12 DIY Haunted House Ideas on a Budget

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Learn how to make DIY Haunted House Ideas on a budget for a Haunted House Party or a walkthrough haunted house at your home. When you’re creating a haunted house and Halloween Decorations there are no rules and they don’t have to be perfect. Sometimes it is the imperfections that add to the mystery.

I have an abundance of homemade haunted house ideas and decorations because I love to celebrate Halloween. It’s probably because I love creating Halloween Decorations and making costumes. It’s the one day out of the year where you can be extremely creative by dressing up as your favorite character and making Halloween crafts and food. Last year when there wasn’t any trick-or-treating, I decided to use my Halloween Props to make a haunted house in my basement. I used to have Halloween parties every year so I have a lot of Indoor Halloween Decorations.

I also wanted to add some creepy outdoor Halloween Decorations to greet the unsuspected guests and Trick-or-Treaters.

I wanted to tone down the creepiness to make it more of a kid-friendly, walkthrough haunted house complete with lots of lights, Halloween decorations, and candy stations. It would still have a spooky Halloween house DIY theme without super frightening and gory props. I have never been too much into the blood and gore for Halloween. I think there are more interesting, thought-provoking decorations that are scarier than bloody items.

I gathered all of my DIY Halloween decorations I made for TV segments, my blog, and YouTube videos over the years and started to create my Halloween Haunted house walkthrough Basement Haunted House. I love using LED lights to illuminate the displays. It turned out perfect because I wanted it to be dark and spooky but enough of an eerie glow to see the creepy decorations and candy from the trick-or-treat stations.

This was a last-minute Halloween party  idea so I had set up the Haunted House quickly. Most of the props I made were from reused items and inexpensive things from the craft store so it is easy to duplicate my ideas for anyone who wants to recreate DIY Haunted House ideas on a budget. I played Johann Sebastian Bach’s Toccata and Fugue for the musical ambiance and gave the kids treat bags to start their ominous adventure.

Here is how the stations looked. The kids loved it and wanted to do this as a yearly tradition. This year I am going to make more spooky and some cute scary haunted house ideas for my Haunted House Party.

Watch the video below to see how the DIY Haunted House looked.

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My Basement DIY Haunted House Ideas

DIY Tombstone Decoration

When the journey into the haunted house began, the children walked down the stairs to the first candy station. There they found a tombstone with a stone face staring at them, illuminated with purple lights and filled with candy. This DIY Halloween decoration can be easily made with a cardboard box and inexpensive things from the craft store.

Click here to learn how to make this Halloween Decoration.

DIY Jack Skellingon and Halloween Town

Then they were greeted at the next candy station by Jack Skellington and the Pumpkin King. He is a super cute Halloween decoration and is happy to give out candy. Melted wax candles made from paper towels light up Jack’s welcoming display. I used LED Tea Lights to for the candles.

(How To Videos) Click here to learn how to make DIY Jack Skellington and the Paper Towel Roll Candles

DIY Spooky Tree

Here is one of my cheap Halloween decorations I made with reused items. The DIY Spooky Tree is made from reused items. The trunk is an oatmeal container, the branches are twisted brown paper bags and the texture of the bark is tissue paper painted with a white glue and water solution. Even though he has a spooky face, he is cute.

Click Here to Learn How to Make the DIY Spooky Tree.

I decorated a plastic cauldron I had from a party store with chains, spiderwebs, spiders and twine. I filled it with candy and placed a tombstone I already had behind the cauldron. I decorated it with orange lights.  This is another fun and creepy candy station.

Click here to see how I decorated the cauldron to fill with candy treat bags.

Here is a 12-inch version of this cauldron.

Next to the cauldron is an enormous pumpkin filled with lights. It just doesn’t feel like Halloween without a Jack-o-Lantern. I have had this pumpkin for years and even though the light no longer works, I placed an LED light inside to give it a creepy-cool effect and help cast shadows around the room.

DIY Zombie Decoration

What could be more unnerving than a zombie offering candy from his skeleton hands? His name is Zead and he is a benevolent zombie. He just wants to share some of his tasty candy treats. This zombie was made from mostly reused and inexpensive items. It can easily be recreated to add some scream to your DIY Haunted House.

