8 Outdoor Halloween Decorations for the Spooky Season

Halloween is fast-approaching, and if you love the spooky season as much as we do, you’re busy brainstorming some cool outdoor Halloween decorations to show off in your front yard. If you’re super ahead of the game you might even have a Halloween display up already, but you might still be in the market for some cool new ideas you haven’t tried yet.

Either way, here are a few of the coolest outdoor Halloween decoration ideas we could find. These ideas are perfect for impressing your neighbors and making Halloween as spooky as it can be. These Halloween yard decorations are all easy DIY solutions and range from high-effort outdoor decorations to simpler, subtler stuff. 

1. Pumpkin Decor Hacks 

Get creative with your jack-o-lanterns this year and think outside the box.

What would Halloween be without this large orange seasonal crop? Naturally, we will all have at least one of these for our Halloween yard decorations, but for 2022, let’s shake things up with some fresh new takes on a Halloween decor classic. There are so many ways we can spruce up Halloween pumpkins, most of which don’t require much work at all. Besides the classic jack-o-lanterns, pumpkins can also easily be painted in various colors and can even have designs on them.

For example, a teal blue pumpkin is both a cool twist on a classic and also has a practical purpose. Teal is a color commonly used to signal to trick-or-treaters with food allergies that a house has other kinds of safe goodies for them as well. You can also paint various patterns on pumpkins including the outline of the state you live in, or maybe even the logo of your favorite football team. Another simple but sweet pumpkin Halloween decor idea is to simply get a bunch of pumpkins and arrange them in a row for an adorable display of October orange. All of this is to say - get creative with your pumpkins this year.

2. Fake Graveyard 

This Halloween classic is the perfect choice for a spooky yet funny front yard setup.

For an extra spooky outdoor Halloween decoration idea, consider turning your front yard into a graveyard. A couple of tombstones, plastic bones, and maybe a coffin or two are all you need to give your front yard an eerie ambiance, especially at night. For extra effect, set up some spotlights so that the creepy stuff written on the tombstones is easily legible to passers-by, as well as a fog machine to immerse trick-or-treaters into the setting.

Tombstones can be made with actual stone or simply with old planks nailed together for a rustic aesthetic that looks quite scary on a cold misty night. You can also use any cardboard or styrofoam you have laying around the attic. Those with a dark sense of humor can also take good advantage of the fact that you can write all sorts of funny messages on the tombstones.  

3. Orange Is the New Black

Inject orange into every facet of your outdoor decor for a distinctive Halloween look.

If you’re looking for more of a traditional fall-inspired Halloween aesthetic as opposed to a horror-filled one, fully immersing your house in orange is the way to go. After all, this is probably the only season you can get away with going overboard on orange decor, so let yourself go wild.

Think orange benches, orange fall plants, orange trees and leaves, pumpkins, orange ribbons, and orange lighting for the nighttime. For your candy, get an orange bowl or basket and fill it with orange Halloween-themed treats. Orange soda in a mason jar is another cool idea because the orange will play off the other Halloween decor, but also give your thirsty trick-or-treaters a sweet refreshment. 

4. Humorous Signs 

Even a simple sign is enough to help complete the Halloween look.

Halloween is about having fun and a jolly time, and it’s also a time to break conventions and think outside the box. What other time do you get to dress up as a scary monster and walk around in public? To make the holiday all the more fun, this outdoor Halloween decoration idea allows you to express your humorous side.

There are plenty of different ideas for funny and cute Halloween decor, and the main rule of thumb is to just not overcomplicate things. To come up with good ideas, think of regular everyday things, but made funny in a Halloween way. So, for example, a cool outdoor Halloween decoration idea is to set up a parking lot for witch brooms with a special sign that says “for witch brooms only, all others will be towed”. You can also put up signs that point to spooky places like Salem, Massachusetts, where the Salem witch trials occurred, or Roswell, New Mexico, the secretive US military base aliens are rumored to have visited back in the 1960s - presumably to enjoy some of that fresh desert air.   

5. Big Spider and Cobwebs 

Get your kids involved with some DIY arts and crafts spiders to watch over your house on Halloween.

Big spiders are all the rage for Halloween yard decorations. Many people are scared of spiders and so that makes them a perfect, and affordable, outdoor Halloween decoration idea. Everyone is going to notice spiders, especially if you put them in unexpected places where they catch people off guard.

There are even motion-activated moving spiders for an even more hair-raising experience. If you’re especially mischievous, putting spiders around your bowl of treats or near the doorbell makes the night more exciting for trick-or-treaters. They’ll have to carefully sneak around to evade the arachnid's watchful gaze.

Of course, no spider Halloween decorations would be complete without some webs for the spiders to go on. Spider cobwebs are easy to find at any costume store and they can go on every surface - such as trees, bushes, windows, and furniture - to add ghostly texture to your outdoor Halloween decorations. They’re affordable and easy to use and are the simplest and easiest way to quickly get your entire home in Halloween mode!

6. A Spooky Garden Glow

Give your home an eerie orangey glow with Halloween lighting that gives Christmas setups a run for their money.

Elaborate lighting displays don’t have to be just a Christmas thing, they can also be for your outdoor Halloween decorations as well. With each passing year, there are more and more Halloween-themed lighting sets to choose from. Beyond the usual pumpkin string-lighting sets, you can also find a wealth of LED lighting options including light-up spider webs, light-up Halloween wreaths, and even scary lanterns.

Another clever way to improve your outdoor Halloween lighting is by replacing your regular outdoor lights with orange versions. Colored LED bulbs can be found at most big box stores and some even have a chip that allows for remote control via smartphone. With an integrated lighting system, you can even set a schedule where the LED lights cycle through various Halloween colors such as purples, oranges, reds, and greens. 

7. Creepy Figures in the Night 

Have a scarecrow lurking in your yard to greet passers-by.

There’s a world of possibilities for Halloween decor with plastic skeletons and mannequins. There are few better ways to make your front yard delightfully frightening for Halloween than by having some skeletons or a scarecrow camp out there. If your porch features a bench, put a skeleton there with a sign that points to where the candy is, or says something funny yet spooky on it.

Alternatively, get some mannequins, paint them green, or drape them with toilet paper to create your horde of brain-eating zombies or creepy mummies. If you’re especially crafty, you can augment this outdoor Halloween decor with some spotlights to make your ghostly figures more visible.  

8. Be Subtle 

Not all Halloween decorations have to be over the top, and sometimes a simpler setup is the superior one.

If all these ideas sound a bit too involved, there are much subtler budget-friendly ways to decorate your front yard with some more understated Halloween yard decorations. Oftentimes, even little seemingly innocuous additions are enough to help set the right theme. A vintage broom leaning against the wall for example is a great Halloween decoration since it hints at Halloween witches, but can also be used for keeping the porch clear of candy wrappers.

Additionally, small additions from flea markets can help to set a Halloween mood even if you don’t have purpose-made outdoor Halloween decor. Old kerosene lamps are great in this case because they look old and rustic and are evocative of the old lamps you’d find in a haunted mansion. Better yet, even trash can be Halloween yard decorations. Discarded crates don’t need to be thrown out when a coat of paint can turn them into a cool sign or painting for your Halloween decorations.