Strings of lights shaped like pumpkins, bats, or animation ghosts may be cute for kids’ Halloween party. But in case you’re looking for a more frightening way to complete your Halloween yard decorations with spooky lighting, think about these five things:
To make shadows loom large and creepy, place lights low to the floor and aim them slightly upward. The angle will produce elongated, deformed shadows when anything or anyone passes in front of this light. The family dog will cast a frightening shadow. If you wish to produce more specific shadow impacts, paint or partly cover lenses, or place cutouts or other characters in front of the lights.
Color
Lights are a Halloween classic, and you can have a lot of fun with a black light on the front porch, but they have a tendency to be more silly than scary. Dark blue lights are a more effective approach to produce a mysterious scene–moviemakers often use dark blue lights for moonlit nights or dark interior scenes. Hang a dim blue bulb into your porch-light fixture to turn your front porch into a dark dungeon, or use dark blue floodlights to bathe your front lawn in eerie moonlight, which makes the ideal lighting for a graveyard screen .
Fire is a great way to create spooky ambiance. A flickering orange light appears to deepen nearby shadows, and it makes them go and change (or is that only something hiding in the darkness). Use a candle within a classic jack-o’-lanterns, which can throw some genuinely unnerving shadows if carved and positioned properly. Pose a pumpkin or 2 on the porch or in strategic (and secure ) places on your front yard. You could also line your path with tiki torches, or merely channel a couple on either side of your porch. Make sure your open fires are put safely–from where people will walk–and won’t be a hazard. If you’re unsure, you can always use flickering orange lights or electronic candles.
Strobes
Resist the urge to overuse strobe lights. Not only are they headache-inducing (and keep in mind, you’ll be viewing them all night), they may look gimmicky if not executed just perfect. Rather, to create a sense of confusion or to indicate motion in a screen, consider flickering light, or even a light which flashes at more random, slower spans.
Achieve the best and scariest possible Halloween lighting with a fog machine. Flashing or moving lights at various levels can indicate spirits moving round, or anything with glowing eyes lurking in the fog. You can also create some cool effects with track light on the floor, where the shade is going to be reflected and disperse in the surrounding fog. Use it to create an eerie glow springing from a decorative grave or a path of blood flowing from a gory display. Red lights are a fantastic method to hint at blood, and glowing green can make your dog look radioactive or poisonous.
