Spirit Halloween pops up every autumn in spacious, vacant storefronts, selling everything from Chucky costumes to Ouija board socks. But it’s the animatronic scaries that make a visit to the store feel like a trip to the Haunted Mansion. They’re more ghoulish and gory than Lewis or the Home Depot skeleton, and they often pop out in jump-scare mode.
Halloween Is Here: How to Set Up a Haunted Smart House Last Minute
With only one day left until trick-or-treat night, there’s still time to transform your home into a haunted house.
Gael Fashingbauer Cooper
CNET freelancer Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, a journalist and pop-culture junkie, is co-author of “Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the ’70s and ’80s,” as well as “The Totally Sweet ’90s.” If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she’ll be first in line.
Gael Fashingbauer Cooper
Oct. 29, 2023 12:37 p.m. PT
6 min read
Got an uncarved pumpkin on your steps and some “zombie quarantine” crime-scene tape slung across your door? Yeah, that might have cut it back in 1999, but it’s probably time to up your Halloween-decor game. There are now plenty of high-tech (and medium-tech) options that can turn your home into the best haunted mansion on the block, even with only one day to spare. You don’t have to have a Ph.D. to assemble them, and there’s still time to scare up some fun.
Here are my best picks for last-minute Halloween decor that’ll impress everyone in your neighborhood, where to get them and how to set it all up.
The king of Halloween decor
If DIY-ing a bunch of mechanisms and animatronics doesn’t appeal to your sense of simplicity, and you don’t mind paying, then you could let a giant skeleton do all the work for you.
Probably the trendiest Halloween decoration of recent years — and the easiest, because it’s all you need — is the 12-foot skeleton from Home Depot, which created a scary stir when it launched in 2020. As well as the enormous size, the animated LCD eyes make it even more unnerving.
Ground stakes keep the giant skeleton from wandering, and it can operate off a battery or plugged in, with a timer that turns it on for 6 hours, then off for 18.
It’s not cheap ($300), and it can be hard to find. (The store’s website tells me stores near me do have it, but that stock is limited.) If you can’t find the skeleton or want something else, Home Depot has an entire lineup of creepy creatures now, called its Grave & Bones line.
This year’s latest contender from Home Depot is the talking, singing 13-foot Jack Skellington, who costs $400. His head comes off, and you can choose between an angry face or a happy face. And the best part? He transitions nicely into lawn decor for the holidays. Just stick a Santa hat on him.
Lewis, Target’s challenger to the giant skeleton
Target couldn’t let Home Depot have all the fun — or terror. The discount store created a more budget-friendly challenger to the Home Depot skeleton.
Lewis is a jack-o’-lantern-faced creepster who’s 8 feet tall and actually talks, speaking six different phrases, including the classic “I am NOT a jack-o’-lantern! My name is Lewis!” He’s shorter than the Home Depot guy and a lot cheaper ($126), but sadly, he’s out of stock at the moment.
Target’s got plenty of other Halloween decor still in stock — we like these front-yard tombstones, animated reaper with glowing eyes and this cemetery scene-setter, aka a batch of bones that appear to be clawing their way out of your yard.
Haunted House Worksheets – Descriptive Writing Activity
Updated Updated: 29 Sep 2023
Draw and write about scary Halloween houses with a printable Halloween descriptive writing activity pack.
Editable Editable: Google Slides
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Pages Pages: 1 Page
Curriculum Curriculum: AUS V8, AUS V9
Years Years: 3 – 5
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Draw and write about scary Halloween houses with a printable Halloween descriptive writing activity pack.
This Halloween, take your students on a spine-tingling journey of imagination and vocabulary with a Haunted House writing project.” This spooktacularly resource is perfect for inspiring students to step into the creepy world of haunted houses, crafting descriptive essays that will surely spookify your classroom with ease.
Haunted Houses Make the BEST Descriptive Writing Prompts!
This resource pack contains a variety of printable planning pages to help your students brainstorm ideas and features of the spooky house that haunts their imaginations. These guides help students build the foundation and write descriptive essays rich in sensory language, highly engaging, and fun to read!
We’ve included the following writing exercises to help your students write the spookiest haunted house descriptions possible!
Haunted House Idea Map – Students will brainstorm ideas for what their haunted house looks like on the outside and inside, along with what might be heard and where it may be located.
Design a Haunted House Worksheet – Students will draw their haunted house from the outside and use their drawing and brainstorming information to write a descriptive essay.
Who Lives in a Haunted House? Worksheet – Students will draw a spooky creature that lives in their house and write a list of descriptive adjectives they can use to describe it.
What’s in a Haunted House? Students will design and draw an interior room in their haunted house. They will then label their drawing to generate more ideas for their essay.
Download Your Halloween Writing Activity Today!
Ready to get your lesson plans under wraps? Your new resources are ready and waiting. Give that dropdown arrow on the Download button a click for your choice of Editable Google Slides or easy-to-print PDF. Download, Print, and Go!
This resource was created by Lisamarie Del Valle, a Teach Starter Collaborator.
