# Last minute, low-budget party tricks?



## HalloweeNut Productions (Sep 26, 2009)

Hey y'all, 
I'm going to see if I can throw together a small, low-budget, get together with a few people from my High School. My plan is to show two movies, (one horror, one horror comedy), play creepy Nox Arcana music, and serve tasty desserts. Here's my dilemma: I don't have much in the way of props in Ohio where I live with my dad, 'cause I set up my haunt at my Mom's house in PA (better location to haunt). So I thought why not just use some lighting tricks and small-scale decor to set a spooky mood. So, what I'm asking is this: do anyone know some simple indoor lighting tricks to make a suburban house look creepy? Thanks guys!


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## Trinity1 (Sep 5, 2009)

I've always heard that lighting totally sets the mood for anything, so I think you're on the right track with that. I'm sure there are a lot of things you could do depending on the type of lighting you have. String lights in purple and orange always look fantastic and give that Halloween feel without a lot of other decor needed. 

Cob webs also work really well....AND you can get a decent amount of them cheap. Some spot lights in a blue or green pointed strategically at cobwebbed corners could look pretty cool. You could cover some of the furniture with sheets to give it that old haunted house kind of feel. Another idea is grabbing some tree branches, setting them in a pot or larger vase and wrapping them with some lights. 

There are definitely others on the board that can give you more in depth lighting ideas...but I think once you get started you'll come up with something awesome!! And of course...we'll need to see pictures


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## pumpkinpie (Jul 9, 2011)

Do you have Dollar Tree or any other $ store in your area? My party is being done on an extremely low budget as well and other than making most of my stuff with paper mache (as it is pretty much free) I have been casing my Dollar Tree store. I have been lucky to find creepy cloth, crows, rats, mini spot light (these are not colored but you can cover them with a gel or add color easy enough), and so much more. I would do Trinity1 trick and cover the furniture with sheets if you have them maybe sprinkle flour on the coffee/end tables to look like dust, **** the pictures on the walls so they look crooked, you could even plint black and white images off the internet and change out the pics...cover everything in spider webs (cheap,cheap,cheap) maybe add some candles or spot lights (I prefer red and green)...just remember it doesnt take alot of money to have a great party and Im sure your friends will appreciate anything you come up with


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## Ryadread (Oct 24, 2006)

Black garbage bags on windows & walls are a super cheap trick to darken any area. Add lighting & other effects mentioned & it easily turns any room into a dungeon. You can also shred a garbage bag long ways & hang it in the door way for guests to walk through. It divides the rooms & makes it seem more intriguing. In the bathroom, a red light, Fake blood splattered on shower walls or inside bathtub, include butcher knife for a murder scene effect. Hide a cd/mp3 player somewhere inside the bathroom with haunting & eerie sounds playing continuously. In a dark hallway hang various lengths/strands of fishing line from the ceiling. The strands should be long enough to touch the tops of your guests heads as they walk down the hallway. This is fun because they cant see the fishing line, but can feel it & it feels creepy. For an "alien" effect, aluminum foil on walls or ceiling complete with a strobe light is actually a decently cool effect. Creepy cloth hung on mirrors. Those are a few extremely cheap but effective ideas.....I will post more as I think of them.

Happy Haunting!
~Rya


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## RunawayOctober (Jul 3, 2011)

I, too, am kind of a low budget gal. Take a look at some of my favorite ideas here: http://pinterest.com/runawayoctober/halloween/

Some stuff that comes to mind:
- cobwebs, stretch them properly though. 
- drop cloths/old sheets.
- Haunt (teehee) your local thrift store. Find odd things, spray paint black/gray. 
- Print off old pictures from the Interwebz, add black construction paper masks to current pictures. 
- Sign up for Michaels and JoAnns email. They send out 45-50% off coupons. You could pick up your "big item" for fairly cheap.
- Witch/potion jars are cheap and easy. 
- Paint dead branches black, tack to the ceiling with fishing line. Add some dollar tree crows.
- Make spider sacs from wadding up fiberfill and white panty hose. Cover with spider webs. 
- Decorate the bathroom. Plastic shower curtains and white towels can be found for about a $1. Spatter with blood. Black light bulbs in your light fixtures. Michaels has a strobe/black light that plays spooky noises for about $10, should be on sale soon, would work well for a small bathroom. 
- If you have "sconce" type light fixtures, blank white masks look creepy over them. 
- Do a search for "halloween printables". There's a lot of cool stuff out there. And if you have even tiny photo editing skills, there's vintage illustrations to you can make into awesome art. 
- Spanish moss and cheesecloth/creepy cloth on everything. Doorframes, pictures, chandeliers, table surfaces, bookcases, etc. 
- Pack away most of your everyday stuff. Clean off your dresser/desk/counters. Try and fill it with spookyish stuff, if possible. 
- If you have time (only 62 days!), paper mache is great. I just made a whole slew of bones. It's taken a week, but when the temps reach 100* in my garage, I give up after an hour. 
- Remove light bulbs, or strategically place lamps around gathering areas. Candles are best, but only if you trust your guests. Dollar Tree sells "emergency candles" in a box of 6/$1, they last about 4-5 hours each. 
- Also, borrow! My favorite is to hit up the women my mom works with. Most of them are empty nesters and no longer decorate, so sometimes just tell me to keep it. 

