces over the door frame so that your visitors have no choice but to brush past them as they enter. 

2. Carve some pumpkins.

Halloween would not be complete without a carved pumpkin or two. Called ‘jack-o-lanterns’ this long tradition is believed to have originated from Ireland. Carving a pumpkin isn’t easy, so give yourself time and be sure you have a sharp knife to carve with. Home carving kits are available but you can carve any shape you want from a cat, scary face to even your favourite super hero. Place a candle inside and leave in a dark corner of your home or by the front door. 

3. Hang from above.

If you have low lighting fittings then use these as a hanging point for anything Halloween related. You could bind cotton around it to make a giant cobweb and hang spiders from it, or attach small skeletons, bats or even ghosts. Raid the markets to see what you can get your hands on.

4. Collect some scary costumes.

Grab some costumes for your guests to use should they not arrive in full Halloween spirit. Think witches hats, comedy glasses, pirate hats, in fact anything goes. Place them all together in one box and make it even more scary like by making the box into a coffin for added fun. 

5. Halloween inspired food and drink.

Make up a punch of a pungent orange or green and place fake eyeballs in the bottom. Serve food that looks too scary to eat. You could carve a watermelon into an unwell face with other fruit coming out its mouth like it is being sick. Create fingers with hot dogs. Shape sandwiches into bats or ghosts. Create a skeleton with carrot sticks. There are loads of ideas on the Internet to get inspiration from depending on how extreme you want to go. 

6. Set the lighting.

You want dim lights to create a scary setting. This will also ensure that your pumpkin shows at their best. You could replace white light bulbs with orange or green ones. Or even add some Halloween inspired fairy lights such as ghosts, skulls or spiders.