How to Turn Your House Into a Haunted House

Ghosts, ghouls, and goblins – oh my! If Halloween is one of your favorite holidays, we have a real treat for you. We’ll help you take your scalability to the next level by sharing some tips on how you can turn your home into a haunted house, a spooky labyrinth that’s sure to scare even the bravest of visitors.

Creating An Eerie Atmosphere

The first step in turning your humble abode into a Halloween haunted house is to create an eerie atmosphere that sets the stage for your spooky fun. Start by dimming the lights and adding some LED candles that can be strategically placed around the house. These LED candles will do the trick (tee-hee), and you won’t have to worry about the fire hazard of an open flame. Don’t forget to add some lanterns and different colored bulbs to increase the eerie feel.

Set up dry ice cauldrons or use fog machines to create an otherworldly, misty ambiance. The smoke from the cauldrons and the machines will help create the eerie atmosphere you crave.

Add Some Ghostly Decor

What’s a Halloween haunted house without some ghosts and ghouls? Scare up some spooky silhouettes and life-sized cutouts of famous scary characters to up the fear factor. Suspend some from the ceiling so they appear to be floating and place others in doorways and in windows.

Want to scare the life out of visitors? Consider setting up a graveyard in the backyard with DIY tombstone decorations. Add silly sayings or move a fog machine outside to set an eerie mood. Don’t forget the spider webs!

Picture the look on visitors' faces when you switch out your photo frames for antique frames full of old photos and eerie portraits. Search through antique shops, hit the local party store, or print some haunted photos from the internet to fill your frames and scare your friends!

Haunting Soundscape

What’s a scary house without scary sounds? Set the mood by incorporating haunting background music like orchestral pieces from scary movies or a track of spooky sound effects. Create a playlist on your phone or pull one up from YouTube.

Increase your visitor's heart rate with the sound of creaky floors, distant whispers, and ghostly moans.

Cursed Artifacts and Oddities

As you decorate your space, think to yourself, “What would you find in a haunted house?”

Lots of creepy and haunted artifacts and oddities, right?!

Display peculiar and mysterious objects, like vintage dolls, antique mirrors, and old books, around your haunted house to send chills up the spine of your friends and guests. Items that look creepy and old, worn relics will spark curiosity and add a spooky element to the surroundings. Who knows the story behind this collection of odd items?

Haunted Hallways and Hidden Passages

Those who dare to enter, beware! Hidden passages and dimly lit, disorienting paths will add a touch of terror to your Halloween haunted house. Create them by hanging up curtains, concealing doors, or darkening hallways (don’t forget those spider webs).

As your guests navigate through your creepy hallways, hide eerie scenes and spooky surprises along the way. The more alarming, the better.

Jumpscares usually scare even the bravest people, so add a remote-controlled skeleton to jump out of a box or use family members or friends to scare your visitors as they walk through your haunted house.

Spooky Lighting Effect

Don’t overlook your lighting as you learn how to make a haunted house! Colored gels or filters on your lights will change the look and help you create a spooky atmosphere. You can also experiment with those flickering candles or wall sconces to create your creepy atmosphere.

Lighting plays an important role in a haunted house, so make sure yours is the best! Strobe lights near the fog machines will also increase the spooky feeling for your guests.

Haunted Dining Experience

No one wants a hungry ghost, so don’t forget to feed your ghouls. Transform your dining area into a disturbing feast of Halloween treats.

A great way to add a haunting feel to your table is to serve food and drinks that match your creepy atmosphere. Make a charcuterie board of mummified brie or a pumpkin cheese ball. Pair it with white finger cookies and pumpkin deviled eggs.

Don’t leave the drinks out of the haunted experience. Serve drinks disguised as bloody syringes and spooky purple and green concoctions. You can also serve Halloween-themed punch or soda with floating “eyeball” ice cubes.

Don’t forget to create an eerie tablescape to match your spooky food offerings. The table is a great place to put some of those antique picture frames or oddities you’ve been collecting. Scatter some fake eyeballs around, or add spiderwebs, as a final touch.

Ghostly Narratives and Storytelling

What’s a haunted house without some activities?

Spook your guests by telling haunting tales or scary stories related to the theme of your rooms or about Halloween. Invite them to share their spooky stories and immerse themselves in the eerie experience.

Trust us, those flickering lights and dusty cobwebs will seem much more scary once you’ve heard a few ghost stories!

Help When You Need It

Creating your own haunted house is a great way to enjoy and remember the Halloween season.

If you have some home projects you’ve been putting off because they’re too scary to tackle on your own, Mr. Handyman^® can help.

Our team of experienced home project pros is not afraid to take on any task. When you book service with Mr. Handyman, you can rest assured the job will be done right! Because all of our work is backed by the Neighborly Done Right Promise^™.

Home repair projects don’t have to be scary when you leave the work to Mr. Handyman.