The Art of Halloween

Party planning, yard haunts, cocktails, costumes and the effects that sell a haunted house, for adults who take October seriously.

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Fresh for October

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A child in a pink party dress seated in a wheelchair, holding a wooden star wand across her lap

Party Planning

Accessible Trick-or-Treat: A Porch Every Kid Can Reach

Why the candy should come down to the walk instead of a ramp going up, what hangs where a white cane can't find it, how to light the path for low vision without strobing anyone, and how to run a teal bowl, a quiet hour and a sign kids can actually read.

An old dresser with brass table lamps and small gilt photo frames in front of an ornate gold-framed mirror, in dim green light

Decor

Haunted Portraits and Mirrors on a Budget

Portraits that turn into ghouls and mirrors that show something behind the glass: our free Met-based portrait pairs, lenticular flips that don't ghost, screens behind frames, mirror film on the right glass, and a cracked mirror with no broken glass.

Two bald, featureless display mannequins in dim amber light, the nearer one wearing a shearling vest

Decor

Mannequins and Dressed Props: How to Make a Figure Look Real

Store mannequins, dress forms, skeletons and PVC frames compared, plus padding a tiny display body into real clothes, heads and hands, Rit dye by fiber, painting plastic, blood on fabric, lighting a face and keeping a dressed figure alive outdoors.

A tall-masted wooden sailing ship moored at a pier on dark gray water under heavy storm clouds, with a shaft of light breaking over the hills behind it

Decor

How to Build a Pirate Cove Yard Haunt

A skeleton crew, a wrecked bow, a smoking cannon and a lit treasure chest: where the pirate look really comes from, what the Dead Water ship's manual forbids, how to duct fog into a cannon, LED-only lanterns, a blue sea without water, and shanties that aren't pirate songs.

Silhouettes of people walking single file down a long, dim corridor toward a lit doorway

Decor

Running a Home Haunt: Permits, Police, Insurance and Liability

What a fire marshal's haunted-house rule actually asks for, why a garage walkthrough can need a permit, the police heads-up call, what homeowners insurance says about guests and business activity, and why a donation jar isn't a charity.

A fortune teller booth outside a house at night, with skeletons in the chairs lit purple and blue

Decor

Automate Your Yard Haunt: Smart Plugs, Sensors, Timers and Which Smart Home Runs Them

What a smart plug can and can't switch in a Halloween display, what the makers' manuals rate outdoor plugs for, how to put fog and store animatronics on a schedule, which motion sensors survive a yard, and what Alexa, Google Home, Apple Home, SmartThings and Home Assistant each need to run it.

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Throwing a Party

Hosting & Trick-or-Treat
Invitations, budgets, safety, dinner parties, and how much candy the doorbell crowd will actually eat.
All 6 guides
Food & Drinks
Party menus, charcuterie, cocktails and mocktails, jello shots, and a punch that fogs without dry ice in the cup.
All 6 guides
Games & Activities
Grown-up party games, murder mysteries, scavenger hunts, and a photo booth guests will actually use.
All 5 guides
Costumes & Makeup
Adult costume ideas, safe makeup and fake blood, and running a costume contest people don’t argue about.
All 4 guides
Music & Movie Nights
Party playlists, the Halloween records worth owning, and hosting a horror movie night.
All 3 guides

Decorating the House

Yard Haunts, Porches & Pumpkins
Graveyards, posed skeletons, porches, jack-o’-lanterns, and keeping it all standing through October weather.
All 15 guides
Lighting, Fog & Effects
Colored light, blacklight, fog, lightning, and projection: the effects that make a house read as haunted.
All 11 guides
Props & Animatronics
Store animatronics worth buying, fixing the ones that quit, and DIY props and displays you build yourself.
All 9 guides
Indoor Rooms & Tablescapes
Room-by-room ideas for the inside of the house, from the front hallway to the bathroom and the dinner table.
All 5 guides

57 Free Printables · No Email Required

Print & Party

Invitations, bingo cards, potion labels, recipe cards, séance scripts, tombstones — every template is dark-mode by default with an ink-saving light variant for the home printer.