5 Spooky Ways to Celebrate Halloween at Home
2020 was a trying year for all of us. Despite the challenges presented, many attempted to make the most of the trying situation. We had zoom movie nights and stayed in during nice days. The holidays kept more of us at home, and this year being a potentially troublesome one, keeping the kids entertained can help keep your sanity! In addition, building on the experience of last year, there are many ways to celebrate at home should we have another spike in cases.
While the items on this list are a perfect way to celebrate the spooky holiday, they can be enjoyed any time during the fall season! Besides, just because the world is getting a little crazier doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy one of the most fun seasons of the year! Cozy up, grab some pumpkin spice, and enjoy 5 ways to celebrate Halloween at home.
1. Indoor Haunted House or Haunted Fort
Haunted houses have been a Halloween staple for generations. Decorating during the holidays can be a great way to spend time together as a family. Furthermore, a surprise haunting on the holiday itself can help further that cheer, or should I say fear, even more! Nevertheless, if trick or treating isn’t an option this season, break out the cobwebs, get the fog machine going and turn your living room into a graveyard!
If spooky isn’t your speed, a haunted fort is the way to go! Finding items around the house to craft your spooky fort should be a breeze! A couple of large blankets, glow sticks, and a couple of small pumpkins creates a comfortable scary space to read a book, tell ghost stories or even campout!
2. Scary Movie Marathon
Decorating can be a pain at times. Once everything goes up and looks good, it must be torn down for the next holiday! Now, celebrating Halloween doesn’t have to be all boring. To demonstrate, some of the best fall evenings have been spent binge watching some scary movies. There is great joy in watching a scary flick on the scariest night of the year and here a few of my favorites:
- Classic Monster Movies: Frankenstein (1932), Dracula (1931), The Phantom of the Opera (1925) and The Mummy (1932).
- Holiday Cheer Films: Casper (1995), The Frighteners (1996), Hocus Pocus (1993), and Harry Potter (2001).
- Animated Family Fun: The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), Monster House (2006), Monsters, Inc. (2001), and It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown (1966).
- Slahser Flix: Scream (1996), A Nightmare on Elms Street (1987), Halloween (1978) and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974).
However great, this isn’t a comprehensive list by any means! It shows that a movie marathon is not only possible, but themed flicks are incredibly easy to find! Grab a couple (or stream them), pop some popcorn and get comfortable hiding together under the covers!
3. Backyard Bonfires
A Staple of fall is the bon fire. For this reason alone, a backyard bonfire is the way to go! Although a bonfire is a great way to celebrate, it is what happens around the fire that really is meaningful. You can easily get the fire going just before sundown, cook some hot dogs for dinner, and smores for dessert. Don’t forget that the bon fire is the perfect place to share ghost stories!
When the fun is about to wind down, jiffy pop is a great way to get the fun started again! Simply place a grate over the fire and listen for the kernels to stop popping. Presto! Great outdoor popcorn! Next grab some camping chairs and cozy blankets to really make it a special night outdoors!
4. Ghoulish Goodies
Trick-or-treat may be the easiest way to satisfy that sweet tooth, yet crafting your own hauntingly good treats is a festive way to chomp some goodies! An Oreo cookie kit is a great way to decorate without having to bake. Kits like this rice crispy kit save time and offer great looking goodies! Furthermore, if you have the talent (unlike me) to make up some great snacks, there are several other goodies to be made. Also, check out some of my favorite tasty treats!
Why settle for a boring candy bar you can have year-round? Baking your own goodies keeps the spirits away, just be sure the garlic stays out of the snacks to protect against vampires! In contrast to making perfect goodies like Christmas, Halloween goodies allow for a few creative mistakes!
5. DIY Costume Fashion Shows
Growing up we had a tub filled with Halloween decorations. Among the piles of fake spider webs, long dried out tubes of fake blood, and purple strand lights resided bits of costumes long since forgotten. Before decorating each year, my sister and I would dress up as a variety of hodge-podge characters! I recall a vampire clown, a witch princess, and slasher witch to name a few. Finally, after several hours of trying outfits on, each season we would model our creature creations trying to one up each other!
Fast forward to 2021. My sister and I both have kids of our own, and they both love dressing up! Although it seems trick-or-treating may be off the table again, there is no excuse not to dawn a costume! Creating costumes out of household items or creating a costume from those leftover pieces of long past doctors, pilots and that one year you decided to go as a banana, is easier than a finding a new costume! Get creative and show off those weird monsters!
Trick-Or-Treat Or Not?
Few traditions permeate culture the way that trick-or-treating has. Should this year hold more uncertainties for us, the long-time practice could be in jeopardy again. These are a few ways to get into the holiday spirit should we need to hunker down again.
Aside from just Halloween, any of these fall activities can bring the family closer together! Best of all, you’re not going to break the bank with any activity on this list either! Certainly it beats having to purchase another $60 costume that you’ll wear once and shove in a box for several years! So get stay at home this Halloween and celebrate with these fall inspired tips!
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