Spooky Portrait Ideas to Decorate Your Home This October

With October rushing in, it's the spookiest time of the year, and everyone is starting to decorate for the chills and thrills of the season. For some, this will include friendly witches and happy ghosts, but those who want more of a chilling vibe this October, spooky photographs add a special touch.

There are several photographs that you can buy premade, but with a little photography and Photoshop magic, you can feature your own family in your thrilling pictures this Halloween. See below for some spooky portrait ideas that are sure to frighten your guests and delight your family.

Turn your kids into ghosts. This one is simple. Take a shot of your background scene by itself. If you want to play around with location, you can try an old graveyard or a vintage farm for a terrifying feeling. Next, take some shots with your subjects in them. Get some posed and some candids, and merely layer the two shots over each other, and lower the opaque on the picture of your subject, so they appear grainy and transparent.

Play with lighting for a “ghost story” effect. Most pictures have lighting from above, but light from below can create the illusion of holding a flashlight below your face when telling chilling tales around the campfire. You can either make a seriously scary face, or a silly one if you want your pictures to be more fun than frightening. Play around with different angles, and try both steady lighting and a flash effect.

Relocate some body parts. Using a few photographs, you can create the effect of a headless couple holding each other's noggins, or funny quarterback tossing his helmeted head to his receiver. Take one photo with the subjects posed as usual. Then take one shot with the empty scene. Simply photoshop the head off of the bodies, and place it wherever you want it to take its place (such as replacing the football or nestled on laps). Layer the photos to achieve the most realistic look with changes in lighting and other factors.

Juxtapose your subjects. There’s something very off-putting about something in a photograph that doesn’t seem to belong. For a chilling effect, try photographing a subject that seems pleasant or happy with something creepy in the background. A lot of parents like to take photos of their children playing in their costumes or with bright orange pumpkins, but what you won’t expect is a cloaked figure or a chainsaw man in the background of their smiling faces!

Lastly, be sure to choose the right frame for your photos to really bring it home. An antique oval frame gives a vintage look, or a simple black oval frame to make it simple and not take away from the creep factor. A wooden oval frame is excellent for distressing if you want to make your home seem abandoned, and always cover them with cobwebs.