A quick and simple tip for all of those people out there who want to make their homes look especially haunted, but not break the bank.
Lighting. It’s often overlooked, and people generally think “Halloween… Darkness is spookiest”.
However, I feel that the right kind of lighting can cause real un-ease – perfect on all Hallowes Eve!
First off, the simple ones. Gels.
These sheets of transparent plastic come in a wide range of colours, and are famously used by people in the video/photographic business.
As you can see, putting some green gels over my hallogen lights in the kitchen this year, really gave it a nice look.
You can obviously also buy coloured bulbs for the same effect. Although finding somewhere that sells them isn’t quite so easy anymore. For some reason, coloured bulbs just aren’t as popular. Probably linked to the popularity of energy saving bulbs.
My favourite though, is still the blacklight. These purple glowing lights give off UV light which reacts really nicely with certain fluorescent colours.
I’m not sure why I like them so much, but I think it has something to do with reminding me of the old Ghost Trains that I went on as a kid.
They also have the advantage of giving off enough light to see, whilst at the same time, not making things too light when you’re watching a creepy movie.
A little warning though. Apparently, they’re not very good for your eyes, so avoid staring at them. And if you’re decorating, try to position them in a place where they’re hidden from view. Doing this whilst at the same time making sure that they are illuminating the room adequately isn’t easy…
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