Low Cost Ideas For A DIY Haunted House

Even adults like to venture into a haunted house at Halloween time. But, why would you want to pay $20, $30, or more to go out and see someone else’s haunted house when you can create one of your own?

It seems like everything has been done before right? Well, maybe not. Most haunted houses have the same goal – to scare the stuffing out of you. Your haunted house can have a different objective: creepy, disgusting, and fun. Halloween can be scary with a nice bit of gross factor, too.

Getting Started at Home

Look around your home. What do you already own that can be used?  Ask the whole family to come up with ideas.  Let’s take a look at a few:

• Old sheets – Cut them up and wrap them around big styrofoam balls (you can buy them at any craft store). Hang them from the trees in your front yard. For a more dramatic effect, glue glow-in-the-dark eyes and mouths on them.
• Silhouettes – You can buy these, but if you have old fabric or construction paper at home do them yourself. There are also online stencils you can use to create black cat, pumpkin, witch and monster silhouettes for your windows.
• Yarn – White, black, and orange yarn can be used to create gigantic spider webs for the yard and the corners of your rooms. Stretch out a few cotton balls across the webs to resemble wrapped prey.
• Fruit – Peel apples, pears, or even potatoes. Carve deep spooky faces into them. Place them onto a cookie sheet in the oven so that they can dry and shrink. Now, you have just created ghastly shrunken heads you can strategically place around the house.

Heading to the Store

After you have scavenged the house and the attic for items, it’s time to head to the store. Dollar stores and thrift shops usually have awesome accessories: skeletons, spiders, witches brooms and hats, decorative cups, and other appropriately spooky things.

Here are some more ideas for your DIY masterpiece:

• Spooky lab – Fill mason jars with water and food coloring to make them dark. Float plastic eyeballs, skeletons, plastic animals, plastic severed hands, and other gross items in them and set them on a counter. To lend a spooky appearance, place a tub of dry ice in the room for a foggy atmosphere. Be sure to get plenty though because it doesn’t last long.
• Strobe light – Use dark colors like red, black, and orange to give off a frightening aura to your rooms. How about creepy crawlies suspended from the ceiling with clear twine? When the strobe light hits, listen for the screams.
• Ambiance – You’ll want all the feeling of Halloween, so you’ll need a few items to set the mood.  How about food coloring and corn syrup to create blood, glow-in-the-dark paint for mirrors and windows, and CDs of scary sounds and music.

With only a few dollars spent, you can outfit each room of your home to scare even the bravest guests.  Use your imagination and turn your home into an eerie haunted house.

Have a spooky great time!

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