Step up Your Halloween Game Part 1: Halloween Yard Decorations

A ghoul and goblin lead you down a winding moonlit path through cobwebs. Mist fills the air as a black cat scampers into the shadows. Is that a howl? A scream? Now you find yourself inching towards the door to a dark cottage. Creak… Do you dare step inside? YES because this is your very own haunted backyard shed! Here’s how you can step up your Halloween game this year with killer Halloween yard decorations.

Haunted path

Try creating your own haunted path around the backyard. At each turn, a new scary surprise. Posting hand painted signs with warnings like “Beware!” and “I’d turn back if I were you”, is an easy way to direct foot traffic. Try one or more of these Halloween yard decoration themes for the trail leading to your haunted backyard shed:

Creepy cornfield

Have a corn field? Perfect! Anyone who has ever watched the movie Jeepers Creepers knows that there’s nothing more scary than a corn field at night. We’ll spare you the details, but the movie is basically about an unpleasant creature posing as a scarecrow. To make your own scarecrow, nail together two sticks to make a frame and hang an old flannel and jeans on it, using rope as needed. Stuff the clothes with hay, straw, rags, wood chips, leaves or grass and finish it off with a spooky mask. You can be sure crows will keep their distance.

If visitors dare to pass your scarecrow, lead them through an extraterrestrial corn maze like this one shown at Cox Farms Fields of Fear in Centreville, VA. The aliens may look a bit silly in the daylight, but lit with only a strobe light there is a supernatural effect.

Scary Cornfield

Image from Cox Farms

Gathering of witches

Stumble upon a group of wart nosed witches huddled around a cauldron. What’s in the cauldron? Chances are your visitors won’t stick around long enough to find out. For more inspiration for a witch themed shed, check out last week’s blog 5 Tips for the Best Witchy She Shed.

Graveyard and ghosts

Make DIY ghosts with a white bed sheet or old curtains, scissors and string. Pick up tombstones at your local dollar store or cut out cardboard. Step up the spook with a fan to make the ghosts move and a smoke machine for that haunted graveyard feel.

Here’s a simple tutorial for making ghosts:

Tunnel of spiders

Halloween Spiderweb Decor Backyard

Photo from filialunadesigns on Shutterfly

For anyone with a fear of arachnids, Halloween yard decorations in the theme of a “tunnel of spiders” are straight out of a nightmare. Fake spider webs are always a cheap and easy way to spook things up.

Freaky folks along the way

You don’t have to go all in with a theme for the Halloween yard decorations along the path to your haunted backyard shed. With a few volunteers in costumes, your visitors will be kept in suspense wondering when the next creepy character will make a surprise appearance. Ghosts, clowns, creepy dolls, and zombies are a few winners.

Now that you have your spooky path, it’s time for the grand finale: a haunted backyard shed. Check out next week’s post ‘Step up Your Halloween Game Part 2: Haunted Backyard Shed’ for the scare you’ve been waiting for.

Send message via Facebook Messenger