(How To Video) Click here to learn how to make Zead the DIY Zombie Decoration.

DIY Jack-o-Lantern Tree

How creepy is it to be served candy by a tree with jack-o-lantern leaves? It makes you wonder if it is a tree or some eerie Halloween tree monster with multiple leaf-like heads.

Click here to learn how to make the Jack-o-Lantern Tree.

Believe it or not, this super scary Halloween Prop is no other than an adorable sloth plushie wearing a mask. LED lights were placed inside the mask to make the eyes look mysterious and freaky. It’s amazing how lights can transform a cute and innocent plushy into one of the most unnerving Halloween decorations.

DIY Halloween Creepy Clown Decoration

This Halloween clown is also extremely disturbing. Clowns are disturbing when it comes to Halloween decorations especially when a light is shining up on his face. He might make someone want to pass on taking candy from this candy station because of his sinister grin.

Click here to learn how to make the DIY Halloween Creepy Clown Decoration.

DIY Haunted House Tabletop Decoration

Every haunted house needs a small tabletop haunted house to add to the ominous decorations. This inexpensive DIY Halloween Decoration uses household items such as shipping boxes, wax paper and cardboard along with inexpensive things from the craft store.

The Boo Box in the front is made from a reused pasta box but any box would work for this Halloween prop. Cut out a window on the front of the box and paint the box black. Print out BOO! or any text you would like displayed on translucent paper.

Click Here to Learn How to Make the DIY Haunted House Decoration

As you turn the corner, you are greeted by an adorable little zombie puppy named Fluffy. Don’t let the sign scare you, he just wants to share his candy. This is another inexpensive and cheap DIY Halloween decoration made from reused items and inexpensive craft supplies. His house and sign are made from a cardboard box and Fluffy is made from cardboard and felt. I filled it with green LED lights to make it glow.

Click Here to Download the DIY Beware of Dog Halloween Sign

 DIY Fortnite Skull Trooper Halloween Mask and Hood

As you are leaving the Haunted House, you notice a dark figure lurking in the shadows watching over you. He is partially illuminated with a green glow. The ominous figure is DIY Fortnite Skull Trooper. He is easy to recreate with a few inexpensive materials from the craft store.  His mask is placed on a Styrofoam head and placed on a dress form. Fabric is draped over the dress form to simulate a black cloak. Green LED lights are placed in the neck of the hood to give the Skull Trooper a creepy glow.

(How To Videos) Click here to learn how to make the DIY Fortnite Skull Trooper Halloween Mask and Hood

It is a lot of fun to create a Haunted House at home. So many great Halloween Decorations can be created from household items and inexpensive craft supplies. With a little imagination and creativity, you can create a memorable Haunted House for kids or for a fun Halloween Party.

As you can see from my basement Haunted house, the LED lights evaluate the decorations to the next level. They are not very expensive and the battery-operated lights are great to put into Halloween props that are not close to an outlet. They are my go-to lights for most of my decorations.

Here’s More Halloween DIY Ideas and Videos That Would be Perfect for an DIY Haunted House

Scared Pumpkin DIY

There is nothing more menacing than a Halloween Pumpkin Jack-o-Lantern with a scared expression and hair on it’s end,  terrified of the unsuspecting terror the lies within the indoor haunted house.

A reused terracotta pot, tall grass and a free printable pattern of the face was used to create the cute, scared pumpkin!

Click here for instructions and the free pattern for the Scared Pumpkin Halloween Decoration.

How to Make a DIY Crystal Ball and Base (Dollar Store DIY)

At Disney World’s Haunted Mansion, there’s a creepy crystal ball with a ghostly face inside — and ever since I saw it, I knew I wanted to make my own version. This color‑changing DIY crystal ball is made from reused items and Dollar Tree finds, making it a fun and budget‑friendly Halloween decoration for any haunted house.

Click the video below to watch how I made the Mystical DIY Halloween Crystal Ball Decoration