Spook-tacular Halloween decoration ideas for your home.

Make the most of your home’s exterior to bewitch, enchant or spook guests and passersby. Set the mood and make an impact no matter your home’s architecture or your style preferences. 

Front door and porch.

Set the scene with a fang-tastic front porch. Include an assortment of props, pumpkins and foliage of varying heights and sizes to create visual interest. If you have a covered porch, consider hanging witches’ hats or bats with fishing line. Include a spooky sign or two, and don’t forget a Halloween welcome mat. 

If you’re an apartment dweller, your deck or courtyard are places to express your creativity. Design your deck as you would a porch, but take visibility into consideration, especially if you live on the second or third floor. You’ll want to make sure your selections are situated in a way that can be enjoyed by people at a lower vantage point.

Front lawn.

Don’t forget about your front lawn as a place to surprise and delight with fun seasonal decor. It’s the perfect spot for a cemetery, larger-than-life ghosts, inflatables and creepy crawling spiders. Get your yard’s landscaping in on the party by covering low shrubs with spiders and webs, and hanging lighted ghosts or bats from trees. 

Lighting.

All of your lovely decorations will be tough to see at night without proper lighting. Change out your porch lights for orange, purple or red bulbs, and add spotlights to showcase your show-stopping decorations. Consider wrapping string lights around columns or porch rails. And don’t forget to light the way from the sidewalk to your front porch with glowing pumpkins or for guests and trick-or-treaters. 

Trees and bushes.

Many people also utilize their trees for Halloween displays. Place large skeletons or spiders so it looks like they’re climbing up the trunk. Or, hang a few bats, glowing pumpkins and string lights from the branches.

Fence and gate.

If you have a fence in front of your home, take advantage of it. Attach a broom, witches hat, a few pumpkins, cobwebs and string lights to your panels. Just make sure they’re secured and won’t fly away if the wind picks up. 

Don’t hesitate to make an autumn or Halloween splash as soon as you enter your front door. Your entryway sets the mood and tone for the rest of your home’s decor, so feel free to get creative. And there’s no rule that you have to match your outdoor Halloween theme to what’s going on inside. If you want to go super scary outdoors and keep it more classic on the inside, that’s ok, too. 

Go batty.

Bats make fang-tastic Halloween decor because they’re black and go with almost any aesthetic. Tack bats to walls, hang them from ceilings and place them on tables. 

Get ghosted.

Invite the spirits to your home this year with lots of ghosts inside and out. They can be focal points of your yard, outdoor space or mantle. Or, get crafty and make them in various shapes and sizes for surfaces and table tops. 

Witchful thinking.

From hats and shoes to broomsticks and cauldrons, there are lots of possibilities when you choose a witch theme. Broomsticks, hats and even buckled shoes look fun on each side of a front door, in front of a fence, on front porch steps or above a fireplace. Hansen likes to hang small witches’ hats from the porch. “They swing in the wind and bring an immersive experience.”

Dia de los Muertos.

While this Mexican celebration officially begins November 1, get an early start and roll it into your Halloween festivities. The theme’s a great way to incorporate the vibrant colors into your home, bright florals mixed, skulls, paper lanterns and garland. 

Related: 10 fall home decor ideas to embrace this autumn.

Let’s get spooky.

Halloween’s a rare opportunity to get creative and go big with spooky decor. Don’t be afraid to have fun with it and dress up your home inside and out.

Still stumped on where or how to start? What’s great about Halloween decorations is that you can tailor them to your home’s architecture or era and your own personal style. Go big and scary or understated and chic, it’s up to you. You’re only limited by your imagination.

Stay focused and on budget by organizing your decor selections around a particular theme or idea. It could be as simple as pumpkins, bats or ghosts, or as elaborate as a scene or vignette. Cemeteries, skeleton parties, fall festivals, creepy campouts and flying witches are some fun ways to set the scene.

Movies and cartoons are good sources for inspiration. Some favorites include “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” “Harry Potter,” “Hocus Pocus” and classic slasher films. Or go with something playful for the younger set, like Star Wars, Charlie Brown, Disney princesses or “Monsters, Inc.” 

And if you’re still unsure of where to start, we’ve got a pro for that. Find home maintenance pros and decorators on Thumbtack.