# Advice & Ideas Please.....



## PearlWhiteGT (Oct 13, 2009)

I just bought my house last year. My house is on a dead end & the last street on the block so not a lot of traffic. I would like to do a little something in the front of my house like on the porch & flower beds area. He is a quick pic I snapped when I first purchased the house.

I have never attempted to do anything like this before so I need a lot of advice & ideas. I have always like the look of just creepy, scary stuff. Would like to use some sort of lighting with some decorations, etc......

Thanks for any help!!!!


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## Hauntiholik (May 17, 2006)

GOODIE! A blank slate!
Do you have any props already that you can incorporate?

You have 2 spots on either side of the porch that would make great vignettes for life sized figures. Is that where the flower beds are now?

If you can get power to the columns it would be a great area for something like flake flame bowls (creepy looking and interesting lighting/shadows on the columns).

You could have a fcg in one of the front windows too.


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## Howlinmadjack (Jul 20, 2009)

Putting up lifesize dummies behind the windows, and putting strobe lights on them is a great way to catch people's eye. Also you can make simple tombstones and set them up in the grassy area's. Do you have any props already made? If so you can set them out in different locations throughout the yard. Putting out jack o' lanterns along the driveway is always a great way to fill out the yard.


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## PearlWhiteGT (Oct 13, 2009)

I do not have any props yet. I do have receptacle on the front porch to plug in some lighting or whatever. As of right now I don't have anything in the flower bed area. It's just dirt right now.

What is a fcg?

The windows are now covered with screens that you can't see in.


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## Spooky1 (Aug 25, 2008)

FCG = Flying Crank Ghost (just do a search on the forum to see all you want to know)

You should be able to see through screens from the outside if there is a light on the prop and the room is dark.


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

You could always start simple - swap out plain bulbs for orange ones in your outside lights, put spider webbing around the windows and scatter spiders of various sizes around, hang up a few bats or a string of skull lights, carve up some evil looking jack-o-lanterns, park a witch's broom by the front door, and you'll be ready to go. Tombstones right next to the house might look a little out of place because the beds there appear small, but you could certainly add some signs with appropriate Halloween greetings.


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## PearlWhiteGT (Oct 13, 2009)

I have those solar sun screens so I will have to see if you can see through them. I thought about 2 or 3 tombstones but the area is small & might not look right.

I was at the Spirt store yesterday and saw some black light bulbs. Also saw some strobe light bulbs. Has anyone uses the strobe light bulbs before? Did they work good? Thought about putting 2 colored bulbs on the columns and 1 strobe light bulb on the center top fixture above the door but not sure how it would look.

I would like to put a prop next to the door. Webs around the windows and columns and some stuff in the grassy area that is all dirt now. Something in front of the columns would be cool too.


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## ghoulieghoul (Aug 12, 2010)

Hi Pearl! With the bits of grass you have on either side of your walk, it sort of reminds me of a moat (sp?), your house being the castle! You could make a small wooden drawbridge and use those fake really large plastic chains to attach to your columns. A life-sized Drac would be cool to greet anyone. The fake flame bowls as Hauntiholik suggested would be a great addition as well! And of course the usual staple...cobwebs...LOTS! Hmm... Are you in a warm climate??


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## slightlymad (May 25, 2006)

Those empty flower beds would be perfect for a freshly dug grave


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## corey872 (Jan 10, 2010)

I concur. I'm a big fan of lighting, so I'd probably put a few cans on the ground shining up on the house. Red, blue, violet, green...maybe a couple of contrasting colors in each can. Highlight the front porch columns for sure. Maybe a few more at other places on the front facade. Graves or some small display in the flower beds. The huge front windows are just begging for some type of display, too. Video link in my sig. around the 2:00 minute mark is what I do for my big bay window.


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## hpropman (Jul 27, 2008)

for the graves you can place a wooden frame border and cover with landscape fabric, place a weasel ball or bumble ball underneath and cover it with leaves. The ball moves under the fabric and leaves and looks really creepy. Simple and cheap. Just do a few simple things this year and every year just add to it. if you try to do too much at once you will just exhaust yourself. have fun and enjoy!


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## Warrant2000 (Oct 8, 2008)

With some old slats of wood, you could put them across your windows making it look like an old condemned building.

Adorn the entire inside of your porch with creepy cloth and webs. Don't just push the webs against the wall, but stretch stretch it back and forth up in that archway so the tot's have to walk into it. Hang large spiders from fishing line.

Use Scene Setters (available at Spirit or Party City) to wrap your two columns - use a stone or brick design.

If you have a ladder, climb up and put a giant skull head in the front of the arch.

You could enclose the entire porch area, making for the anticipation of what's inside an even better scare.

*Strobe Lights:* They are great as long as they are STROBE lights and not flashing LED lights. Big difference is the flash effect you get with a high powered strobe bulb. You'll pay around $20 and up for a strobe lights, while "flashing LED" will start around $5.

Be sure to get a good soundtrack for the haunt like what's available at Poisonprops.com. And make sure it's appropriate...i.e. don't use zombie moans for a spider lair.

Don't be shy to spill out into the sidewalk with your props, maybe even shoveling extra dirt out on it to expand the cemetery, then put a fence around it.

Man, I could totally do up the front of that house with castle facades!


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