Need some Halloween inspiration? If you ran out of ideas and you simply don’t know how to decorate your home this year, these Halloween interior decors might light a bulb above your head. Some are cute, some are creepy, but they all perfectly reflect the mystical spirit of the holiday. See below how you can turn your house into a decrepit dwelling with just a few simple decor elements.
1. Cheesecloth spider webs
Hang several torn pieces of cheesecloth in your living room like old spider webs. You may even hang a few plastic spiders on the cloth to make the whole scene more realistic.
2. Gothic candlesticks
These column candlesticks are easy to make and their visual impact is strong. You simply have to buy several inexpensive columns that are specially created for tiered wedding cakes, and give them a gloomier purpose. Coat them with a dark grey spray paint and use them as candlesticks. It’s that simple!
3. Bat and vampire pumpkins
It’s so easy to make a Transylvanian scene with several small pumpkins and a few plastic vampire teeth! You only need to carve out a hole for a mouth, then place the plastic teeth inside it, like in the picture, and finally add some red pushpins for eyes. You can also make a bat pumpkin with two plastic bat wings.
4. Disturbing flower arrangement
All you need is a black vase (or one that you can paint black), several white roses and many black plastic insects and crawling beings. The contrast between the pure white of the roses and the creepy black of the insects will make one striking centerpiece!
5. Glowing ghost balloons
Take a few light sticks and insert them in some simple white balloons. Then blow the balloons up and draw ghost faces on them with a black marker. Stick them to a wall using transparent tape and dim the lights.
6. Ghostly pumpkin silhouettes
Create the impression of a ghostly couple captured in two pumpkins, by carefully carving the flesh of the pumpkins to show the profiles of the two spirits. Remove the pulp and then use clip art or some old photos to draw the contour of the portraits. Carefully carve out the figures, then insert a glass jar with a lit candle in each pumpkin for a special light effect.
7. Haunted house
Turn your guestroom into a haunted parlor by hanging old-looking, ripped curtains and covering the furniture with white sheets. A stuffed raven would add even more mystery to the dwelling.
8. Crawling insects
Create a creepy ambiance with plastic insects glued (or hanged with a transparent fishing line) to your walls and furniture. Cockroaches and spiders are always disgusting, making them an ideal choice for Halloween.
9. Staring-back mirror
Turn a simple mirror into a spooky appearance with some glow-in-the-dark glitter and a little imagination. Draw a pair of menacing eyes on the mirror using the “magic” glitter and watch how your guests react when they see the haunting eyes.
10. Haunting centerpiece
All you need is a tiered cake stand, several synthetic pumpkins and some black and grey glitter. Use the glitter to “dress” the pumpkins and set them on the stand. Complete the decor with black candles on gothic candlesticks and some spider webs here and there.
11. Eerie potion display
Fill some vintage specimen jars with tap water and add food coloring to get a spooky hue. Take some poppy pods, lotus pods and coneflower heads and carefully arrange them into the jars to obtain a mystique display. Your guests will expect to see some witches nearby!
12. Hair-raising decorations
Use a gauze to cover your table and some black tissue paper to create shredded ornaments around it. A few black card-stock spider webs and a matching spider will complete the picture perfectly.13. Spooky pumpkins
Change the classic grimacing pumpkin faces with spookier and darker figures like the ones in the picture. Remove the pulp from the pumpkin and start carving a creepy shape such as a witch head or a bat. You can then use paint or even a black marker to color the silhouette. Light the pumpkin in the classic way, with a candle in a glass jar.
14. Cat silhouettes
If you don’t find them in stores, you can cut the black paper cat silhouettes yourself. Then put them where people least expect to find them: in the window, in a picture frame, or in any other spot that you know will surprise them.
15. Terrifying specimen jars
With some plastic eyes, teeth, animal skeletons and other anatomical parts inside specimen jars, you can make your living room look like a mad scientist’s laboratory.
16. Pumpkin balloons
You can use some orange balloons to make the Halloween kids party more fun. Inflate them with helium and draw creepy faces with a black permanent marker on them.
17. Huge spider
Everything is much more impressive when it is unnaturally large. Choose huge creepy decorations like a black spider and hang them near sofas or chairs, to intimidate your guests even more.
18. Dark shadows
It’s not exactly possible to catch a shadow and use it for your Halloween decorations. But it is very possible to cut black paper silhouettes and place them in different corners of your house to give your guests the creeps.
