How To

4 tips to improve your Halloween party with tech

October 28, 2015
Updated: March 9, 2024 at 3:41 PM

Halloween is just around the corner, so you should have your party plans all set out. But if you are unprepared there is no need to be scared, because there is still time to turn your happy home into a demonic dormitory to chill trick or treaters that are unfortunate enough to come through the door.

There are of course hundreds of traditional ways to make October 31 look utterly dismal. But even if you are fully stocked with artificial cobwebs and plastic zombies from last year, our high-tech suggestion can still add some interactivity to your All Hallows Eve.

Use your phone to add some creep to your undead costume

This could be the most diabolical use of a device I have seen. Using two tablets or phones, along with an app like Skype (iOS|Android) it is possible to easily add some completely disgusting wounds to a classic undead costume – though you may have to put in a little more time than I had in the office.

It’s wonderfully simple. All you have to do is get an old shirt and cut a hole large enough for the devices screen in the front and back – plus a tiny space for the camera lens. Now, decorate around the hole with something suitably bloody then Duct Tape or stitch the devices inside the shirt with the screen facing out.

The final step is to connect the two devices though the video chat app and you have an instant, convincing, gaping gap through your torso.

It’s an amazing effect, but be careful of your phone…

Your tablet can make haunting portraits

Tablet owners do not have to limit their technology’s use to their costume – they can also give their walls a chilling make over. Lifting straight from all of those old horror movies, haunted houses, and even the Harry Potter films, framing your tablet and hanging it on the wall lets you bring pictures to life.

One way to do this is to record a short of you being still for a while, then just get up move around and head out of shot. Set this to repeat, and you have a strange living picture.

If you want to add a bit more spookiness though, there are lots of scary digital make-up apps to make you truly terrifying. My personal favorites are Demon Cam (iOS) and HauntedBooth (Android), both of which allow you to create short videos of yourself transformed into something horrific.

Fancy adding some authenticity to your props

But perhaps traditional horror isn’t for you, and you prefer to use Halloween to dress up as your favorite comic, game, or movie character. Well once again you can use your devices to add a little authenticity to your costume.

This one does require some effort, but think of all the props that include some form of screen. So, if you are making an accessory for your costume – be it the motion tracker from Aliens (iOS|Android) or a Pip Boy from Fallout – including a slot to slip in your device can really complete the look.

It may take a little more work – between making the prop and finding an appropriate video or app to mimic the desired screen effect – but the results can be amazing.

Tired of bobbing for apples?

Peeling grapes, blindfolding people, and trying to convince them that they are touching eyes is fun for a while – but these days there are more ways to freak-out your friends.

Horror game fans will know the basic list – from the Lovecraftian horror of Amnesia (Windows) to the futuristic xenomorph terrors of Alien Isolation (Windows) – but most of these are best played alone with the lights out. For a party, you want Sisters (Android), a game that lets you immerse your guests in a digital nightmare.

Using Google Cardboard and a pair of headphones this affordable virtual reality experience will completely surround the unfortunate player.

While you look on, your victim will feel like they are sat in a living-room. Everything seems fine until the lights suddenly go out. When the electricity returns, they will notice things have changed – such as the dolls from the mantelpiece having moved – and that is when a sense of dread will begin. A sense of dread, and lots of screaming.

Blending the traditions of blindfolding games and storytelling, Sisters allows one poor sap to sit experiencing the game, while everyone else looks on and giggles at just how silly they look.

What do you think of our Halloween tips, did you find them helpful? If not, let us know your ideas in the comments!