These days, Halloween has become one of the great holidays for decorating homes and yards – second only to Christmas. In fact, Halloween has become a better than $8 billion industry covering everything from decorations and lighting to Halloween candy and costumes.
If you’re a big fan of Halloween and decorating your yard and home to get that spooky feel, chances are you’ve discovered Halloween lights. You can now cover your home in strands of lights that can look like anything from traditional Christmas lights – though usually in orange, purple, and green – to little pumpkins, bats, and other holiday-appropriate shapes.
Add in a host of lighted decorations from electric jack o’ lanterns to large inflatable lawn decorations and it’s a lighting frenzy out there.
But Halloween decorating is also like Christmas in another way. Whole sections of your yard and home can be given over to create a holiday scene, though a much spookier one than at Christmas. Yards at Halloween sport fake cemeteries, haunted houses, and scenes from horror movies. The lighting of these scenes is a little trickier than at Christmas, where the look is bright and festive. Halloween calls for a more eerie and spooky lighting scheme.
If your goal is to create a truly terrifying (but fun) effect at you home, that can call for some more creative lighting choices and fixtures, all of which we can help you with here at Eric Krise Electrical Contractors.
In the meantime, here are a few Halloween lighting tips as compiled by Popular Mechanics magazine.
Shadow Figures
Create shadows in your yard by using lights low to the ground and pointing them up. This will create strange and creepy shadows every time somebody walks in front of them. For an extra spine-chilling shadow, try letting your family pet walk in front of the light. You can add an enhanced effect by painting part of the lens or placing different figures in front of the light.
Spooky Colors
Replacing your porch light fixture with a black or dark blue light can add a spiritual or effect to your front door. This is also the perfect lighting if you are planning on creating a graveyard or moonlight scene.
Fire Effect
Place a candle within a pumpkin to create a jack-o’-lantern, this will also create frightening shadows when positioned properly. If you have a long pathway to your home, using tiki torches is a great way to guide your visitors to your home. Any open flames should be far enough away from the walking path to avoid any potential hazards. Another option is to use electronic candles.
Flickering Lights
Create confusion and fear by using flickering lights. All you need are strobe lights for this classic movie effect. If you have a fog machine and add in flickering lights is a great way to make it seem like spirts are flying around.
Are you looking to make your outdoor spook-tacular this Halloween? We’re here to help. From strings of bat lights to animated props, contact us for all of your electrical needs.