Porch & PatioNo. 2802 · The 2026 edition
Decorating the Porch for Halloween
Turn your porch into a spine-tingling scene with glowing eyes and cinnamon-scented chills.
Our own summary of the original — the full post and photos live at betweennapsontheporch.net.
Create a haunting front porch for Halloween with a lit gas lantern, frightful faces featuring glowing eyes, dried stalks, a scarecrow, cinnamon-scented pine cones, and a harvest wreath hung on a blood red door.
About this
A post from Between Naps on the Porch sharing the annual Halloween transformation of the author's front porch. It pairs photos of the decorated entry with an original spooky story about a ghost, a witch, and a goblin who make their way up the walk on All Hallows Eve. The post also hosts the 39th Metamorphosis Monday link party and invites other bloggers to share their own before-and-afters.
The plan
- each year around Halloween — Plan the porch as an annual Halloween transformation rather than a one-time display
- night of Halloween — Light the gas lantern at the end of the walkway so it glows hot after dark
- night of Halloween — Arrange the display so it reads well at night, since the porch is meant to be seen mostly in darkness
- night of Halloween — Leave the windows glowing to give the house a haunted, ominous look from the street
- before Halloween night — Rake the leaves and leave a tipped-over basket on the porch so it looks like mischief has already happened
- before the season — Keep the front door painted a glossy blood red as the backdrop for the harvest wreath and fall colors
- Halloween evening — Stage the porch for trick-or-treaters arriving after dark
- before publishing the Met Monday post — If participating in Metamorphosis Monday, add the permalink to the actual post rather than the general blog address, copy and paste the Met Monday logo button to your sidebar, and link back to the host blog
Decoration ideas
- A lit gas lantern at the end of a meandering brick walkway with more curves than a snake
- Frightful faces with glowing eyes and snaggle-tooth grins lining the approach to the house
- Lighted pumpkin faces near the entry
- Frightful dead stalks looming high above the steps in menacing forms
- A scarecrow standing guard on the porch, taunting visitors to come closer
- An overturned basket of freshly raked leaves spilling across the porch
- Cinnamon-scented pine cones scattered so one rolls noisily and releases its pungent aroma
- A harvest wreath with acorns hanging on the blood red door
- A lantern hanging just overhead so a ghostly figure looks almost transparent in its glow
- An ominous glow emanating from each window of the house
- A glossy crimson/blood red front door as the backdrop for the whole fall display
- Plump pumpkins arranged at the front door
Food & drink
- Chocolate eyeballs
- Gummy worms
Activities
- Trick or treating at the decorated porch and ringing the doorbell for candy
- Greeting a ghost, a witch, and a goblin (kids in costume) on All Hallows Eve
- Handing out treats bulging heavy in the trick-or-treaters' bags
- Telling a spooky story to bring the porch display to life
- Participating in the 39th Metamorphosis Monday blog link party with your own before-and-after
More photos
Photos hosted by betweennapsontheporch.net.
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