Halloween is approaching fast, and if you haven’t decided how you are going to scare all the little kids that come begging for candy, you had better start prepping for it now. The options are endless, and it all depends on the amount of time and money you wish to spend, and how scared you intend to make your unwanted guests.

Warning

A bit of warning, young children can have their holiday ruined because the parents didn’t know you were going to be jumping from behind a bush with an unchained chainsaw revving up. So use your best judgment and if you feel what you are doing is intended to scare, give a little forewarning in the form of a sign which can alert parents that fear is about to be struck into their hearts. Because after all, you’re doing for the kids, so be sure to keep their best interests in mind. So without further ado, let us go over a few scare tactics that can be used to terrify and scare.

The Devil Dog

This one obviously requires a dog that would play the part, but the idea is simple. Many dogs will bark and run as though they are being aggressive, that is until they are near an actual human. So what I’ve seen in the past is a dog covered in fake blood and cobwebs chained to a stake in the ground. The chain is only long enough to allow the dog to reach near the path taken to your front door. So as the trick or treaters approach, they are followed by a bloody and ferocious dog each step of the way. This is a great way to set up another scare afterwards as its quite distracting having to skirt around the animal. By the time they are at your door they are  primed for another scare.

Scarecrow Of Doom

One of the oldest tricks in the book, but it has withstood the test of time. Dress up as a scarecrow or any other figure, and once the children are near, you reach for them and yell something scary. You can also set kids up by letting those in front of them go by without moving. This makes the ones coming next let their guard down, as they don’t suspect anything to happen.

To add to this affect, you can have multiple manikins along a path, preferably ones that move already. You and your friends can act like automated manikins till its clear the children believe you to be just a machine. Then you scare them when they least suspect it by following them as they leave or reaching out to grab them.

Trash Bag Switcheroo

This trick is bound to catch people off guard. You are probably aware of the black and orange bags you put leaves into after raking, especially the pumpkin and witch ones. What you do is wrap your body in some of the bags, obviously ensuring you allow yourself to breath. Once your are completely covered you simply kneel next the other bags, and once the time is right, you jump out for the good scare. A similar tactic can be used with a ghillie suite and bushes.

The thing of it is that as they approach, they are not going to suspect anything will scare them. Usually the fearful things are on the porch, or on the way to the porch. But you can easily catch them off guard by staying off to the side, and approaching them as their backs are turned.

Candy Grab

If you have ever seen the Adams Family, the character “thing” which is the walking hand, may not be that terrifying in itself. But a strange hand can startle anyone if caught off guard. So often times, people will leave candy bowls out for children to take their fill. That will be our bait. What you do is use a plastic bowl with the bottom of it cut out, then you place that on a table where a person can reach under the table and leave their hand hidden underneath the candy in the bowl. As the children reach for their favorite treat, your hand bursts through the candy and startles the bageezus out of them. You can set this scenario up in any number of ways, so the more creative you are, the better the idea you can come up with.

Garage Haunted House

Rather than serving the candy at your front door, you can set up a mini-haunted house in your garage that will have to be navigated to find the treasure bowl of treats. You can make this as elaborate as you care to. Any number of things is possible at this point which will scare passerby that cares to enter. You can have music, sound affects, smoke, dry ice punch bowls, ghosts that fall from the ceiling, people hidden in the walls, really the sky is the limit. Use your imagination and there’s no doubt something very thrilling can be created.

Hopefully this will have provided a few ideas that can spur some more clever ones on for you. But Halloween is approaching and it’s better to get started earlier than to wait till the last minute. This is especially true for any sort of scare tactic, as you want to make sure your time is not wasted, and that everything is safe for those who may be participating. I wish you all a ghastly and terrifying Halloween!

The author of this article is Damien S. Wilhelmi. If you enjoyed this piece, you can follow me on twitter @AvantGuard. I am writing on behalf of theplancollection.com, where you can find the best Ranch House Plans online.