# 2008 halloween party help



## Nascar8mom2 (Mar 3, 2008)

*Hello i am new here. I will be having my 3rd Halloween party this year for my hubby's work at my home. Every year i try to do some new stuff. This year will be a costume party(no theme) and out on my pool deck it is pleanty big enough for alot of people. I am looking for suggestions for my entrance way. Ok here is what i will do. I will take pic's and then post so y'all can get an idea of how big the entrance walkway is and then go from there. Maybe with the pic's i can get better suggestions. I will post them tomorrow. Thanks in advance!*


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## Spookilicious mama (Feb 27, 2008)

Welcome Nascar8mom2 I am fairly new here as well but have been doing the Halloween party thing for years. Definatley send the pics, but give us more info. I see the costume part has no theme, but what about the party itself. There are all sorts of ways you can go. Are you looking for something more sophisticated or are you more of a gore ghoul. Let us know.


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## Nascar8mom2 (Mar 3, 2008)




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## Nascar8mom2 (Mar 3, 2008)

OOPS and this one too


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## Nascar8mom2 (Mar 3, 2008)

*Here are the pic's! I think i need to go back out front and take another photo of the front area. It is alot larger than the first pic. I will post that one in a few. Also i wanted to do the entrance kinda scarey like a haunted house. Any ideas on how i should do my entrance is greatly appreciated. Also on my first post i said this was a no theme party! We just want everyone from hubby's work to come relax and enjoy, HAVE FUN and forget about work!*


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## Nascar8mom2 (Mar 3, 2008)

*Better pic's of the front yard.








*


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## Spookilicious mama (Feb 27, 2008)

woops I hit send too quick, so I am taking your advice and I am forgetting about work for a minute. you have a great yard to do some really great stuff. The lake can lead to a very scary enviornment at night. As for the front entrance I would suggest building a frame out of 2 by 4's forming a path. then you can cover the top with tarp and line the walls with black plastic. this will give you a nice inexpensive start to your spooky entrance. You can fill the inside with props and all sorts of spooky lighting and music. You can make it one long cemetery with tombstones and bones a lantern here and there and the occasional skeleton, maybe have them doing something comical or go for more scary. Don;t forget to add a coffin. Low lying fog is a nice touch. Or you can just add your favorite props. I find lighting and music and really add to the feel. One year I had my entrance filled with only black light (really big ones) and then painted all of my skeletons in a different glow in the dark color, added glow paint to my tombstones and all of my other props. It made for a very cool look. Everyone loved it.


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## jadewik (Dec 6, 2007)

Spookilicious mama is right... we need a few more details.

She mentioned a few things... the party itself isn't themed, but she's right-- it'd be helpful to have more information towards what type of decorating you've done in the past and what you're looking to do this year. For example- If you have victorian gothic taste... or blood and guts type decorations.

Budget may also be a concern... How many Halloween decorations/props do you have? What are they? What's your budget? Knowing what items you have will help us keep the base costs down.... whereas if someone just suggested something based on the photos, you may have to fund a whole new supply of decorations.

Also, how much of your yard you want to decorate? The more space you decorate, the more decorations you'd need. For example, if you wanted to do something simple, something like luminaries leading up to the gate and beyond would suffice.... whereas, if you wanted to do something more elaborate, you might do a pathway designated by lights and tombstones with an owl and torn cloth or ghosts hanging from that tree beside the gate and some spooky soundtrack playing in the bushes.... a coffin, some skeletons, and a big "wrought iron" gate that's hand crafted and looks darned spooky.

I notice the pirate flag in your back yard... perhaps you could make that sun-room into a "ghoulish pub" of sorts....


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## Nascar8mom2 (Mar 3, 2008)

*I have an inflatable arch ( grim reaper), 2 cage pirates (1 talks), 1 inflatable witch w/ cauldron, 1 white ghoulish lady (43 inches long), 1 big skeleton foam face probably 2 foot long, 1 white ghost i made , lots of red christmas lights we usually use for a walkway, 8 small tiki tourches, 1 fog machine and i always buy 2 large pumpkins. I know i might need more stuff and im looking to spend no more than 200 bucks for more stuff. I do have boards for the windows in the garage for our hurricane season. My husband also runs speaker wire for scarey sounds out there too. I was also thinking of making grave stones and getting another fog machine for the effects.*


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## Headless Horseman (Feb 7, 2008)

That back yard with the tree would make a great cemetery!!!


