Halloween Car Decoration Tips: This Year, Be the Master of Horror on the Road

After all, a car is more than just a car for the owner, as countless studies have shown through the years. By finding the right Halloween decorations for your ride, you can bring the spookiness on the road as well, earn extra cool points with friends and family, and make sure you reign supreme as the master (or mistress) of horror on the go.

The best part is that you don’t even have to burn a hole in your wallet to get all the spooks – and all the treats, hopefully.

If this is your first time decorating a car, start small. We’re assuming that, since you’re reading this, you’ve done Halloween decorating before, at least on your person if not on your house. This is no different, so approach it methodically, to cut down the chances of messing it up and to ensure maximum effect.

Think of a theme

First things first: you have to know exactly what you want. Think of a theme that fits with the decorations you already have for your home or garden, and your own costume. If you have a family of kids, consider their costumes as well.

The theme can be anything from spooky stuff, like skeletons, ghosts and zombies, to more R-rated stuff like cartoon characters or Disney princesses. The latter works wonderfully well with kids, obviously.

Once you’ve made up your mind, start thinking of everyday items that you can incorporate into the theme. Find the right music, go through closets for raggedy clothes, use older Halloween decorations, dig deep into your DIY kit, if you have one. Most items can be used creatively, which will save you money.

Think safety

Before you head out to the shops to buy the stuff you still need, consider this: whatever you car decoration, you must think of safety first and foremost – yours and others’. Decorations must not impede your view as a driver or block other motorists’ view. They must not cover your car’s lights, rearview mirrors or license plates, and they must be tied down tight to the vehicle so there is no risk of them coming off while in motion.

If you’re not sure if a certain decoration is street-legal, the smartest thing is to contact your local authorities and get their input. You wouldn’t want to end up paying a fine because you took your Halloween decorations a step too far, right?

Stay on a budget

Whenever we’re getting ready for a holiday, whatever it might be, we tend to get carried away with the expenses. However, decorating your car for Halloween can be done on the cheap and be just as effective in terms of delivering the scares, especially if you’re planning on continuing to drive the car while it’s thus decorated.

For instance, you can cover parts of it in cobwebs, or you can have stuff hanging out from it. Choose bloodied human limbs or zombie parts, or go the extra mile and place a fake dead body / skeleton in the passenger seat. Use stickers and decals with fake blood spatters or other horror imagery for a complete picture of a car coming straight out of hell, and you’re bound to get plenty of looks.

If you choose a witch theme, you can use the this wicked car decoration of a witch's legs sticking out of the trun from All Hallows Eve. Just add a few pumpkins, grab your very own witch or wizard costume and you’re set. Don’t forget about the broom, which you can even incorporate into the car. This Halloween Black Crow from Tinksky also goes great with this theme – and even better with a Maleficent theme, which your kids will certainly love. If you have kids, that is.

Opt for a skeleton theme and you can turn your car into the main point of attraction, both if you’re planning on keeping it stationary for the duration of the festivities or keep on driving it. This Skeleton Junk in the Trunk prop from Paper Magic should do the trick, if you combine it with other scary items, like some well-placed spiders or weapons of some kind. Or, you can go overboard on the skeletons and consider this an animated one, like this Skeleton Prisoner from Xena. It includes movement and lights, too.

Another theme that allows you to be creative and stay on budget is the ever-fun one of the undead. If you’re feeling particularly cheap, you can buy only a couple of decals or stickers, like this realistic Window Zombie from amscan, or something similar. But if your budget allows you to, splurge on this and other items like fake blood, severed limbs to hang from your closed trunk or the hood, and rear window decorations.

The bottom line is that getting creative with your car for Halloween doesn’t have to be expensive in order to be awesome. The only thing you can’t really do away with is time: you can’t do a proper, scary job if you’re not willing to dedicate a few hours off your busy schedule to this.

That said, have some scary fun!