Do you love warm weather and all things that go bump in the night? You’re in luck because there are lots of fun ways to bring a little bit of spooky into your summer. Whether that means you start changing your TV watching habits or you bring ghost stories to the bonfire, summertime can be a spooky time, too. If you can’t wait until October to get scared, we’ve got a spooky Spirit checklist to perfectly transition your summer into Halloween!
Go on a Ghost Tour
Whether you’re visiting a new place or just hanging out in your hometown, ghost tours are a perfect summer night activity. Cities and towns all over the country have haunted history tours. Usually scheduled at night, these are an entertaining way to learn more about an area through its spooky past. Most good tour guides find a way to balance storytelling, history, and terrifying anecdotes, so you can count on being entertained, informed, and scared!
Host a Scary Movie Night With Friends
Watching scary movies is one of the best ways to make your summer spooky. You can pick your favorite movies, or maybe some movies that you’ve never even heard of. You could also pick movies that fit a theme, like vampires, zombies, or haunted house stories.
Rather than watching an assortment of movies, you could also plan a horror movie marathon that focuses on a single franchise. Many horror fans have a favorite franchise, like Halloween, A Nightmare on Elm Street, or Friday the 13th, so you can always revisit these classics. Or, you could complete a horror franchise that you haven’t finished. I mean, are you sure you’ve seen all the Leprechaun movies? All of them?
Go Camping
We all know that camping trips are an ideal setting for a horror movie, so why not plan a spooky camping trip with some of your friends to get in the early Halloween spirit? You can plan some fun outdoor events during the day, and then make sure everyone is sufficiently spooked at night. There’s nothing more fun than telling scary stories around a fire and then lying awake in your tent all night.
Tell Scary Stories Around a Campfire
Tell Scary Stories Around a Campfire
You can’t have a camping trip without a campfire, and you can’t have a campfire without scary stories. This is the perfect way to spend a summer night. Just add ingredients for s’mores, and you’re set! You can tell well-known stories like urban legends, or even your own ghost stories.
Read a Spooky Book
Reading a spooky book can be a great way to get in the Halloween spirit. Whether it’s inside during a hot day or under the covers with a flashlight at night, a book is perfect for those who want to be scared, but need a break from TVs and computers.
While horror movies are obviously amazing, the right line from Edgar Allen Poe or Stephen King can evoke a unique fear that lasts deep into the night. You can read some well-established horror classics, or look online for current bestsellers and possibly discover a new favorite book!
Listen to Spooky Music
This might not be the first thing you think of, but music helps create a vibe. Think about how you can start to get your playlists into the Halloween spirit by incorporating some spooky tunes. This might mean you play a terrifying soundscape on YouTube, the scores from your favorite scary movies, or even listen to artists that make spooky music. Once you find the right music, you’re well on your way to getting in the spirit!
Check Out Some Other Horror Content
Horror lovers aren’t limited to books and movies. There are lots of incredible comic books, video games, TV shows, and podcasts out there to investigate. We’ve even read ghost stories on Reddit that still haunt us. Find something that both scares you silly and suits your lifestyle.
Play With a Ouija Board
People have played with Ouija boards for over a hundred years. Attempting to communicate with spirits will definitely liven up any summertime party or gathering, and is guaranteed to scare some of your friends. But, we’re using the term play loosely. While many people think of this as a game, we’ve also seen enough horror movies to know that you should always use Ouija boards with caution.
Start Decorating Early
The evolution of spooky summertime spirit is putting up Halloween decorations early. Start planning how you want to decorate over the summer so that you’re ready when the time comes. We think end of summer and Halloween decorations go together like campfires and scary stories.
Make Your Own Scarecrow
Something about a scarecrow bridges the gap between summer and Halloween perfectly. Maybe it’s the terrifying sight of these weather-worn, human-shaped monsters left to rot in rows of dying corn stalks, or maybe it’s their frequent presence in horror movies.
If you’re a farmer and you legitimately need to scare crows away from your crops, then you might be making a scarecrow anyway. But for the rest of us, scarecrows make for perfectly creepy, end-of-summer decorating fun. They don’t need to be constructed expertly, either, because their imperfections can make them even scarier.
Visit Your Local Spirit Halloween Store
When Spirit Halloween stores start to open, you can come see our latest offerings to segue your summer properly into a season of scares. Our In-Store Experiences aren’t just top-notch, they are legendary. Come in to experience all the latest decorations, animatronics, and costumes to get ready for the Halloween season. Keep checking back over the summer for your local Spirit store locations and opening dates.
Do you enjoy some spooky with your summer activities? Email us at spiritblog@spirithalloween.com to let us know how you make your summertime spooky.
