10 Halloween Lighting Ideas That Will Scare Your Guests

Decorating for Halloween can be a lot easier than most people make it out to be. Forget about the mess of putting up fake spiderwebs and sacrificing your spare bed sheets to make yard ghosts. The best way to make your home a little spookier is to use Halloween lighting!

The right lighting is sure to create the look you’re going for. Whether you want to be the scariest house on the block or just have a little fun when handing out Halloween candy, you have to figure out what kind of lighting will best set the scene.

Here are ten cool Halloween lighting ideas for you to choose from.

1. Backlight Halloween Objects in Your Windows

To backlight something means to illuminate it from behind. It’s basically the opposite of creating shadows, but when used correctly, it’s even spookier.

This is a great option if you have yard decorations you want to take to the next level or indoor Halloween items you want to backlight for onlookers to see. Backlighting something as simple as a hand or an outline of a witch’s hat or a scary cat is an easy way to give the house the right sense of scariness.

2. Candlelight the Doorway

If you’re not trying to completely freak people out, you may be better off setting up candles around the doorway. Get creative with your jack-o-lanterns this year. Try to make them all cohesive instead of coming up with super different designs.

More so, create as much room for the candles to shine through as possible. This helps illuminate the porch as trick or treaters get closer to the door. Not to mention, they’re pretty entertaining to look at when there’s a line of people waiting for their candy.

3. Fog Light the Yard

Get some fog lights if you want to turn the spookiness up a notch. All it takes is two or three of these to transform the whole yard.

Fog lighting is one of the easiest ways to turn your property into the ultimate Halloween house. It’s also easy to manage if you’re someone who likes to have their Halloween decorations up as long as possible.

4. Create Shadows in the Driveway

While it’s good to put up some decorations a week or two before Halloween, this lighting idea works best on the night of. Set up items in your yard that you can cast shadows with onto the driveway or the side of the house.

Shadow figures can make it look like there’s a monster hiding in the bushes or a creepy creature following people as they go to get their candy. It takes a bit of extra planning to get the shapes and shadows just right, but it looks really cool when you figure out how to pull it off!

5. Put a Strobe Light Inside

This is one of the easier Halloween lighting ideas, but it never gets old. All you have to do is put a strobe light somewhere near the front windows of your home. It can be right by the front door or off to the side.

But, keep in mind this will be going all night. You don’t want to put a strobe light in the living room if you plan to be watching TV as you wait for trick or treaters. If this is where the biggest window is, though, put something behind the strobe light so that the effects mostly affect the outside, not the inside.

6. Color Light the Whole House

Another way to have some fun with lighting this Halloween season is to color light your home. You can put red all over the yard to create a scary scene or shine an orange-colored light to spread the spirit of Halloween. Maybe even combine a few different colors to see what kind of unique, spooky setting comes of them.

7. Light the Fence

If you have a fence that is a good distance away from the front door, don’t forget to light this part of your home, too. Try to get lights that go on and off in a flickering fashion for a scary effect. For something more light and cheery, jack-o-lantern string lights should do.

8. Skip Candle Jack-o-Lanterns for Artificial Ones

Speaking of light-up jack-o-lanterns, consider putting these all over your porch and yard. These are much easier to set up and manage than regular candle jack-o-lanterns, plus you can reuse them year after year.

You don’t want to have the same jack-o-lantern all over the place, though. The trick to using this Halloween lighting style is to find different light-up designs.

9. Use Sensory Lights

Here’s another interesting option to think about: sensory lights. These are the fun, spooky alternative to having objects pop out at people as they get their Halloween candy. Instead, sensory lights are what pop out of nowhere and make your guests jump back or think twice as they walk along their path.

10. Combine Different Halloween Lighting Styles

Keep in mind you don’t have to pick just one or two of the Halloween lighting ideas on this list. The best way to create the ultimate Halloween lighting is to mix a few of these suggestions together!

One way to do this is by putting strobe lights in the house and color lights on the outside, with artificial jack-o-lanterns everywhere. Or, go the classic approach with traditional jack-o-lanterns and fog lighting with a bit of shadow lighting placed strategically around the yard.

Bring Your Favorite Halloween Lighting Ideas to Life

You can read about Halloween lighting ideas all day, but at some point, you have to get to work. Take a moment to choose the decor suggestions you want to use this year then figure out how to make them happen.

For more holiday lighting tips and tricks, click here!