Few things are more thrilling for a trick-or-treater than walking up to a house detailed with ghastly Halloween decorations. Whether you use complicated props like swooping ghosts, or simple, classic decorations, like glowing jack-o-lanterns, scarecrows, and indian corn, your house will delight visitors. A haunted yard, complete with fun Halloween decorations, makes a fine setting for outdoor parties in good weather, as well.

Plan out your outdoor Halloween decor. Choosing a theme makes it easier to chose decorations, and is generally more effective. Transform your front lawn into an old, foggy graveyard, a fortune teller's lair, or a mad scientist's lab.

Themes are easier to work with, but don't let that stop you from throwing in whatever appeals to you, and mixing things up. It helps to lay out your design on paper, to get an idea of what will go where. If you are using pranks and gags, try to set them up where guests will have to walk past them to be surprised by them.

There are some very realistic yard props out there, available for purchase form Halloween specialty stores, home decoration stores, and online Halloween shops. Foam-filled rubber sculptures of ghouls clawing their way out of the grave are very effective. Some other prop ideas are: bloody body parts, grave stones, glowing skulls, gargoyles, and faux-dungeon doors. Yard decoration kits are available, too.

With some time and creativity, you can make your own outdoor Halloween decorations out of relatively cheap supplies. Make gravestones out of cardboard or foam. Craft ghosts out of white fabric, and hang them from the trees. The possibilities are endless!

James writes for Ghoulish Halloween, a site that tries to entertain and inform. For more great Halloween articles, visit our Halloween articles archive.