Is It Really Worth It to Decorate Your House for Halloween?

Some people love to impress others with kooky decorations, while others call it a waste of time.

We can all agree that Halloween is a kooky, scary, and altogether spooky holiday. But is it really worth it to decorate for the season? Sometimes it can be a bother to put them up and take them down, while other people say it elevates the spirit of Halloween, especially when trick-or-treating. Let’s see the pros and cons of putting up spooky holiday decor, and then you can decide for yourself! 

But first, I have a little story to tell you. It’s about when I used to decorate my own house. Once, when I was eight or nine, I put up around three huge blow-ups: a pumpkin cat, jack-o-lantern family, and huge witches. I was so happy and so proud, but I didn’t really notice how my parents were toiling. In fact, I told them I wanted decor and just headed inside to chill! Now that I look back, I feel guilty and sheepish for what I did.

Pros

Isn’t it great when you’re out taking a walk and you come upon a beautifully decorated abode? You can admire the special effects, music, projections, mechanics, and so much more. Decorations in the present day are so evolved and so high-tech that they can be voice, motion, and location activated! Take moving decor like the huge ones they sell at branded stores, like Target. Whenever somebody passes by, they activate, causing quite a scare sometimes!

Also, this can promote a friendly and competitive environment, encouraging people to go all out and compete to see whose house is best decorated. Maybe the local community center can even put up a prize for grabs! Hey, it’s not a bad idea! As well as that, it can be fun for the local trick-or-treaters!

But most important: It gives you a sense of accomplishment. When you finish with all that hard work, doesn’t it feel rewarding to see all of those pretty decorations haunting your house? And wouldn’t you love to brag to others about your awesome decorations? Let’s admit it, pretty much everybody likes bragging rights.

Cons

When you were little, wasn’t decorating the house fun? Well, it was only because you didn’t do it. You just watched and saw the final product. You never witnessed the sweat and toil your parents endured for you. Now, you’re expected to be self-sufficient and do it yourself. A lot of people don’t want to put up decor because of this. It’s just tiring to put up heavy and useless decorations and have to put them down again right after that. I mean, just why? Some people just don’t get it. 

Also, it may be great visual decor, but once you’ve taken a look inside your wallet after all those decorations… Well, it won’t be a pleasant sight. You’ll practically have your money grow wings and fly away! Most new homeowners usually can’t afford pricey halloween decor for this reason.

Lastly, how much space do you really have in your home for storage? Where would you put your decor after the season? I, for one, have really no space at all in my garage. It’s supposed to be for two cars, but right now we can barely even fit one in there. Planning ahead is essential, which means that if you don’t have space, don’t buy it.

Now, let’s look at some spooky and scary decor, and see how it tips the scales.

1

Hmm, this house seems a little sparsely decorated, but some lighting could spruce it right up! Even though it’s not as decorative or realistic, it could still be fun and creative. Maybe. Although, those spiders could still be fun, as they’re huge as well as textured. Some people like to be minimal and only do cobwebs or fake spiders, as you can see. Those are still pretty hard to clean up! Doing Halloween decor can be tiring and draining, but can also be a rewarding experience. As for a rating, I would give this one a 2 or 3 out of 10.

2

This house seems to be decorated almost too well. In my opinion, it seems a little crowded, what with the various eye-popping skeletal figures and ugly caution tape… so maybe lighten up on that and add some projections or sound effects? I honestly think some parts of this house are well-decorated, while other parts need mild improvement, such as not crowding the space and maybe removing the red part of the  tape on the outer edge of the wall. It sort of clashes with the inner decor. Although, this front yard does seem quite small, so I understand why they might have overcrowded the space, especially if they wanted to go all out. Rating? 3 out of 10.

3

This house seems nicely decorated; not over the top, not too sparse, but just right. I suppose it would be a little boring to more mature viewers, but for children, it may be perfect! I love the use of caution tape on the outside to hint that it’s a danger zone and you shouldn’t go in there, but they didn’t overdo it with the red tape like in the previous house. I also think it’s great that instead of putting one huge thing or a bunch of small things, they showcased a variety. On the other hand, it seems that both the skeleton and the witch tower over all the others, drawing focus away and making it difficult for the viewers to absorb everything in sight. Hmmm. Maybe a 4 or 5 out of 10.

4

Wow! This house did a really nice job! I can see that they put up fun and spooky lighting, even though they didn’t decorate much. Like I said, some lighting improves the setting a lot more! At the front, they even put up some mini tombstones and other decor to make it seem real! This house would be a blast to visit, especially when trick-or-treating! 6 or 7-ish out of 10 would be nice for this!

5

This house is the real deal! It went absolutely full-on and put up huge decorations, even on the roof and walls. And the lighting… That’s a different story entirely! They lit it up in a way that highlights the big and small decor! Honestly, I don’t have anything negative to say about this! I don’t know about this, but if there were some slight sound effects, it would be perfect. More than this, though, and it might make people feel chaotic and overwhelmed. Wow!! This would be an almost perfect 9 out of 10.

So, out of all of the houses we reviewed, which was your favorite? How do they compare to your house during the Halloween season? And finally, what do you think? Should we or should we not put up decorations this year? Comment below!