21 Best Outdoor Halloween Decorations To Haunt Your House

With fall right around the corner, it’s time to start planning your outdoor Halloween decorations. Although Halloween decorations can get costly in a hurry, there are plenty of ways in which you can capture the spirit of this spooky holiday without breaking your budget. Here are 21 of the best outdoor Halloween decorations that are sure to set your house apart from the rest.

1. DIY Front Door Monster

Halloween is all about the monsters and turning your front door into one will attract trick-o-treaters all of kinds. All you need is a few paper plates and black card stock for the eyes, masking tape for the teeth and eyebrows, and some orange and black streamers for the hair. For under $40, you really can’t beat this monster of a door.

2. Tombstone Yard

Halloween yard decorations are among the most fun of any holiday. With tombstones being one of the iconic looks for Halloween, transforming your yard into a graveyard will catch the attention of the whole neighborhood. You can make your own tombstones out of plywood or buy some pre-made ones for around $15 a piece. The key to making your graveyard stand out is variety, so make sure you select different styles and heights.

3. A Rustic Halloween

Give your front porch a farmhouse feel this Halloween with some fresh flowers, a variety of pumpkins, and a few rustic pieces — like an old propane tank jack-o’-lantern. Use soft orange and red colors for the flowers, and plant them in used or antique holders. Go for pumpkins of varying sizes and colors, all of which will blend nicely into a farmhouse look that won’t break your budget.

4. DIY Signs

You can make custom Halloween signs with some plywood, paint and card stock. Start by picking up some plywood at your local lumber store and cutting it to your desired size. Then paint the plywood a dark color so it offsets the card stock. Then trace and cut letters, like Trick or Trick, and glue them to the plywood. In all, this project should cost you under $30, depending on how many signs you want to make!

5. Spooky Mummy Front Door

Mummies are classic staples of Halloween. Transform your front door into a Halloween mummy with nothing more than some white gauze and black paper plates. Simply wrap the front door with the gauze and cut out two oval shapes from the paper for eyes. For less than $20, you can have the best mummy on the block.

6. Animatronics

Halloween animatronics really take things to the next level — but they will cost you. A life-sized animatronic decoration will run you anywhere between $150 to $250. The upside is that they are completely amazing and last for years to come. They also come in a wide range of options, from scarecrows and clowns to creepy dolls riding ponies, so you should be able to find something that matches your style.

7. Black Cat Decor

Nothing says Halloween like a black cat, especially when it glows orange. This simple Halloween decoration can add a lot of flair to your porch, and it only costs around $90. The cat is made out of a wire frame and features orange lights throughout its body. Placing one on your front porch is sure to get a few scares after nightfall and some compliments from your neighbors.

8. Halloween Inflatables

Inflatables are a great way to fill up space and add an interesting element to your outdoor Halloween decorations. You can usually purchase inflatable decorations for around $100, depending on the size. Inflatables come in a slew of options, including pumpkins, ghosts, witch cauldrons, snakes, spiders, bats, and grim reapers, to name a few. Not only are they sure to entertain guests on Halloween night, but when the holiday is over, inflatables are super easy to deflate and store away until next season.

9. Outdoor Lanterns

Hanging orange lanterns is a great way to add color to your front porch. It also draws attention upward in case you don’t want to go all out on the ground. Even better, orange lanterns are among the cheapest Halloween decorations on the market and you can get a set for as little as $10. Complete the look with some orange throw pillows and a few pumpkins.

10. Flying Witch Hats

The kids in your neighborhood will absolutely love these floating witch hats — and your wallet will too! All you need are a few witch hats, some fishing lines, hooks and a few LED light sticks. Attach an LED light stick to the inside of the witch hat with the fishing line, centering the light as much as possible. Then pull the line through the top of the hat and hang it from the hook.

11. Felt Bats

Felt bats are a great decoration idea that costs under $10. All you need is some black felt and a bat stencil to cut out the pattern. You can make as many bats as you want, but we recommend not stopping until you have a proper swarm. Attach the bats to your house with a bit of double sided tape.

12. Massive Spider Web

You can make a huge spider web to hang over your front porch with a little bit of tinsel garland or clothesline. All you have to do is tie the strands of rope together to form a spider web pattern. You can attach the spider web anywhere you like, including the front porch or out in the yard. Add a few large spiders and you have yourself a proper spider web.

13. Pumpkin Trees

Although jack-o’-lanterns are typically found on porch steps, they can look just as haunting perched up in a tree. In fact, tree limbs are perfect perches for these Halloween decorations, and adding a few lanterns and some faux crows can really complete the look. Styrofoam pumpkins are a good match for tree decorating because they are light and not prone to rotting. You can also light them with LED lights, which makes them a perfect spooky substitute.

14. Sitting Skeleton

If the bench on your front porch is feeling a little empty, spice things up with a skeleton greeter. These life-sized creature cost under $30 and can help greet guests as they raid your house for candy. You can make the skeleton look extra creepy with some spider webs and chains or add a second one to really take things up a notch.

15. Digital Haunted House

Although the setup is more expensive, adding digital decor to your yard is sure to frighten everyone who comes knocking. All you need is a projector and some special effects DVDs, which run around $40 a pop. You can display these spooky graphics on windows or doors, turning your home into a real life haunted house.

16. Canning Pumpkin

You can turn old canning lids into a vintage pumpkin in no time flat. Simply paint the lids orange and scuff up the lids with some sand paper for a vintage look. Then tie them together with some string and add an old tree branch for the stem. You can make as many of these as you like, though they do go best with other vintage items.

17. Pumpkin Bag Lights

Trade out your traditional outdoor lights with these luminous pumpkin bags. These bags feature battery-operated lights that are sure to guide trick-or-treaters safely to the goods. You can get a pack of these bags for around $25, though you may need more than one pack to fully lit your walkway.

18. Abandoned House

Halloween decorations around the yard are one thing, but why not take things to the next level and incorporate your house into the mix? You can achieve an abandoned house look with a few old boards and some cobwebs, all of which will cost you under $30. Simply hang the boards over windows and dress everything up with cobwebs.

19. A Zombie Halloween

If your planning on having a few tombstones in your yard this Halloween, adding a few zombies to the mix can really pull everything together. You can pick up a lawn zombie for a little under $30, which makes them a perfect addition to your custom graveyard. You can also add a light-up grim reaper, which sells for $25, as an extra touch.

20. Fence Decorations

Cemetery and Gothic fences can add another layer of spooky to your yard. These fences come in all shapes and sizes, from 12 inches to 3 feet, with the bigger ones running around $25 a piece.

21. Outdoor Lights

Let’s face it, your Halloween decorations aren’t complete without a few spooky lights. Luckily, your lighting options for Halloween are practically endless. Spooky string lights are great for hanging over porches and will only cost you about $30. Candelabras are another popular option, as are projection light decorations, which only run $25.