It's Halloween decorating time. With spooky season just around the corner, the hour is now to dress up our homes in preparation for October 31st. From creepy colour schemes to petrifying props, check out these hair-raising DIY Halloween decorating ideas that will transform your home into a haunted house of horrors.

Hang up curtains of bats or better still, take on a DIY craft project and make your own. Take a sheet of black paper or card and neatly cut out bat shapes. Affix to black ribbon with glue or a stapler to make a DIY curtain or garland, then either hang to decorate a wall, display across a doorway or add them to a scary porch scene complete with a giant spider web and large black spider.

Go all-out to give the outside of your home a spooky touch.  Pop pre-lit novelty statues will instantly add spooky but fun character to your porch and are just the job for adding to the Halloween scene when mixed and matched with pumpkins and autumnal features. 

You don't need to go all-out to give the outside of your home a bit of a spooky touch. One large decoration can make a fabulous spooky Halloween front door idea. This vampire face sticker is just the job for adding that Halloween flavour and there are those easy cut-out bats again too. 

Create the perfect spooky welcome on Halloween by continuing the creepy decor indoors. Piled pumpkins and lanterns arranged together with spiky twigs and large crispy leaves can evoke an eerie atmosphere in a hallway that is super easy to achieve.

If you've embraced an on-trend dark decorating look recently. Use the moody look to your Halloween advantage by displaying ultra-bright decorations that pop against a black backdrop. These honeycomb pumpkins in fuchsia pink, yellow and orange add a colourful wow factor to the black mantelpiece. Or, why not have a go at making your own pom-poms with tissue paper? 

Try this awesome autumn craft idea to give your home a spooky update. Balloons in black, orange and white are just perfect for a Halloween theme. And if you can blow them up with helium, then all the better! Make them even more fun by drawing on spooky faces with black permanent marker. Or, this balloon installation with eyeball balloons bubbling out of a cardboard cauldron couldn't be easier! It'll go down a treat with the kids!

Turn your living room into a seriously scary home cinema for Halloween. Layer up the sofa with dark velvet, cushions, hang vintage nets and cardboard cut-out bats at the window and dress the fireplace with 'haunted house'-style props such as scary photo frames, skulls and black feathery crows. Then, turn out the electric lamps, light lots of candles and let the 'fright night' movie marathon begin.

The next time you head out for country walk bring home a fallen branch to decorate with Halloween decorations. Spray paint the piece black or purple and then use it as a 'wildwood' backdrop to hang decorative ghosts, tombstones and spooky sign ornaments made from salt-dough or bought from the shops. 

Turn jam jars into jack-o'-lanterns for a safe alternative to the real thing. They make a warming glow and are especially cute as nightlights for children if you are decorating their bedroom for Halloween. Choose small jars and paste pieces orange tissue to the outside with PVA or craft glue. Cut shapes from black tissue paper or card for their cheeky 'jack-o'-lantern' faces. Once dry pop in a battery operated flameless candle. 

Whether you choose a terrifying skull head as a chilling centrepiece or add a lifesize dancing skeleton in your porch, these bony bodies make marvellous Halloween decorations as their deathly shape and form have a spine-chilling impact. For super scary scenes combine them with candles and cobwebs. Or, for a lighter and humorous twist make them pose in everyday situations or dress them up in hats and accessories.

Hide under the covers with seasonal Halloween bed linen that will make an endearingly apt addition to spooky sleepovers. This version is printed with cute little dogs dressed up in batwings, capes and witches hats so is more fun than fearful but we get the point. 

During Halloween decorating outside can be as important as in, so be sure to light this fantasy spherical firepit on the night of October 31st to set your garden apart from the neighbours. Fairies and pixies are carved out of the iron globe to create an enchanted forest scene as it burns, which then casts bewitching shadows bursting with atmosphere onto floors and walls around the garden. 

Decorate the dining room with eerie and interesting illustrated dinnerware. Theses wicked plates feature a different Halloween-inspired skull image on each surface – deadly has never been so debonair! Pair with black and white tableware for a classic, monochrome look, or with white and gold for an elegant take on a Halloween table scene.

Orange and black not your scene? Go for a ghostly Halloween decorating theme of white instead. For a hair-raising haunted house vibe look for vintage books, faded handwritten letters and eerie black and white photographs and then layer them in amongst white church candles and antique bottles. Finish with white roses and a dressing of faux cobwebs and spiders. Mottled pumpkins in rose gold and white will add a touch of glamour.

Let your friends pick their poison by creating devilish drinks. Look out for interesting bottles and then fill them with bright coloured fruit juice. Or, turn glass drinks dispensers into cauldrons full of vibrant potion punch complete with floating props inside. Stick on labels that have nasty names like 'bat blood' and 'vampire venom' and use corks as stoppers. Finish with cobweb-covered glassware using candyfloss.

Removable wall mural wallpaper will turn your room into an atmospheric werewolf's lair. Sure to add a fright all night, this eerie full-moon scene creates a super-sized backdrop that will have you looking over your shoulder. Come morning, it can easily be peeled off and stored until next year. 

When you're on your weekly food shop you can very easily pick up Halloween decorations that aren't expensive at all. Nowadays, all the main supermarkets dedicate an aisle to the special event, with shelves stocked full of real and faux pumpkins, fancy dress costumes, ornaments and decorations for the home, as well as edible treats and drinks. With plenty of budget buys available, this is a great first place to look.

If you're hosting a dinner party for just the grown-ups, create an elegant soirée with unconventional colours. Weave fake spiderwebs over the tablecloth and around moody blue and black shades of tableware and finish with fun witchy props; smoked ombré blue glassware is perfect for spellbinding cocktails and refreshments. 

