Turn your home into a haunted house

Making your own house into a haunted house is a great way to celebrate Halloween and frighten friends, family and neighbours. Here are some tips to get you started on your own haunted house.

Before guests even come into your haunted house, you'll want to create the right atmosphere outside your house. Think about installing gravestones along your lawn or near your front door with a candle lantern in front of each one. You can either make your own gravestones out of Styrofoam and a little grey paint, or buy them from a Halloween store. Friends will also get a special scare if you print their names on the front along with your own personalized epitaphs.

As guests enter your haunted house, it's important to fully immerse them in the experience. The following tips can really add some detail to your haunted house:

• Cut out cardboard silhouettes of ghosts, black cats and witches that can be placed behind the curtains of your house
• Add cobwebs in doorways, near candles, and in the corners of different rooms
• If you don't want guests going into certain areas, block them off with police caution tape and black curtains, warning that many guests have gone missing in certain rooms and hallways of your home
• Add a small amount of red food dye to a large jar or glass container and then plop a cabbage inside. It will look just like a brain. Fennel can also look like a human heart if you cut off the top. You can also label the jars with the "organs" inside as well

You can make a gelatin brain mould or cupcakes with cool Halloween designs. Serve severed fingers made from rolled white bread, delicatessen treats in the middle, a bit of tomato ketchup to simulate blood, and an almond to serve as the pointy nail.

While older kids might have no problem with spookier haunted house themes, if you're hosting young children, you might want to consider toning down the horror factor. Think about decorating with friendly-looking Jack O' Lanterns, lots of candles, black cats and a witch or two. Kids will also love snacks like cookies cut in the shape of bats, ghosts and cats.

These tips should give you a great starting point to plan your own haunted house. Give your guests a scare, a bit of fun, and some great food so your haunted house will be a huge hit.