19. Spiders and spider webs
Spider webs on windows are pretty common, but they will look even spookier if you add a bunch of plastic spiders on the window sill, near the web. The effect is even stronger when you give the little creatures something to crawl on or into, like glass vases or candleholders.
20. Bats on your lampshade
Every haunted house needs bats! Use some black bat silhouettes and stick them inside a white lampshade. Then just ask one of your guests to turn the light on, and don’t be surprised if you hear a sharp scream.
21. Dark garlands
If you have no lamp to “sacrifice” as suggested at no. 20, then you can use the bat motif for black garlands. You can also go with rats, cats, cockroaches or other creepy creatures for a garland.
22. Pumpkin potpourri
There is more than one way to fill your house with a sweet aroma of delicious pumpkin pie. If you’re not willing to do it the classic way and actually cook the dessert, you can try making a pumpkin pie potpourri. Just cut off the top of a medium sized pumpkin, scrape out the pulp, and carve some vents with an apple corer. Then spice the interior part of the lid with cinnamon, cloves or other pumpkin-pie spices. A lighted canted inside will warm up the lid and fill your house with a delicious flavor for some 6 hours.
23. Tin can Jack-o-lanterns
You can try swapping the traditional pumpkins with metal cans. The principle is the same: punch funny or scary faces into the cans and then place a candle inside for a nice light effect.
24. Halloween chandelier shades
Every corner of your house can be nicely decorated for Halloween. This even includes the classic chandelier in the living room, which can receive some small chandelier shades made of paper. Make sure the light bulbs are not higher than 40 watts.
25. Glittered skeletal parts
Turn some classic plastic skeletal parts into glittering trophies. After you decorate them, you can place them under an oversized glass dome for an even stronger effect.
26. Shimmering pumpkins
If you’re not really into spooky and eerie decorations, you can always go with friendlier and more welcoming decors, like nice shimmering pumpkins and lovely dragonflies instead of spiders and giant millipedes.
27. Pumpkin sconces
Also for a nice and welcoming ambiance, you can choose to use pumpkins to make decorative sconces with floral motifs instead of grimacing faces and scary silhouettes.
28. Special light fixtures
On Halloween, the light-shadow play is more fascinating then ever. That’s why it is very important to find special light fixtures that can complete a gloomy ambiance in your home at night. Usually Gothic is the way to go on this occasion.
29. Paper Jack-o-lanterns
Papier-mâché Jack-o-lanterns are a great alternative to the classic pumpkin lanterns. You can even make them yourself at home. Three of the best places you can put them is on the window sill, on the mantelpiece and on the stairway.
30. More glitter
You can soften the spooky look of any Halloween decoration with a little glitter. Jack-o-lanterns, plastic spiders, ceramic skulls…you can turn almost anything into a nice, glittering decorative object.
31. Halloween bouquets
If you plan on throwing a sophisticated dinner party this Halloween, then you will need some very special centerpieces. Choose to create a spooky flower arrangement with fall plants and make sure you also add some spikes and thorns to the bouquet.
32. Bewitched Halloween Eggs
There is no rule to tell us not to decorate eggs on Halloween just because it’s not Easter. So if you feel like doing something interesting for dinner…try painting several eggs! For this holiday however, you have to use only creepy drawings and dark colors.
33. Halloween tree
And since we’re drawing inspiration from other annual holidays, we are going to also suggest decorating a tree! No, not an evergreen tree, but a small, twisted and dark tree (or branch). And you should only use Halloween-themed decorations for it!
34. Stuffed birds and cobwebs
Making a fake cobweb is simpler than you may think! Hot glue can do the trick in a matter of seconds. Add some black stuffed birds with real feathers and some gothic candlesticks, and your house will definitely seem old and haunted.
35. Creepy waiter tray
Sometimes when you feel that your party is just not creepy enough, what you really need is not a helping hand, but a helping head! We love this waiter tray idea and we bet your guests will do too!
36. Grimacing candleholders
If you like making your decorations yourself, then here is another great idea. Decorate you candle holders like Jack-o-lanterns! You only need some orange tissue paper, scissors and a little glue. You can even do this together with your kids.
37. Folded paper hang-ups
There is a lot you can do with paper! Hang up some funny folded paper faces (owls, cats, pumpkins etc)over the most important corner in the room (usually the table of treats) and you will draw everybody’s attention to that spot.