Make a creepy-crawly scene above the mantel or on a shelf with a large homemade spider's web. Paint the back of a large empty picture frame with chalkboard paint and then draw a web shape with white chalk. Finish the display with scuttling spiders made from black pipe cleaners and foam balls. Blogger and crafter jane can... has got the full tutorial. 

Make floating ghosts by draping napkins or white tissue paper over ping-pong balls tied with ribbon and hang up with string. Give life (no pun intended!) to the scene with a backdrop of Halloween-inspired words and a colony of black paper bats. 

Die-hard Halloween decorators rejoice as life-size props are becoming easier to come by. This motion-sensitive cackling witch with gruesome green eyes will scare the life out of Halloweeners before she zooms off on her broomstick until next year. Complete the picture with purple and orange festoon lights. 

Love an upcycling project? Take inspiration from old haunted houses by temporarily replacing family photos with terrifying updates. Look online for free printables or get clever with photoshop. Better yet, have some fun with the digital camera and create tongue-in-cheek versions of your own with face paints, costumes and ghostly lighting. To complete the look, frame your shots in eerie surrounds by painting some second-hand frames with black acrylic paint.

Neon lamps in spooky shapes make an easy last-minute Halloween update and will instantly ignite your home with an eerie atmosphere. Pop battery-operated bats, pumpkins and witch hats in windows and amongst Halloween displays, then dim the lights to let the spooky neon creations take centre stage.

Only the bravest trick-or-treaters will dare to bang on the door that has a super scary bell or knocker. Create a haunted house effect with a skull or monster face that lights up and makes a chilling chime when pressed. 

Glow in the dark paint makes a simple but effective prop for a spooky scene. Dress your front path with a ghoulish fence by painting temporary timber posts; the key is to prime the wood white first so the fluorescent paint pops. Then draw on the ghost faces with a black marker and stake them into the ground at different levels. If you're short on time, you could create a mini version with lollypop sticks instead.

Cast ghostly shadows with a row of eerie floating candles. Spray paint battery-operated candles in black and gold and tie them with fishing wire. Hang them from the ceiling in a row at different levels and watch them splutter and flicker just like at a Hogwarts feast.

Transform your entrance with a deathly doormat using a stencil and black spray paint. Instead of the usual spiders or ghosts, why not go for something a little different like a creepy crow or a spiky dead tree? Check out Lollyjane.com for the easy tutorial.

Give everyday games a makeover with a spooky Halloween twist. Paint ghost faces on white skittles, carve a pumpkin out to make a mini-golf target or throw witches hats over wooden pegs for ring toss. Pop sweets in glass jars and goody bags to give away as prizes at the end.

If walls can't be tampered with, a projector makes a clever mess-free option. There's no end to the things you could project – we love these fun multicoloured dancing skeletons. These creepy characters would look super-menacing cast onto front gardens in the darkness too.

Halloween wouldn't be complete without an array of delicious treats displayed in a mischievous manner. Kids will go batty for this bat-shaped doughnut wall that makes a striking spooky centrepiece. Make the buffet table a feature by styling it with purple pumpkins, a witch's cauldron and plenty of balloons.

Dress a mantelpiece with plenty of Halloween colour by hanging an array of novelty garlands. If you'd rather have a go at making them yourself, make a card template that you can use to trace and cut out shapes in black and orange craft paper; we like pumpkin faces and spiders in alternating shades, but you can go for anything you fancy. 

A 10-metre roll of 'caution' tape is super cheap and is all you need to make an eerie impact on Halloween. Simply stick it across a doorway for instant impact or make it part of a spooky display with a glitter skull, flower wreath and fantastic vintage-style signage.

Group candles together for a display that glows in the autumn darkness. You can pop these outside your front door, in a fireplace, on a table or in the corner of a room. Due to fire risks, it's best to use faux candles rather than those with real flames – especially as there will be witches' capes and costumes swooshing about.

Great for including the kids, why not get in the kitchen and start baking? Young children can assist you with mixing and rolling out biscuit dough. Decorate your baked cookies with royal icing piped into pumpkin shapes and hang them from spikey branches placed in a vase. 

Investing in decorations that will only be used for a few weeks can seem a little extravagant. Take a look around your home for vases and ornaments in typical Halloween shades – think orange and black – that you can group together to make a spooky display. You could spray paint plain glass bottles, too. Buy a few mini gourds from the supermarket to add the finishing festive touch. 

We love this idea for decorating a pumpkin. It's not Halloween without copious amounts of sweets, chocolates and cakes. Bright bowls are perfect vessels for treats and why not customise your own baked cupcakes with pumpkin cake-toppers?

Gingerbread houses aren't just for Christmas! Bake a spooky old mansion for Halloween and decorate it with orange and black icing – pipe on the roof, windows and doors. Pop teeny pumpkins made from sugar paste outside the house's door and add bats to the front. Make it extra special by filling it with sweeties before you secure the roof.

Make a statement in your home by using stylish wallpaper to dramatic effect. To recreate this look, buy yourself a few black and white striped rolls and affix to the wall with Blu-Tack, continuing the design onto the floor. You'll be able to easily remove it once the party is over. 

The bright colours and decorative detailing of these bright skeletons are more cheery than chilling so this look might be less frightening for little ones. Use pops of vibrant orange and pink to lift the whole scheme.

Spell out some Halloween fun by adding a wooden word board to the mantel and magically changing the message each day as the 31st October draws nearer. If you want a look that's a little less scary, opt for dainty props in softer colours and a lantern or two. 

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