Haunting The Halls
If you only decorate one room for Halloween, make it the room your front door opens into. Try to give the trick or treaters something to remember.
Start with the lighting. Replace your light bulbs with black lights, or orange ones if you can find them. Hang glow in the dark spiders from the ceiling. Have a glow in the dark skeleton hanging from the doorway. Place synthetic spider webs all around the doorway. On a table, near the treats, have a "bloody" jack o lantern with a big chef's knife in his head. Have scary music and/or sounds playing in the background. And don't be afraid to dress up for the little ghosts and goblins. Mess up your hair; spill red paint on an old shirt or apron, to give the appearance of fresh blood. Use washable red tempera paint and put leave "bloody" handprints around the outside of your door. When you open the door, say NEXXTT. When you close the door let out a scream or a creepy laugh.
If you want to go beyond the front door, turn your house into a haunted house. I had these neighbors, when I was a kid, who made you go through their haunted home before you could get a treat. It was so scary it was the most popular house on the block. We didn't even care what they gave out. However they were very generous after scaring us nearly to death.
In order to pull this one off you are going to enlist the help of some aspiring hobgoblins. You will also have to lay in some supplies. You will need several pieces of plywood. The amount depends on how long your haunted house will be. You can either paint the wood black, or cover the fronts with black fabric. Painting is easier and cheaper. You will want to cut some holes for scary hands, heads and other fun things to pop out of. Make sure you use black lights so it's dark but everyone can see enough to be safe.
