Create a Scary Haunted House Room for Halloween

Featured Image: Jack-o-Lantern Centerpiece for Your Halloween Haunted House

If you love the spookier side of Halloween, like scary movies and haunted hayrides, it may be time to up your game this October 31st. Kids like getting candy, but transforming your space into a haunted house will create memories that will last a lifetime. Read on for surprisingly easy party ideas that will convert your home into a spooktakular dwelling that everyone can enjoy.

Image: Spooky Halloween Party Decorations and Banner

Living Room

Set Up Spooky Decorations

Every haunted house starts with good decorations.  You can purchase some ghoulish trimmings from a party store or get crafty and make them yourself. This may include tablecloths with “bloody” handprints, fake spiderwebs, plastic severed limbs, witch’s cauldrons, or anything with skulls, ghosts, zombies, witches, and other spooky creatures. Put decorations on tables, countertops, walls, and entryways to fully immerse your home in that haunted look.

Make a Scary Tunnel

Crawling through a tunnel is scary because it’s disorienting and limits your normal range of motion. It’s the perfect way to start the haunted house in your living room. Use cardboard, foam, blankets, or another common household material to build its structure. l Then line it with mysterious obstructions- like balloons, cobwebs, and fake spiders for an extra layer of spookiness.

Image: Fantasy Zebra Marble from Arizona Tile

Kitchen

Set the Stage with a Dark Room

To fully immerse guests in your haunted house, it’s important to cover the windows and bright surfaces with dark and opaque materials.  Black blankets and garbage bags are the perfect choice for preventing light from getting in and ruining the illusion that you’ve created.

If you want a more permanent dark centerpiece in your kitchen, consider incorporating black granite, marble, or porcelain tile. When you see dark stone or tile with pops of white or grey, you’ll think of a starry Halloween night sky. Some natural stones, like the stunning  Negro Marquina marble, have almost cobweb-like white lines that will keep a subtle Halloween spirit in your home all year. Black slabs and tile will also provide the perfect backdrop for your at-home haunted house.

Image: Titanium Granite Kitchen Countertop from Arizona Tile

Consider a textured black tile with a simplistic, modern appeal like Reside for your floors. For statement countertops, look for a black stone with milky white patterns that provide a playful contrast, like Titanium Granite or the dreamy Fantasy Zebra marble.

Create a Touch-and-Feel Box

Touch-and-feel boxes are a fun way to get guests of all ages involved in your haunted house. To make a touch-and-feel box, cut a small hole in a cardboard box. Next, put something with an interesting texture inside the box. Then invite guests to partake, if they dare. Imagine touching gooey Jell-O, slimy cooked spaghetti, or a wet sponge, but without knowing what it is – Yikes! This is truly entertaining for everyone involved, as the way people react while touching these objects is priceless.

Dining Room

Add a Jump Scare

Imagine this: you think you’re safe from horror in the dining room, so you happily reach for a Halloween-themed snack. A hand suddenly comes out of the table and grabs you!

Set up this jump scare by creating the illusion of a normal table but with someone hidden under it and a hole in the table. Put the hole under a cloche, so when the guest opens it, the hand can pop out.

Use a Fog Machine

To get that full-moon-at-a-graveyard-on-Halloween-night look, you need to use a fog machine. You can get a fog machine at a party or Halloween store. Set the fog machine up in your dining room or any other room, with a bright light shining on the fog, to create that mysterious hazy look that all the best horror movies have.

Image: Halloween Treats Table for your Haunted House Guests

Bedroom 

Cover Mirrors with a Scary Picture

To make people scared of their reflection, find a terrifying portrait and tape it to the bedroom mirrors. Look for a portrait of a skeleton, mummy, or popular horror character from a movie.

Make Mysterious Sounds

A lot of a haunted house’s horror comes from the element of sound. Creepy laughing, mysterious footsteps, or terrifying banging sounds can make your skin crawl. There are countless soundtracks available at a low cost or for free on the internet. Or have helpers pound walls and make scary noises throughout the night to set the mood.

Take Your Haunted House Room Ideas to the Next Level

When you’re done with all of the fun of Halloween and are ready to tackle your next renovation project, big or small, the experts at Arizona Tile are ready to help! Feel free to explore our unique slabs and tile collections at one of our many locations, or see what your favorite stone or tile would look like in your home with our design tool.   Our team has the skill and knowledge to guide you through the process, contact us today so we can help you get started.