These tips will help you have your most fun (and scary) Halloween yet
For celebration purposes, there may not be a better holiday than Halloween. Every October we are given an excuse to dress up in some sort of wacky getup and go a little crazy with the frightful decorations. But if you’re tired of doing the same old stuff you usually do, why not mix things up this year?
Creating your own haunted house is a great way to provide some entertainment for the neighborhood kids. But we totally understand if you don’t want dirt-caked sneakers roaming through your living room or chocolate-coated hands leaving marks on your walls. This is why we’re offering these tips that will help you build a haunted house in your yard.
Don’t focus too much on the “house” part
If you’ve got a lot of time on your hands and are good with wood and power tools, feel free to build an actual house in your yard. But otherwise, it will be a lot easier – and quicker – to create more of a maze. You can do this in a variety of ways. Cardboard boxes can provide the walls, as well as tunnels. You can also tie up sheets or curtains to trees or other things in your yard to make a path.
Provide the right illumination
Safety is always important when having guests at your home, especially if many of them are children. If you only plan to use your haunted house during the day, you probably don’t need to worry about lights. But if this will be an after-hours event, be sure to provide enough illumination. Without spoiling the fun of the dark, you can light things up a little by using glow paint, strobes, or even a strand of Christmas lights. You can also line the path with jack-o-lanterns, but instead of candles, outfit them with battery-powered lights.
Add some spooktacular props
What’s a haunted house without some chills? There is basically an endless number of things you can do to scare your guests, but just be sure they’re age-appropriate. If you’ll mostly be seeing little kids, rubber bats and jangly skeletons may be all you need. But for teens and older folks, you might want to go for things that are a little scarier. Having people pop out in certain places can add to the fun. Playing a spooky soundtrack with things like maniacal laughter and creepy noises will also help you create the right atmosphere.
Make it enjoyable for everyone
While the young folks will probably be the ones most inclined to check out your haunted house, you don’t want to forget about their parents or other chaperones. So there is something for everyone, think about setting up your grill and having a Halloween barbecue. If nothing else, you can at least have some water on hand (or maybe something a little stronger) for those who’ve been on trick-or-treat duty for hours.
Keep the really scary stuff away – like mosquitos
If you follow the news in our area, you know that mosquitos continue to be a problem. And it’s not just because they are annoying. Mosquitos spread a number of diseases, including Zika. Florida health officials also believe that we could be in danger of a yellow fever outbreak. This is why everyone should do what they can to protect themselves and others from these pests.
You can do this for your Halloween festivities by having a misting system installed on your property. This is an automated way to prevent mosquitos – as well as other biting bugs like fleas and ticks – from invading your yard and spoiling the fun.
Want to learn more about mosquito control systems? Get in touch with Platinum Mosquito Protection for a free onsite consultation.