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. What’s more, you can make taller or shorter ghosts, but you must adjust the size of sheet you use to accommodate. Our ghosts will be just under 4 feet tall.
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.
Last but not least, 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!