No, it's not too early to think about Halloween this year. You have just a few months to get your props and costumes in order, plan parties, plot out events, and top the neighbors.
Here's some themes to consider this year -
Aliens. With attention drawn to Area 51 this year and alien and UFO shows being the rage, consider making an alien saucer crash in the front yard - build it out of cardboard and tin foil.
Clowns. Everyone is unnerved by clowns, but many of the Halloween shops have animatronics ones that wear out their welcome. Imagine opening your attic or vent and putting a stuffed mask inside? Now, you're talking unnerving.
Dolls. Dolls have more impact when you group them together like "Doll Island." Your local thrift store is a good source and also put a shout out on nextdoor.com as your neighbors may have some to contribute to the cause. Leave them outside a few months to age even more.
Abandoned. With urban exploration an ongoing fascination for most, an abandoned home with shadowing figures moving inside, flickering candlelight or flashes of lightning on the buildings are all creepy. Create boards over the windows using cardboard strips and don't forget the spider webs!
Bigfoot. If you have trees in your yard, you have an ideal location. You could do some scarecrow like stakes with dark fake fur skin behind trees, so you just see a shoulder and leg (Joann and other fabric stores have cheap fake fur). Or you could do a styrofoam board one in the window, like this one I made that appears to hold up my chalkboard. Try putting some glow sticks inside of toilet paper center cardboard rolls with eye holes cut out, place up high in trees to give a sense something is watching. Put up lots of signs about beware of Squatch -
Gnomes. Gnomes aren't scary until you get an army of them together -
Zombies. A fog machine with ground fog, some creepy sounds, a person in tattered clothing stumbling around the yard, seeming like they are in a stupor. They don't threaten the visitors to the door, but they make them stare uncomfortably to see what it's doing as it seems like it's in its own world.
A simple graveyard with a bell ringing in the distance, maybe add some crows atop the headstones and some fog rolling in along the ground is a fantastic setting. Put a Cemetery Grounds Keeper sign on the front door and act the role with a shovel in hand, slightly unbuttoned dirty shirt and hunched over attitude.
For stylish concepts, watch movies like "The Fog," "Sleepy Hollow" and "Trick R Treat" to get inspired.
*** The photo at the top of this post was done by placing a person in a hallway or room with the light on, turning the light off in the nearby room, draping plastic sheeting in the doorway between the light and dark room, and pressing the person with the mask or without against the plastic and taking photos from the dark room side of the plastic. ***
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