Invest in Spooky-Scary Halloween Decor

Halloween is upon us and that gives us all a chance to dress up our homes in festive decor. There are people who go with a more crowd-pleasing Martha Stewart-esque fall theme (ie: lots of decorative gourds and pumpkins, and everything is now swathed in burlap for some reason) and then there are people who like to decorate their houses like everyone's worst nightmare. When I was growing up, there was a guy who made an elaborate Halloween scene in his front yard, dressed up as a scarecrow, and literally sat there like he was a decoration until kids walked by and then would jump out and terrify them. He was probably a murderer. I'm pretty certain. Whichever camp you fall into, there are a lot of Halloween decorations for you to wade through.

Here's a list of the best spooky-scary Halloween decorations for you to festoon your home with. You'll be ready to celebrate your Werewolf Bar Mitzvahin style.

1. Framed Halloween Print ($35, Chris Piascik): If you're decorating your house for Halloween, you can go to Party City and get a bunch of lame cardboard and crepe paper decorations. You can hang them up and then get into a silent fight with your cat, whose sole mission from the minute you hang the decorations is to eat them. Then, on November 1, you can throw the mangled decorations away and repeat this process over and over again until you spend thousands of dollars on Halloween decorations in your lifetime (won't you feel silly then?). Or, you could invest in some decorations with some staying power, like this framed Halloween print designed by illustrator Chris Piascik. It's festive, it's fun, it's tasteful, and it's encased in glass, so your cat can't destroy it.   

2. Rose Eyes Skull Candle ($10, Paper Source): There is a marked difference between Halloween decorations and Day of the Deaddecorations—mainly that Day of the Dead decorations make skulls look more palatable because they are jazzed up with bright colors, glitter, and flowers. Day of the Dead skulls aren't your run-of-the-mill sad skulls. They're festive! That's why this candle will look so great on your mantle (do people have mantles anymore?).

3. Spiderweb Pillar Candle ($22, Bespoke Custom Gifts): Speaking of candles, they're the best way to achieve a spooky effect in your home. Think about every scary movie you've seen. Bad stuff happens in the dark, and if it doesn't happen in complete darkness, it happens in candlelight. How do you achieve a witchy, Stevie Nicks vibe in your home that will make your guests unsettled? Candles, lots of them. The aforementioned Rose Eyes Skull Candle is a start, but this Spiderweb Pillar Candle will also be a nice addition to your collection of creepy candles.   

4. Skull Placecard Holders ($52, Williams-Sonoma): Are you planning a Halloween-themed dinner party? Are you going to serve a meatloaf in the shape of a brain? Eggs made to look like eye balls? Chicken fingers in the shape of actual fingers?! I'm obviously not good at coming up with examples for this, but that's besides the point. All of that sounds "great." Serve whatever clever pun on food you can come up with, and add a little kitsch to your anal-retentiveness that makes you feel like you need to have placecards for a dinner party with six people on the guest list with these Skull Placecard Holders. Maybe you could even reenact that scene from The Rocky Horror Picture Show where you pull the tablecloth off the table in a fit of rage to reveal a dead body. Too far? Probably.    

5. Black Hawk Feet ($71, Stillhouse): Talons. They're creepy. Truthfully, all birds are pretty creepy, especially after you've seen Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds. These Black Hawk Feet make a great, subtle Halloween decoration, and you could even keep them around after Halloween if you want to continue to creep out guests all year round.

6.Day of the Dead Pillow Cover ($50, The Watson Shop): As mentioned above, Day of the Dead skulls are just more appealing than your run-of-the-mill skulls. They're less biker gang and more Tim Burton, if that makes sense (it probably doesn't). This Day of the Dead Pillow Cover (in orange, the ever-appropriate Halloween color) will add a touch of Halloween to your house without making it look like a zombie busted in and barfed everywhere.

Amanda Waas is the creator of You’re Welcome, a gift guide site for all of life’s awkward occasions. Her writing has appeared in Every Day With Rachael Ray, Glamour, Time Out New York, AOL’s Shelterpop and DIY Life, and various others. Follow her on Twitter, Pinterest, and Facebook.