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## Spookilicious mama (Feb 27, 2008)

So I agree with Jadewick a ghoulish pub would be a great idea. I also had a reaper archway which I used as an archway at the beginning of my entrance path and it worked out great. You really should try to do the path with the enclose frame it really does make for a great spooky beginning to the party. Really puts people in the mood.


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## Nascar8mom2 (Mar 3, 2008)

*I see!!!! Set up my inflatable arch and put the enclosed frame behind it all the way to the gate entrance.*


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## Spookilicious mama (Feb 27, 2008)

Exactly, The archway makes for a great entrance. Once inside you can do as your little spooky heart desires. If you do decide to pick a them then you would give them a taste of during the enclosed path, if you still want no theme then you can add ghouls as desired. It sounds like you have a lot of great stuff to start with. Remember, Lots of things can be made if you start early enough, this will keep your costs way down. I don't know if you got my message from before, but I see you have a great tree in the back, we once built a pirate ship crashed into a tree we have that had a skeleton at the helm with a 30 foot mast. it was a great effect. Of course trees are always good to hang ghouls from. Let us know what you decide and remember to take lots of pictures so you can share later. Happy Haunting.


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## pandora (Jul 15, 2004)

This may sound corny, but you could also try doing the "thread" trick through the entrance. Attach threads at varying heights from the roof of the tunnel to randomly brush everyone's face. Also, throw peanuts and shells on the ground to crunch and crackle under the feet. You could place cd players every ten feet or so (where they can't see) and alternate between scary music or effects and the "insect" sound effects. I know it sounds goofy - but it's a cheap thrill. For about $20 for thread and peanuts-it might throw them off balance for whatever else you throw at them in the way of props.


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## childofthenight (Aug 24, 2007)

wow what a great place... you defently need a swamp creature in your stream ..or was that a lake?lots of potential there


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## Spookilicious mama (Feb 27, 2008)

Really like the cracked peanut shell idea, I may have to do that. I do the CD player every few feet or so and have different sounds for each one. The people really like that effect. To add to your thread idea One year I did something similar where I tore pieces of material about quarter to half inch wide at different lengths and then soaked them in water. Very creepy feel when something wet touches you and you don't expect it.


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## pandora (Jul 15, 2004)

Spookilicious mama said:


> Really like the cracked peanut shell idea, I may have to do that. I do the CD player every few feet or so and have different sounds for each one. The people really like that effect. To add to your thread idea One year I did something similar where I tore pieces of material about quarter to half inch wide at different lengths and then soaked them in water. Very creepy feel when something wet touches you and you don't expect it.


EWWWW that's a new one. That would be icky. How wonderful!!


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## Nascar8mom2 (Mar 3, 2008)

*Thank you all for the idea's!!! I greatly appreciate it and they have gone a long way. Keep all those great idea's coming and thanks again. My friend and i came up with an idea today. I always use a cooler for my Halloween Hunch Punch. I wanted to dress up the cooler a bit so we hatched a plan. For the color we are going to spray paint the cooler all black(except for the lid). For the lid we are going to use red satin material as a cover with batting sorta like a coffin. Then i found a talking skeleton just perfect to glue on top of lid. Everytime someone opens the lid the skeleton will say something. Just thought i would share my brain storm LOL! *


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## pandora (Jul 15, 2004)

Great idea NascarMom-very festive and freaky! They'll love it.


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## MHooch (Jun 15, 2007)

the hanging threads idea is not corny, just a time tested, easy-to-do crowd pleaser!! But the wet fabric...now THAT'S a brilliant take on the idea!!


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## pandora (Jul 15, 2004)

MHooch said:


> the hanging threads idea is not corny, just a time tested, easy-to-do crowd pleaser!! But the wet fabric...now THAT'S a brilliant take on the idea!!



I agree!! It's a great idea - very creepy.


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## Pretendman (Feb 20, 2008)

*Big Inflatable of Grim Reaper*

You have a ton of options there.
Check out this site for Halloween decorations. There is a terrific Grim Reaper inflatable that could work right in your entrance.

I hope this helps


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