Today’s Halloween celebrations depend on your particular stage in life. For kids, it is typically down to how many bags of candy you can collect before midnight so that it will last the whole year. For college students and my party people, it will mostly be about either who has the funniest costume or let’s face it, the sexiest. Even pop-culture costumes could be popular among undergraduates depending on how trendy the clique is. For instance, the latest “Eleven” costume from “Stranger Things” might be the Grand Prize costume winner of the night.
However, Halloween is not just a day to play dress-up. For those of us who have no big Halloween plans this year, decorating our homes on Halloween can be just as fun as dressing-up in costume for the very first time and begging for candy. I don't know about you but I've never been particularly festive. Even when I lived on my own, I sort of expected holiday decorating was just my parents' burden. Once moved out, keeping the house clean seemed like enough of a struggle- I mean, I have to laundry, mop floors, clean toilets, wash dishes, and not cook (that's my husband's job, he's the chef), - ALL ON MY TIME OFF. So come the holidays, now I have to decorate too?
But then I realized, it's the special moments throughout the year that make a house feel like a home. And with today's easy, ready-made decorations, who couldn't display a pumpkin or two?
The really great thing about decorating for Halloween and yet another reason why Halloween is my favorite holiday of the year, is that it is not one size fits all. Your neighbor might be a Japanese horror film fanatic and decorate his home in long silk robes hanging from a dead dummy with jet black hair and demonic eyes, but your style does not have to quite so terrifying. Personally, I prefer a more family-friendly decorating style with a pumpkin and a hanging "sheet-ghost" on my front door. Exterior decorations set the tone for your Halloween level of spooky. After all, if you also have small children do you really want them to be afraid to come home? Remember, not all trick-or-treaters are older kids who appreciate a good scare- so keep this in mind as the little ghosts, goblins, princesses, and superheroes arrive. For the parent's delight, stringing pumpkin lights around the front entrance adds additional ambiance at an adult's eye-level, rather than only decorating at the floor-level for kids with pumpkin candles and lanterns.
Then again, if you have older kids there’s no harm in using some strobe lights, frightening music and sound effects to get a few horror-enthusiasts stopping by. Dry ice has always been a staple of Halloween horror decor in order to incorporate spooky fog. However, be sure to handle with care as it can damage the skin.
Spiderweb-type netting can fill empty spaces or hard places to reach where there is a lack of decor. Coffins with headless straw men are also a great addition. And to create a party Halloween scene, always use dim-lighting. Glow in the dark objects create spooky corners of decor as well, such as a glow in the dark hockey mask. Glow-in-the-dark skull heads suspended by fishing wire are also quite the highlight for a true and robust fright.
For a family-friendly Halloween party, cheerful pumpkin decorations and a hanging a sheet with two holes cut out for eyes make a perfect "Gasper-like" friendly ghost are always recommended. You can even incorporate more candy in the Halloween party by placing some Frankenstein piñatas throughout the party area for the kids to tear up later.
For adult gatherings all bets are off when it comes to home decorating for Halloween. There are all kinds of themes that can be followed from the incredibly zany and outrageously crude to the frightening or flamboyant. The biggest suggestion in these matters is to have fun at all times and bring the party to life. Many adults choose having a theme for the night, such as Halloween Couple’s Outfits only, or Sci-Fi show costumes. However, none of the guests will feel comfortable going “all-out” at a costume party if the ambiance is lacking.
Why would someone feel comfortable dressing up from head to toe in capes, masks, fangs, wigs, glitter and theatrical blood standing in your typical living room? Did your guests spend hours on Halloween makeup just to sit on your brown sectional sofa? Absolutely not!
So get crazy with your strobe lights, black lights, dry ice, just beware of allergies and guests with asthma. Basically, be sure to double check none of your attendees have an issue with dry ice which can make breathing slightly difficult. Bales of hay in the corner make excellent additional seating and can contribute to the harvest/autumn/Halloween atmosphere you want to create. Just remember that the underlying goal is for you and your guests to have a great time. With good food, good music, breathtaking decorations and great company- Halloween fun is guaranteed.
