# Let's share Halloween tips **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 18, 2015, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-share-halloween-tips/731672 "2015-09-18T14:10:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2015, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-share-halloween-tips/731672/1 "2015-09-18T14:10:09Z")
And by “share” I mean I need your help; please give it to me 😉 Halloween is my favorite holiday - hell, it’s the only one I really celebrate- and my company is full of like minded people who go all out. We’re talking four 9 story buildings full of haunted departments, baking competitions, skits; even our CEO puts on a goofy wig and robe to judge the costume contest. Yes, everyone really gets into it. Except the floor I work on :mad: Not because the people here are humorless scolds (or not the only reason) but because our floor is secure, meaning no one can come in without a badge. Thus, no one bothers to do anything because no one will see it. This displeases me. Therefore I’m going to ask permission to decorate the lobby, which is actually just a a small area outside the elevators. I figure of we can’t participate by decorating the department itself, at least we can represent by making the small portion people do see as creepy as possible. My challenge is that I don’t have much to work with space wise, the walls have artwork that \* cannot be touched\* and I’ll have to be particularly mindful of not doing anything that has any potential for damage. I want it to be truly creepy (as opposed to black streamers and smiling pumpkin cutouts) and I have to assume I’ll be doing it by myself so nothing too expensive or labor intensive. Obviously there’s the fake Victorian style pictures , trick mirror, maybe some fake rats. I’d love to have what looks like a big blood stain but it would have to be something solid that is just set on the carpet - think fake vomit but less gross. Does anyone have any ideas or maybe just suggestions for sites I can explore? I’ve looked at Party City and the usual places but I’m hoping one of you creative peeps knows a secret or two. Oh, and I was just kidding with the first sentence. I love this kind of thing and have done a lot of it (just not under these strict parameters) so I’ll be thrilled to help any of you if I can. ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2015, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-share-halloween-tips/731672/2 "2015-09-18T14:49:25Z")
Spiders and rats can be found for cheap at the dollar store. Also, disembodied hands and eyeballs. I found a hand holding an eyeball was gross and amusing. Dye “cheesecloth” black (or grey) and hang from ceiling. Cover artwork with it if you can arrange it so it doesn’t touch said artwork. Cover walls with it, too. Put fake creepy pics over the artwork. Spiderweb everywhere, with spiders in. Ghosties hanging from ceiling. “Tombstones” with employee names on them. Stuff clothing, top with masks and use as ‘bodies’. Last year, I found some nifty flashing lights at the dollar store and hid them behind some of the spider webs and cheesecloth. It was nifty. (I love Halloween, too, but can’t let my full horror-show loose at work. One, my coworkers’ kids come and trick-or-treat and I’d feel awful if we freaked out someone’s toddler; and two, several of my team members are young Asian women who prefer \*kawaii \*to creepy. Well, the decorating and costumes are still fun.) ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2015, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-share-halloween-tips/731672/3 "2015-09-18T15:03:51Z")
**GBunny** , when I say we cannot touch the artwork, I’m making an understatement (the art collection is one of the most renowned in the state and the owner is in the process of opening a museum) but the rest of your suggestions sound doable and along the lines of what I’m looking for. At minimum I hope they’ll allow the spider webs, because, helllllooooo, it’s Halloween! Bummer that your coworkers don’t share your excellent sensibilities. Is kawaii like Hello Kitty and shit? There are [plenty of scary Asian](https://www.google.com/search?q=the+ring&espv=2&biw=1064&bih=590&tbm=isch&imgil=VV5KWoWdWF3DxM%253A%253BV_8c1VmqSYNaAM%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.cinemablend.com%25252Fnew%25252FRing-3-Still-Happening-Now-It-Has-Director-66329.html&source=iu&pf=m&fir=VV5KWoWdWF3DxM%253A%252CV_8c1VmqSYNaAM%252C_&usg= __XK2gFe18YhdQHYFBgO0r-JpF-Nw%3D#imgrc=VV5KWoWdWF3DxM%3A&usg=__ XK2gFe18YhdQHYFBgO0r-JpF-Nw%3D) characters (not unsafe for work per se, just kind of oogie). ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2015, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-share-halloween-tips/731672/4 "2015-09-18T15:04:44Z")
You can do some spooky shit with starch and cloth. Go a Google image search for “starch ghosts” to see cute ghosts, scary ghosts… ghost furniture! Also [this is going around](https://www.facebook.com/TheWhimsicalPixie/photos/a.173578329335079.51868.150610471631865/1249288505097384/?type=1&theater) on Pinterest/Facebook - making like, invisible kids in shrouds. Very spooky! Just remember that starch + water = goo, so don’t put any of your starch projects outside 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2015, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-share-halloween-tips/731672/5 "2015-09-18T15:46:24Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > You can do some spooky shit with starch and cloth. Go a Google image search for “starch ghosts” to see cute ghosts, scary ghosts… ghost furniture! > > Also [this is going around](https://www.facebook.com/TheWhimsicalPixie/photos/a.173578329335079.51868.150610471631865/1249288505097384/?type=1&theater) on Pinterest/Facebook - making like, invisible kids in shrouds. Very spooky! > > Just remember that starch + water = goo, so don’t put any of your starch projects outside 🙂 Now that’s what I’m talkin’ 'bout. I can’t look at Pinterest or Facebook here but I did google the ghosties and I bet I could incorporate that technique somehow. Back to the subject of scary portraits, the robe wearing, art owning CEO that I mentioned is the the son of the long deceased founder of the company. Do you all think it would be in bad taste to feature dear old dad in one of them? If I had my way I’d make it creepy but in the interest of not offending (and keeping my job) perhaps I could make a nice, normal, smiling one for him and then the rest the usual creepy stuff. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2015, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-share-halloween-tips/731672/6 "2015-09-18T15:48:20Z")
Maybe play around with the “you need a badge to enter” idea, and create an Area 51/Men In Black/aliens style lobby? A sign over your swipe door that says “Alien Autopsy Area: Access Restricted” Cute/creepy/gross alien things in unexpected places, like peeking around the reception desk or a potted plant Without touching the real art, make some mock-ups of paintings of famous aliens and add them to the walls. You could go with either funny or eerie photos for this. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2015, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-share-halloween-tips/731672/7 "2015-09-18T16:11:06Z")
> [@delphica](#): > > Maybe play around with the “you need a badge to enter” idea, and create an Area 51/Men In Black/aliens style lobby? > > A sign over your swipe door that says “Alien Autopsy Area: Access Restricted” > > Cute/creepy/gross alien things in unexpected places, like peeking around the reception desk or a potted plant > > Without touching the real art, make some mock-ups of paintings of famous aliens and add them to the walls. You could go with either funny or eerie photos for this. Wow, this is awesome too! Not sure how many" famous " aliens I can think of. Ummmm, ET, The Great Gazoo, Mork and Marvin the Martian. Oh and of course, my [favorite](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EbyFzYGGfO0/UoWLjmluodI/AAAAAAAAAe8/iUr5Dbfj7mo/s1600/martian28.JPG) Martian. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2015, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-share-halloween-tips/731672/8 "2015-09-18T16:43:49Z")
I would not feature someone’s dead dad in your display. Need a couple of generations more in between for that to be amusing. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2015, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-share-halloween-tips/731672/9 "2015-09-18T16:47:48Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > Wow, this is awesome too! Not sure how many" famous " aliens I can think of. Ummmm, ET, The Great Gazoo, Mork and Marvin the Martian. Oh and of course, my [favorite](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EbyFzYGGfO0/UoWLjmluodI/AAAAAAAAAe8/iUr5Dbfj7mo/s1600/martian28.JPG) Martian. I think if you go funny/cute/Hollywood, there’s things like all the Star Wars aliens, Tribbles (that is actually a hoot, if there is anything you can “overrun” with little Tribbles, like a reception desk), the Close Encounters aliens, ALF (heaven help us). If you want to keep it scary/creepy, the Internet is a great source of those blurry, ominous alien invasion photos, like [http://secretsfiles.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/ufo-2013-grey-aliens-caught-on-tape-very-scary.jpg](http://secretsfiles.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/ufo-2013-grey-aliens-caught-on-tape-very-scary.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![lost4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2015, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-share-halloween-tips/731672/10 "2015-09-18T16:47:50Z")
I always found Mexican novena candles to have a voodoo vibe to them. They can be had cheap at Walmart/Kroger type places. Not sure if that would be culturally insensitive though. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2015, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-share-halloween-tips/731672/11 "2015-09-18T17:12:02Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > \*\*I would not feature someone’s dead dad in your display. \*\*Need a couple of generations more in between for that to be amusing. Don’t ask me why, but the bolded part keeps making me giggle. I think it’s been a number of years but if that’s your gut reaction, I have to consider that others might feel the same. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2015, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-share-halloween-tips/731672/12 "2015-09-18T17:15:41Z")
