Eight Affordable Ways to Turn Your Home into a Haunted House

Looking to scare and spook your Halloween trick-or-treaters and guests? Then creating a haunted house in your home is the ultimate way to have fun this Halloween. It doesn't have to be scary expensive to be scary cool either. Use these top eight ways to turn your home into a haunted house and you'll be sure to get the most out of your Halloween decorations without scaring yourself with the bills.

Haunted Maze

Nothing is spookier than a dark and unknown passageway. Set up the space in your garage to provide a safe place for children to get sacred without having to actually enter your home. Just be sure to clean out any real dangerous items like the hedge trimmers and lawnmower. Set up an exit at the end were kids can get their candy.

Cardboard Tunnels

Nothing is easier and cheaper than taping a few cardboard boxes together, painting the insides black and hanging all sorts of creepy crawly from strings. Even just a few pieces of yarn hanging in the dark can be enough to creep out even the toughest of trick-or-treaters.

Motion Activated Décor

Even if it looks like a dummy, when it becomes animated it can be a real terror. Motion activated décor works perfect on front porches and in dark areas of the haunted house. These devices work best when they are set around a corner or hid behind a stationary object.

Cheese Cloth Curtains

With a large piece of cheese cloth and a little black dye, you can easily and affordably create a spooky drapery set, perfect for any respectable haunted house. Rip and tear a few holes in the curtain and shred the bottom for the ultimate in scary haunted house accessories.

Live Actors

For the scariest haunted house on the block, it's in your best interest to use live actors to scare your haunted house guests. Dripping blood, zombie makeup and tattered clothes all make for an affordable and frightening display for your homemade haunted house.

Fog Machine

While these can be a little pricey, they make the best effects for a haunted house. Fog machines provide the perfect ambiance for graveyard and other creepy haunted house themes. A cheaper version of a fog machine is to create a witches cauldron. By filling a large cauldron or tub with warm water and throwing in a few chunks of dry ice, you can create your own bubbling cauldron with fog.

Spooky Sounds

While visual cues work great for the haunted house, adding an element of sound can be just the thing to scare your guests stiff. Rattling chains, howling moans and crying ghosts all come to life with their own personal soundtrack.

Faux Candy Treats

When you're unsuspecting trick-or-treaters make it to the end of your haunted house, they expect some candy. Give it to them in a bowl with the bottom cut out and set it onto of a cardboard box with a person inside the box. When they reach for the candy, a crazy hand comes through and seizes the would be candy grabber!