Turn Your Garage into a Haunted House (2024)

Clean Out the Garage

So you've decided to turn your garage into a haunted house. Great! There's still time before Halloween rolls around. The bad news: You need to clean it out for once. Take this moment to get some hooks or other storage solutions and get organized, even if that means moving your garden tractor and snow blower completely out of the garage until after Halloween. Visitors should be scared by your decor, not by the state of your lawnmower.

Bring in the Black

Cover up your workbench and tools so they don't interfere with the décor. A simple yet effective way to do this is to hang black tarps, black plastic sheeting, or painted black sheets over the walls and storage units.

Create Blind Corners

Part of the appeal of a haunted house is the suspense of not knowing what awaits around the next corner. That means you'll want to add blind corners to your set up as you design a maze for visitors to walk through. Nail together sheets of plywood so they stand up on their own, or glue and stack boxes on top of each other to create walkways and corners. Paint the plywood or boxes black. Take advantage of blind corners by having someone jump out to scare people, or have something creepy, like a fake bloody body, when people turn the corner. Go crazy. Just don't give anybody an actual heart attack.

Secure Monsters From the Ceiling

Dangling some witches, ghouls, or monsters from the ceiling gives the garage an authentic haunted house feel. But make sure your props are securely held in place. Try fastening eyehooks into rafters in the ceiling and runing fishing line through the hooks. Fishing line is invisible in the dark and it can support a lot of weight.

Set the Tone With Black Lights

Black lights are available as compact fluorescents, and you can use them to replace the ceiling lights in the garage (but not in the garage door opener, which requires a special bulb). The lights cast an eerie glow perfect for haunted houses.

Eliminate Sunlight

If you have windows in your garage, you can block the light by painting the windows black using a water-based latex. Remove the paint after the holiday using a razor.

Fill the Garage With Fog

Fog machines are easy to use and can quickly fill a room with a smoky vapor. All you've got to do is press a button. The machines are lightweight, so you can move one around the garage to fill all the corners and interior space with fog, making it feel like a scene from a horror movie.

Scare Up the Exterior, Too

Scare visitors before they ever set foot in the garage. Strategically place lights on the ground in areas that create shadows from trees and bushes--or scarecrows or mummies. Set small figures or cardboard cutouts in front of lights to cast menacing shadows on the house or on the side of the garage. Place strings of orange lights in trees to illuminate any witches or monsters you want to hang from tree branches.