> [@lost4life](#): > > I always found Mexican novena candles to have a voodoo vibe to them. They can be had cheap at Walmart/Kroger type places. Not sure if that would be culturally insensitive though. Hells yes, I have always found them creepy and I think that might be nixed for fear of not being pc (to which I internally say “fuck off”) but that kind of vague creepiness is exactly what I want to achieve if I don’t go more lighthearted alien style. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2015, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-share-halloween-tips/731672/13 "2015-09-18T17:21:01Z")
[Buffet table setup](http://i.imgur.com/ezOOQgE.jpg) Also mix up some ginger ale punch in a clear container. Hang a black light somewhere close by. The punch will glow in the dark. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2015, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-share-halloween-tips/731672/14 "2015-09-18T17:27:35Z")
> [@lost4life](#): > > I always found Mexican novena candles to have a voodoo vibe to them. They can be had cheap at Walmart/Kroger type places. Not sure if that would be culturally insensitive though. Yeah, culturally ignorant. But an all-WASP (“humorless scolds”) office won’t mind. However, the Safety team at my place of work would definitely\* not \*approve of flames… ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2015, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-share-halloween-tips/731672/15 "2015-09-18T17:43:20Z")
> [@Bridget\_Burke](#): > > Yeah, culturally ignorant. But an all-WASP (“humorless scolds”) office won’t mind. > > However, the Safety team at my place of work would definitely\* not \*approve of flames… One of the execs is a Mexican woman. Every Cinco de Mayo she personally serves 1 beer to each person in the dept. Not sure if that makes her totally cool or more likely to pissed at Novena candles being used as Halloween props. Oddly enough, because she is rather down to earth, I probably would not be afraid to ask her. But, even if she’d be okay with it, she can’t speak for any other Latin flavored folks here (if there are any). ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2015, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-share-halloween-tips/731672/16 "2015-09-18T17:53:45Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > One of the execs is a Mexican woman. Every Cinco de Mayo she personally serves 1 beer to each person in the dept. Not sure if that makes her totally cool or more likely to pissed at Novena candles being used as Halloween props. Oddly enough, because she is rather down to earth, I probably would not be afraid to ask her. But, even if she’d be okay with it, she can’t speak for any other Latin flavored folks here (if there are any). That’s cool. Actually, use her as an advisor & do a _Dia de los Muertos_ theme… But I still think the Safety guys would dislike open flames! ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2015, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-share-halloween-tips/731672/17 "2015-09-18T17:54:23Z")
post deja vu ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2015, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-share-halloween-tips/731672/18 "2015-09-18T18:19:22Z")
[Here’s a blog post of some more creepy starch ideas](http://fashion.xkee.com/most-creepy-creative-halloween-ghost-decoration-ideas-that-you-will-like-2014,1022.html), with the “Phantom Children” included in the 10th pic. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2015, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-share-halloween-tips/731672/19 "2015-09-18T18:47:32Z")
We’re going to decorate our offices and need some ideas as well. On thing we came up with was to have skeletons climbing a wall sort of like this. We are also going to do the half a person stuck under a desk (basically shoes and jeans stuffed; and sticking out from under a desk, or hanging from a ceiling tile to look like it’s climbing. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2015, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-share-halloween-tips/731672/20 "2015-09-18T19:12:13Z")
> [@Enright3](#): > > We’re going to decorate our offices and need some ideas as well. > On thing we came up with was to have skeletons climbing a wall sort of like this. > We are also going to do the half a person stuck under a desk (basically shoes and jeans stuffed; and sticking out from under a desk, or hanging from a ceiling tile to look like it’s climbing. Does your office have the typical fluorescent lights with the removable [plastic covers](http://e.fastcompany.net/multisite_files/fastcompany/imagecache/620x350/poster/2013/02/3005976-teaser-thumb-if-you-think-your-offices-fluorescent-lights-are-draining-your-will-work-youre-right.jpg)? One easy, effective way to create a mood is covering them with colored tissue paper. In one office I worked at I put red in the main office for an overall hellish glow and then the adjoining room that held the copier and stuff I put green and made it feel like a laboratory. At Christmas I used blue and put up silver stars. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-share-halloween-tips/731672.md?page=2)