Haunted House Ideas

Haunted houses can be very fun, but expensive to create. Use these haunted house ideas to create your very own mansion of terror without spending a ghoulish amount of money.

Eerie lighting. Lighting is one of the easiest and most effective ways to create the mood. Low lighting is a must, but colored lighting is even more effective. Use regular lightbulbs painted with red or orange spray paint to create an eerie glow. Use lower-wattage bulbs, and if a light fixture normally uses more than one bulb, only use one or two to keep the room dim. In an enclosed, dark room, use a black light for an other-worldly feel.

Scary music. Play scary music to create a menacing atmosphere. Look for soundtracks from horror movies online or buy music specifically designed for haunted houses. The specially created music often includes spooky background noises like wolves howling or doors creaking.

Drape walls. To turn white walls into dark, dungeon-like ones, hang black fabric or plastic sheeting over them, taking care to cover windows. Large bolts of fabric can be found at fabric stores (check for clearance fabric), and plastic sheeting is available at low prices from home improvement stores.

Spider webs. Dangle black thread throughout to simulate spider webs.

Create creepy scenes. Stage fake dead bodies where people must walk past them (either set up clothes stuffed to resemble a body, or have someone portray a dead body and occasionally reach out and grab someone). Another idea is to place seemingly severed body parts randomly where people trip over them or see them. For a severed hand, for instance, stuff a white surgical glove to look like a pale hand, paint nails to make it look more real, and cover the wrist area with fake blood. Light these scary scenes with flashlights.

Crackling floor Leave packing bubbles or dry leaves in dark areas where the floor is hard so that people step on them in the dark and are startled by the pop or feel a crunch without knowing what it is.

Mirrors. Place one or two mirrors strategically, such as just around the corner, so that when someone turns that corner, they are startled thinking someone is standing there.

Feel-it station. Create a "feel it" station, where people blindly feel various icky feeling items that you tell them are gross things. Examples are cooked spaghetti (you tell them it's worms), cooked rice (maggots) and peeled grapes (eyes). The easiest way to do this one is to blindfold people and tell them what they're feeling, but if you're ambitious, you could put the bowls of icky items behind a screen that people reach through to cop their feel.

How do you make your house spooktacular?

Do you have a great idea for a homemade haunted house? Tell your fellow readers and give them a treat!

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