It’s already that time of year! You know, when we can enjoy pumpkin flavored everything, falling leaves, crisp weather, and decorating our garages and yards with terrifying Halloween decorations. With the help of a few ghosts and goblins, you can easily transform your garage into an horrifying haunted house, full of screams and terror. Here is your eight-step program for do-it-yourself terror.
Step #1: Clean Out the Garage
So you’ve decided to transform your garage into a haunted house. That’s great news! The bad news, however, is that you’ll have to clean and organize it to make room for the decorations. Don’t worry you still have plenty of time. Remove any clutter or potentially dangerous items. Tape down any cords or wires. Hang black sheets in front of shelving units to hide them from view. Secure anything that could easily tip over. Visitors should be scared of your Halloween decor; not the state of your garage.
Step #2: Create a Haunted Maze
Part of the appeal of a haunted house is the suspense of not knowing what awaits around the next corner. To create a haunted maze, you’ll need to divide your garage into sections, which include blind corners. Take advantage of these sections by placing a special haunt like a fake body bag, giant spider, or pop-up ghost that causes the visitor to jump back in terror. Bear in mind the ages of neighborhood children – if they’re young then you may want to cut back on some of the terror.
Step #3: Bring in the Fog
Fog machines are some of the best ways to decorate for Halloween. Setting up a fog machine in your garage is easy to do. You will of course, want to first read the manufacturer’s instructions, in order to familiarize yourself with the features specific to your chosen fog machine. Fog machines are available to rent as well as purchase.
Step #4: Trick Out the Yard
To rev up the fear factor, you should trick out your yard, as to scare visitors before they ever enter the garage. Consider making a theme for your haunted house and yard. Set the tone with gravestones, spider webs, zombies, and more in the yard. Strategically place lights on the ground, surrounding the props, and on the side of the garage to create menacing shadows. String lights work great in trees and bushes – especially if you’re hanging props from their branches.
Step #5: Set the Tone with Sound Effects
No matter how many buckets of spaghetti brains, or fake zombies you have set up, nothing is more frightening than a scary sound. Spotify offers a library of Halloween sound effects and scary music. All available on-demand. Make sure the music and sound effects you choose are age appropriate for the little ones. Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” is a popular choice for Halloween.
