I previously wrote about how sending out the most clever invitations sets the tone for an awesome Halloween bash, so the next logical step is to consider your decorations. Lots of people who are interested in throwing a memorable Halloween party will embrace the standard cobwebs and pumpkins. Even if most of the year you run around like a child dressed up in an innocent looking girl’s angel costume, at Halloween, it’s time to embrace your wicked side.
But, in the dark underworld of Halloween party decorating, there’s so much more. If you want your Halloween party to become known as the local party of the year, you might want to go extreme with your decorations. I’ve gathered up a few ideas for you to consider, so let’s get to it.
When it comes to extreme decorating, jars of body parts, holiday colored lights and the more dead people the better. If you have the means, one of my favorite extreme decorations is the hearse or coffin. Even better, if you have access to some black horses you can use of of those horse drawn carriage-style hearses and have the horses canter past your friends homes with the driver dressed up as the grim reaper.
In our neighborhood, (be sure to get the okay from your neighbors, as some folks don’t like looking at an all-out decorated house and may complain to authorities) one of our friends rents a classic style hearse and has an open coffin in their flowerbed-turned-graveyard, in addition to all of the other decor.
There are lines of cars who cruise past the house each night, and on Hallows Eve itself, there’s barely walking room for all of the people taking photos. The house ends up being such a draw because they have so cleverly gone to the extreme with their decorating, and they’ve also created lots of places for photo opportunities for all of those trick-or-treaters.
If you are considering doing your own extreme decorating for the fall season this year, there are a vast number of resources to help you out. You can custom make your own decorations with just a little imagination…and a few basics. Wood, paint, nails and glue are all easy to come by materials that allow you to build your own headstones in no time. One of my other neighbors uses huge pieces of black plastic wrap to create his own mini spook alley in his garage.
When it comes to holiday decorating, going extreme can be lots of fun, so why not give it a shot?
Emma Rae Curtis is a costume/dressing up/makeup & accessories expert. She mainly writes about Halloween but also about all things costume and dress-up related.
