It's that time of year again: Halloween has arrived and there is nothing more fun than turning your home into a factory for squeals, screams, and good ol' terror. Thankfully, creating the scariest haunted house doesn't have to be hard or expensive. All you need is a bit of creativity, dedication, and a desire to scare your friends, family, and neighbors!

1) Alter The Atmosphere:

One of the first steps to creating the scariest haunted house possible is to alter the atmosphere of your home. After all, it can't be scary if your home still feels cozy and safe. Altering the atmosphere in your home is easy; one of the first and most effective ways to change it is to play around with the lighting. Simply replace the regular light bulbs in your home with black or dark purple ones. If you can add a strobe light on top of the darker lighting, even better! The strobe light will add a sense of confusion to your haunted house.

Another excellent way to make your guests feel like they are in a scary place is to add some spooky sound effects. CDs with spooky music and noises can be purchased quite cheaply, or even downloaded from the internet. All that's left to do is place the sounds in the right places of your home and watch your guests squeal with terror. If you can't find music that fits your needs, you can always make your own with customized sound effects.

Last, but not least, you can alter the atmosphere of your home by creating temporary wallpaper to cover up your "safe" wallpaper. If you don't feel like being especially creative, using simple, black sheeting is an option. It can also be helpful to cover up windows so that your haunted house remains dark and spooky.

2) Find Actors:

If you really want your haunted house to come to life, try enlisting the help of family and friends to play the scary monsters of your haunted masterpiece. Combining your "monsters" with your new scary atmosphere, your haunted house will scare everyone! Although you can purchase props, there is nothing scarier than real, live ghouls lurking about. However, if you don't want your actors moving, try placing them near other stuffed props. When guests walk through your haunted house, they won't be sure of which is real until it's too late!

3) Props, Props, Props:

Now that you've set up the right atmosphere and have your "monsters" in place, you can add eerily realistic props to your haunted house. When deciding where to set up props, be sure to take into consideration the route that your guests will take and how the furniture in your home can help you out. For example, if you have a chaise lounge on the route that your guests will take, try converting it into an electric chair. Next, place a dummy in the chair; be sure that the dummy looks the part, with some burnt spots and wires running from his body. If you decided on a strobe light, place it in this area and watch your guests scream in terror! The key to placing the right props is to be creative; your home can easily be converted with a little creativity.

4) Surprise 'Em with Hidden Props:

So, you've placed all of the props in plain view. That's good and all, but the best way to create the scariest haunted house possible is to place props in places where guests won't expect them. For example, create a situation where your guests need to walk into a room and open a door. When they do, have a "surprise prop" just inside of the room or on the back of the door. In fact, doors are excellent places for hanging scary dummies and skeletons. Other pieces of furniture can be great places to place random body parts; stuffed arms, legs, hands, and other appendages can be placed on nearly any type of furniture in your home. Another effective - and popular - prop is fake cobwebs, which give the creepy appearance of both decay and a spider infestation.

5) Be Creative with Glow in the Dark Paint:

Picture this: the entire house is dark except for a pair of glowing, red eyes. What could possibly be scarier than that? Glow in the dark paint can be found at most craft stores and can really open up your decorating options. Find a few spare boxes, and cover them with the same black sheeting you used on the walls. Next, take your new glow in the dark paint and create terrifyingly creative props.

6) Touch and Smell:

One of the best ways to have a truly scary haunted house is to have the guests feel and smell the scariness. If you don't mind stinking up your home for a little while, try letting some food sit out and rot. When it's time for your haunted house to open, hide the food in a room and watch your guests crinkle up their noses in disgust. Also, try taking a pan and adding spaghetti noodles, jello, and ketchup. Gather up a group of guests and have them stick their hand in the pan; while they do so, explain that they are touching brains.

7) Magic Mirror:

If you have an LCD monitor, computer, and internet access, this is one great feature to add to your haunted house. There is free software available from Walt Disney Imagineering that allows you to have the "magic mirror" from Snow White installed on your computer and displayed on your LCD monitor. Using a microphone, you can actually talk to your guests through the screen. To make the LCD monitor blend in, try adding a picture frame to its borders.

8) Scary Food:

If you want to treat your guests when they come through the haunted house, make sure that the food is extra scary. For example, you can use food coloring to make grapes resemble eyeballs. Offer them to your guests and wait for the terror! You can also serve cantaloupe that looks like skulls.

9) Fake Blood:

Nothing creates a feeling of fear in people like blood. Try using ketchup or easily removable red paint and smear it in as many places as possible. As long as it's easy to remove, you can even make bloody footprints throughout your home!

10) Safety:

Although you want your haunted house to be scary, you don't want to sacrifice safety. Be sure that there are no walking hazards that your guests could potentially trip over. Additionally, although it needs to be dark, make sure it's not so dark that your guests can't see where they're going. Also, it is considerate to let guests know if your haunted house may not be suitable for young children.

By following these 10 tips, a little time and preparation are all you need to turn your home into a house of terror! Happy haunting!