As a hostess, I always believe what makes a party great are the small things. Sure, anyone can set an inflatable witch in their yard, crave some pumpkins and gob spiderwebs on everything, but what people remember most is that awesome portraits you printed out or the potion bottles set around, or that thing that made them jump. Have fun!!


Also, Rya, totally stealing your fishing line idea. The hallway to the most common bathroom will be perfect for that!


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## Frankie's Girl (Aug 27, 2007)

Another tip - stay away from the cheapy "blacklight" bulbs that are sold everywhere. If it costs less than $4 and isn't a florescent (curly or U shaped) bulb, then it's a fake blacklight. They can call them that because they use the glass coating that a real blacklight uses (wood's glass if you need useless info  ) and it does emit REALLY weak UV - so weak you can't really see anything, but it lacks the main element that makes real blacklights work. AND IT GETS SUPER DANGEROUSLY HOT. 

Watch out using real candles. Put them in containers where they can't be brushed against and place them in safe areas where they won't be a danger.

Agree with the other suggestions... I love getting stuff from thrift stores and spraypainting them. Pick up some old white sheets to throw over the furniture and another biggie - if at all possible, put away the normal decorations and knick-knacks that are in the main rooms you'll be gathering in. Family portraits, the sports memorabilia, the junk that is normally out on the surfaces and walls... they are not scary and will be a jarring note in your "haunted house" look.


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## MissMandy (Apr 18, 2011)

As far as setting the mood with lighting, those colored light bulbs work wonders! You can get them in green, blue, orange or red. I got a green one last year and used it above my kitchen sink. I was surprised at how bright it was! I thought it would be quite dim, like the black light bulbs Frankie's Girl mentioned. But it was perfect! Made my entire kitchen glow a spooky green  This year I plan to get a bunch and make each room a different color. At 2.99 each, ya can't go wrong.


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## kallie (Dec 4, 2007)

RunawayOctober said:


> I, too, am kind of a low budget gal. Take a look at some of my favorite ideas here: http://pinterest.com/runawayoctober/halloween/
> 
> Some stuff that comes to mind:
> - cobwebs, stretch them properly though.
> ...


Holy moly!! I don't know what that website is, but I just took a look and I loved it! It's gonna take me hours to peruse!!!


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## Wolfbeard (Sep 22, 2008)

If you have a willing friend with a chainsaw, I can suggest a great scare. At a pre arranged time (maybe when the scary movie is on), have your friend remove the chain from the chainsaw. Wearing a mask and overcoat or blood spattered costume, have your friend burst through the front door with the chainsaw roaring. He can safely run amok for about 10 to 15 seconds then abruptly leave. Any longer than 15 seconds, and you risk carbon monoxide poisoning and smelling up your house with the exhaust. The initial shock and scare are priceless. We did that once and people still talk about it years later. We try to incorporate a startle scare every few years.

Eric


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## HalloweeNut Productions (Sep 26, 2009)

Thanks everyone for your great advice! Wolfbeard, that'd be really funny, but my Dad would have a fit if I tried to do something like that. He can be a bit of a killjoy, sometimes.


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## natascha (Jul 21, 2004)

Battery operated candle are cool and you can find them cheap, they look pretty real when you have them in a candle holder.


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## tinafromidaho (May 8, 2008)

kallie said:


> Holy moly!! I don't know what that website is, but I just took a look and I loved it! It's gonna take me hours to peruse!!!


