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With Halloween night around the corner and October almost ending, having the best last-minute decorations for your dorm is essential. Whether you want ideas to spice up your room or put decorations that will scare away uninvited guests and RA’s (I’m kidding, we love the RA’s), here are some of the best ideas to get you started:

1. Ghost pillows

If you are looking for a simple and cozy idea, pillows are the way to go. The most popular shape (and one of the easiest) is a ghost. All you would need for this would be white fabric (preferably fleece), black fabric for the eyes, stuffing, needle, thread, and a hot glue gun.

If you need an in depth tutorial, here is an Instagram reel that will help you.

2. Ghost ballons

Although it is common knowledge that balloons are typically used at parties, who is going to stop you from using them to keep the spooky spirit alive?

Grab a package of white balloons from the dollar store and a Sharpie from your desk, inflate the balloons, and start drawing spooky ghost faces! You can put them by the window or by the door, welcoming all your guests.  

3. Mysterious Silhouettes

Speaking of windows, an excellent idea to scare the neighbors is putting silhouettes of scary creatures in the window. For this, you will need black poster boards, scissors, chalk markers and masking tape. 

Tape the poster boards together using masking tape (for the sake of making the silhouette bigger), use Google to select the silhouette you like the most. With your phone, trace the inspo pic on the poster board, you can use white chalk markers to make it more visible and proceed to cut! Once the silhouette is ready, put it on the window with masking tape. 

Bonus: Get creative and use fake blood or red paint to stain your hands on the window. 

4. Bloody mirror

While you want your mirror to be clean every month of the year, October is the only month that getting your mirrors dirty might actually be fun. You can utilize fake blood to paint your hands and stick your palm to the mirror, leaving a big red stain. Or add the famous “Bloody Mary” phrase with a cheap red lipstick. Those mirror selfies will definitely look scary!

5. Jack Torrance on your door

Lastly, and the easiest DIY to recreate is the iconic Jack Torrance scene from The Shining. You will need a printer and the picture of Jack Nicholson’s character, Jack Torrance in The Shining when he breaks the door trying to get his wife Wendy Torrance, played by Shelley Duval. Measure the frames of your door, go to Google to look for the specific picture, print it, and paste it using double-sided tape. I bet no one will dare to go inside and disturb your sleep.

Halloween decorations can be hard and expensive but I hope these options give a little bit of insight into what you can do on your own to feel more on theme and not let this eerie season go unnoticed!

Azucena Sotelo is currently a freshman at Emerson College studying film. She loves the beach, the sun and watching niche 2000’s shows.