Halloween Yard Props

By the time the first of October rolls around, many people begin counting down the days until it is close enough to Halloween to start decorating their front lawns and their porches. There are certain stipulations to when you can start decorating for Halloween, because if you start too early, you seem altogether too anxious. But once people start decorating, their houses generally go from being somewhat plain and innocuous to flamboyantly Halloweeny and sometimes spooky to those walking their dogs at night.

Some people are very fond of simple decorations, just enough to show that they like Halloween — as decorations are something that tells trick-or-treaters that they could get candy if they rang the doorbell to that particular house. Simple decorations include cut-outs taped on windows and front doors, plastic skeletons hanging on hooks and swaying in the breeze, and if the house happens to have a flag-holder near the front door, it may be fitted with a Halloween-themed flag.

More elaborate decorations involve turning a front yard into a graveyard. Stick tombstones in the ground, some of which say funny things, whether thought of on one’s own, or in imitation of real tombstones with funny inscriptions — “Here lies Lester Moore, Four slugs from a .44; No Les no more,” for example. It can also be fun to add the occasional hand or two in front of some of the tombstones to give a “Night of the Living Dead” effect.

For an even more realistic looking graveyard lawn, some add dark wire fencing around the area, most of which has spider-webbed link work and other designs wrought into the wire. Some of these designs can be faces, a simple design surrounding a black cat, or can sometimes even have the words “beware” or “keep out” sprawled in an odd lettering.

Pumpkins are also a popular Halloween decoration for outside, whether they are left whole or carved. Pumpkins left whole can be decorated with paint to make faces that look more expressive than a carved face can be, or perhaps they are just painted with designs to make them look more artistic and less spooky or silly. Carved pumpkins are similar: sometimes they are given spooky and angry faces, while others look thoughtful or as if they are laughing. Others are carved with other images that are very much unlike a face–perhaps a cat in the moon, perhaps a message. Some are not only carved but are used as lights — jack o’ lanterns — though not everyone feels comfortable leaving a lit candle inside of a pumpkin unsupervised.

Some people are fond of inflatable objects resting on their lawn, whether it is a giant pumpkin, a ghost, spooky trees or any number of creatures. It is also possible for inflatable things to have lights inside of them so they can be seen well in the dark. These lights are either all over in a grid-pattern, or are just placed to illuminate certain aspects of the inflatable object, usually the eyes.

Decorations with a scarecrow build are also popular, whether it happens to be a real scarecrow, or a figure of the Grim Reaper, a ghost, pirate, witch, or otherwise, they can add quite the foreboding presence to any front lawn. Dogs will bark at them, children might be afraid of them, and they tend to look unbelievably creepy when it’s dark outside with minimal amounts of light from street lamps and the like.

For something a little bit more random, consider hanging up an ornament of a flattened witch against the outer wall of a house or a fence. Whatever the ornament, put in the same amount of effort as you have love for the holiday itself. Because if you aren’t fond of it at all, spending the amount of time required to take it all down will not be very enjoyable. Also take into consideration the chances of someone deciding to take your ornaments for their own, not to mention the chances of someone smashing pumpkins.

Otherwise, have fun, be imaginative, and enjoy the holiday as best as you are able. Because without fun and a little healthy mischief, what else is there that makes Halloween anything other than the last day of October?

Posted in Halloween