You might think that Halloween stops being fun as soon as the neighbors call you out for being too old to trick-or-treat. But one day, when you have a house of your own, you realize that turning your quaint homestead into a terrifying haunted house makes Halloween infinitely more enjoyable.




Some people are content to put a couple of jack-o’-lanterns on the porch, a ghost or two hanging from a tree, and maybe a foam tombstone perched on the lawn. That’s a cop out. If you’re going to decorate for Halloween, you need to go all out and ensure the neighborhood kids are earning their free candy by braving a trip to your front door.

Webcaster Gun


The first thing you need to do to get ready for Halloween is to set the mood. That includes not mowing the front lawn for a few weeks, letting dead leaves pile up everywhere, and plastering your home’s facade with thick layers of fake cobwebs using this Webcaster Gun. It’s essentially a hot glue gun that attaches to your shop-vac’s exhaust, flinging melted glue over every surface making it look like the spiders have taken over. $21

[ThinkGeek]

Animated Swinging Decrepit Doll

Do you know what’s creepier than old, antique dolls? Nothing. They’re at the top of the horror pecking order. This 30-inch tall nightmare’s hollowed out eyes glow a creepy blue, while her heads turn back and forth. You can have her running non-stop, or only speaking haunted phrases whenever someone walks past and triggers a motion sensor. So much for ever sleeping again. $140

[TheHorrorDome]

Animatronic Flying Ghost


An old bed sheet hanging from a clothes line isn’t going to do much to scare the neighborhood kids. They probably watch American Horror Story and laugh. You need to install this seven-foot-tall spectre that shoots out eight feet thanks to hidden pneumatics and a motion sensor. It also screams and thrashes about, just to maximize the terror. $3,315

[TheHorrorDome]

CO2 Cannon


You know what they say, where there’s smoke, there’s spooky. And there’s no better way to blanket your home in an eerie layer of fog than with a professional-grade CO2 cannon blasting away all night long. This unit also has a swivelling emitter that can remotely blanket your entire front lawn for added mystery. $1,400

[Cryo FX]



Screaming Ghost Tombstone Splitter


You can’t have a haunted house without a cemetery nearby. Where are all those ghouls and ghosts supposed to come from? But a row of styrofoam tombstones is lame. What you need is a decrepit, cracked tombstone that splits apart to reveal a seven-feet tall screaming, flailing ghost leaping out of the ground, clambering at anyone who tripped its motion sensor. $3,350

[TheHorrorDome]

T8X Robotic Spider


If you’ve covered every last undecorated inch of your home with fake spiderwebs, trick-or-treaters are going to expect at least one spider crawling around the place. But will they be expecting this over-sized robotic remote control tarantula bearing down on them? Using 26 different servos it crawls around just like the real thing, but we recommend opting for the limited edition hair-covered version for added realism. $3,000

[Robugtix]

Flailing Animatronic Spider Attack Victim


Where there’s one giant spider, there has to be at least 100 more hiding in the shadows. And if costumed kiddies aren’t spooked by a remote control tarantula running up to them, they’ll definitely be freaked out by this poor chap whose face is covered in spiders trying to make a meal of him. He pops up unexpectedly and screams while frantically trying to shake them off, but those attacking spiders aren’t going anywhere. $2,000

[Poison Props]

Animatronic Haunted Hallway Attack


Getting from the sidewalk to the front door of your house should be nothing short of a horror-filled gauntlet for trick-or-treaters. But the last eight-feet can be the most terrifying of all with this haunted hallway featuring screaming animatronic zombies reaching out and clawing at anyone who dares ask you for free candy. If the kids make it this far, they’ve earned that Snickers bar. $4,100

[Poison Props]

Holiday Window Scene Animator


There’s nothing spookier than the unknown, and half the fun of a haunted house is wondering what’s going on inside of it. You can add to the mystery of your own setup with this projector that flashes spooky scenes in the windows of your home. It comes with eight 45-second video clips that can play in a loop or cycle throughout the night. But you can always add your own footage by swapping in another SD card with whatever video you want. $200

[Hammacher Schlemmer]

Animated Freakshow Clown


Try as they might, clowns will always be more horrific than fun. And you can capitalize on the recent creepy clown spottings around the country with this animatronic freakshow clown that seems distracted and turned away until a motion sensor is triggered. At that point it bends over backwards to scream and thrash at anyone who dares ask it for a balloon animal. $2,200

[Poison Props]

FireFly Lightning Simulator


The last thing you want on Halloween night is a real thunderstorm wreaking havoc on your haunted setup. But an artificial one? For some reason there’s always lightning and thunder around a haunted house, and this simple kit includes a remote trigger and four high-powered LED spotlights that rapidly flash to simulate an angry storm overhead—minus all the fun-spoiling rain. $1,400

[LightsAlive]

Complete Haunted House Upgrade


Worried you don’t have the skills or creativity to create a haunted house that will truly scare people? Or maybe you want to do more than just decorate your lawn? As long as you’ve got a healthy budget, the folks at HauntedHouseSupplies will happily take care of everything for you.

They’ll design and build an experience that no trick-or-treater will ever forget, including lighting, sound effects, smoke machines, animated figures, and professional costumes. Everything you need to make Halloween as awesome as it was when you were a kid. $150,000 - $275,000


[HauntedHouseSupplies]