Double Ditto


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## RunawayOctober (Jul 3, 2011)

HalloweeNut Productions said:


> Thanks everyone for your great advice! Wolfbeard, that'd be really funny, but my Dad would have a fit if I tried to do something like that. He can be a bit of a killjoy, sometimes.


What about just a guy in a mask, or the evil character out of the scary movie you just "happen" to be watching at the time?


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## RunawayOctober (Jul 3, 2011)

Pinterest is awesome. Like stumbleupon, but better. If any of you want an invite (signing up through the site can take a couple days), just send my your email address.


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## DjIronic (Oct 1, 2004)

So many really great ideas in this thread! I have increasingly been moving away from the "store bought" look for our parties - cheap plastic/styrofoam crap from China just doesn't say "Halloween" for me as much anymore, lol. Especially since there is so much more you can do to evoke a spooky atmosphere on your own.

I would concur with almost everything people have been posting. Here are some of my ideas:

* Find fake flower bouquets at local thrift stores and paint them black/grey/blue. Super effective for the "moldering mansion" look. This is an example from last year, though the low angle showed me how much painting still needs to be done, lol! (looks better from the top...)









* The mirror above the bouquet was "re-done" with spray adhesive and talcum powder. The writing was done with adhesive remover and qtips. Thanks to HGTV for that decorating idea!

* Also from that pic - printed out Halloween-themed sheet music found on the Web, crinkled the paper up and soaked the paper in tea on a cookie sheet for instant aging!

* Low-wattage orange/amber light bulbs give a muted, warm "antique" glow - good for visibility while still maintaining a spooky "Halloween-like" vibe. I replace almost every regular light bulb with an orange bulb.

* Fabric, fabric, fabric - I use it everywhere I can (and can afford! lol...). Thule (sp?) fabric is very inexpensive (<$1/yard). We use it across the ceiling and draping down. Creepy cloth/cheesecloth is used to drape everywhere and everything - windows, furniture, lamps (far away from the bulbs, tho!), stereo speakers, etc. More expensive fabrics can look like moldering wall paper (see gold decayed fabric in the photo below).









Love the ideas others have posted: replacing existing photos with printed out images, white sheets on the furniture, dead branches, LED tealights, etc...


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## GobbyGruesome (Sep 14, 2005)

Shadows are always good, and nearly free!


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## IshWitch (May 19, 2006)

I put blue light bulbs in the lamps and some red Christmas string lights under the furniture the last 2 years and the ambiance it created was awesome. Try different color combinations and see how it works for you. People never expect light to be coming from _under_ furniture so is kind of freaky.


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## HalloweeNut Productions (Sep 26, 2009)

OK, bad news - I won't be able to do a party this year, due to lack of funds. I did the math, even a small party was gonna cost too much this year. However, I REALLY appreciate everyone offering such awesome ideas and advice. I never fail to underestimate the kindness of my fellow fanatics. Oh, and DjIronic - awesome decor!


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## star_girl_mag (Aug 5, 2008)

You can' do pizza and punch, cobwebs and a couple movies? Really the biggest way to stretch your budget is just to use lights and cobwebs. The first year I threw a party, all we did inside was lights and cobwebs and a "divination table" made from creepy odds and ends around the house (feather, spoon, old cards, a crystal ball [light fixture we painted white inside and put glow sticks] bits of fabrics, old bottles, old teacup w/ tealeaves and TONS of cobwebs. You could easily get away with soda and Little Caesar's, not sure if you have that there in Oh but here it's only $5 a pizza. Good luck either way.


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## SPOOK-ELLA (Aug 11, 2010)

You have to have a party.  The best party i ever had was my mom 50th and I was broke as a joke. But I let everyone i know how broke I was and we threw a potluck. Everyone brought something and I was able to borrow some decorations from my aunt. It was awesome. Really consider the potluck idea. I hope you are able to do something.


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## Xane (Oct 13, 2010)

Hmmm. I agree, throw it as a potluck! But only if you've got the space for it. If part of the funding reason was because you need to set up tents, tables, etc, due to having no room inside your place, then that might not work out so well. I know several people who don't really make enough to go all out but since they have the room we're more than happy to bring decorations and food and get the party going.


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## HalloweeNut Productions (Sep 26, 2009)

Well, things are starting look up. While I know this isn't a Halloween party, I think I MIGHT be hosting a Christmas potluck for some Haunter friends in December. At least I'll be able to make the cheery Xmas stuff look spooky with skulls and pumpkins!


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