What better way to greet your guests this Halloween than with a haunted porch or deck? A spooky fall scene is easy to create with the right materials and a little imagination.

Pumpkin Caterpillar

A chain of Jack o’ Lanterns makes a cool haunted scene on your stoop or lining your porch. Create a “caterpillar” by carving thin stripes or round spots in your pumpkins, along with a spooky insect face in your final pumpkin. Light the chain with a series of pumpkin lights or a string of cool-bulb holiday lights and watch your guests enjoy the effect.

Cheesecloth Ghosts

Make your own hovering haunts with raggedy cheesecloth aged with hot tea. Use heavy flexible wire to form the arms for your ghost, then drape with the long, raggedy fabric. Stuff the head and tie or sew in shape with thread, then hang your fluttering ghosts from the porch rafters. For an extra-spooky touch, try painting faces on your ghosts with black paint or using a needle and thread to sculpt features from the excess facial cloth.

Scarecrow

Whether a creepy guardian or fun symbol of fall, an old-fashioned scarecrow looks perfect propped in a chair next to the door. Stuff overalls and an old flannel shirt with straw, then add a stuffed and painted burlap head and an old straw hat. Whether you paint his features with a menacing or fun-loving expression, your scarecrow is at his best surrounded by fake fall leaves, straw, or pumpkins for an autumn touch.

Your porch is the first stop every visitor makes, so make sure they’re greeted by plenty of ghosts and ghouls this Halloween!