Gone are the days of simple pumpkins and cardboard cutouts—this Halloween, we’re diving into the world of high-tech haunts where AV professionals will help you create a display so immersive even the bravest souls will tremble. From eerie projections that bring ghostly apparitions to life to soundscapes that send shivers down your spine, these tips will help you build a fright fest that’s bound to be the talk of the town!

Ed Cox, Senior System Specialist, AtlasIED

My house has lots of windows, so every window has a rear projection screen and video images. To do this, you need a few things: a video projector, screen material, and content.

Video projectors don’t have to be state of the art—this is not critical viewing. Projectors that have around 1000 lumens and VGA/S video inputs are usually good enough for this application. Rear Projection screen material can be purchased from many sources, but can be as simple as a frosted shower curtain or stretched white spandex. Of course you need a video source—I’ve used DVD players, media players and old laptops.

The content can come can come from many places. If you have video editing software, you can edit content from your favorite monster movie. Some content can be found on the internet as an endless loop, but if you are looking for ready made content you a find them with the google search of Halloween projection videos.

However, if you are looking for quick, fun easy, you’ll need 3 pumpkins, a video projector, video source, and bluetooth speaker. There are several pumpkin videos that will project faces into the pumpkins, who will talk, tell jokes, and sing.

Brian Duffy, Strategic Account Manager – Live Entertainment, Panasonic Connect

There’s nothing less spooky than drab, unrealistic Halloween decorations. The goal is to really haunt people, right? That’s why my top tip for the best trick-or-treat decorations this year is to take advantage of projection mapping solutions. Sure, the plastic skeletons and jack-o’-lanterns can stay, but projection mapping will raise the spook factor of any at-home or professional Halloween experience.

Whether you’re taking over a stadium to create a temporary holiday experience filled with different scare zones, or turning your home and neighborhood into the ultimate haunted house, laser projectors immerse visitors and trick or treaters into a life-like Halloween experience. Projection mapping can create illusions of ghosts moving in and out of windows, bats flying across the scene, or cauldrons bubbling around a house. By transforming any surface, regardless of its architecture, into a canvas for the spooky holiday, projection mapping paired with great sound can create an eerie atmosphere that puts even the bravest visitors on their toes. By leveraging the precision and versatility of projection mapping technology, any Halloween display can be transformed from a simple decoration to a spine-chilling, immersive experience that leaves a lasting impression on every visitor.

Rachael Hinds, Senior Marketing Manager, Peerless-AV

One of the more creative ways to take your Halloween decorations to the next level is by using projection mapping. This technology will let you project spooky graphics onto surfaces all around your home and landscape. The options are endless—you can make it look like ghosts are flying by, shadows are creeping around a corner, or your house has come to life with eerie animations.

To really give visitors a fright, you can sync the visuals with mysterious sound effects. Hide a Bluetooth speaker in your decorations and have the sounds play just as someone walks up, using a simple motion sensor. Imagine the surprise when eerie whispers or creaky doors start out of nowhere.

You can also add some smart lighting into the mix, setting lights to change colors or flicker as part of the scare. These tech touches will make your Halloween setup feel more alive—surprising and delighting your visitors with high-tech, spooky fun!

Suzanne Borders, CEO and Co-Founder, BadVR

I don’t really decorate much for Halloween, although I love the holiday! This year, I’ve been working on something special. My company has a product called ‘SeeSignal’ that uses augmented reality to visualize the RF (radio frequency) spectrum. This product is used by telecom and utility companies when setting up their networks. However, there’s a much spookier application of this technology that I’ve adjusted—for ghost hunting!

Instead of visualizing the RF spectrum, I changed the data input so that the user can see the EMF (electromagnetic field) surrounding them, in any given environment. The app also shows—most importantly—fluctuations in the electromagnetic spectrum, which are often considered evidence of ghosts. In this way, I’ve found a way to literally ‘see’ ghosts! It’s much better than carrying around an old-school EMF meter to gather individual data samples…with the SeeGhosts app (as I call it), you can see an entire room’s worth of EMF data at once, easily seeing any anomalies holographically and organically.

My little Halloween project offers a unique way to experience the paranormal by making previously invisible electromagnetic fluctuations visible, creating an immersive ghost-hunting or paranormal investigation experience that blends science with the supernatural; my favorite blend!

Shae Langley, Head of LBX, Disguise

To create an immersive and cohesive Halloween experience, synchronizing AV elements like projection mapping, lighting, and visual effects with precise timing is key. By coordinating these technologies, you can transform spaces into lifelike, dynamic scenes that enhance the overall atmosphere and engage visitors more deeply.

For example, Knott’s Scary Farm in Los Angeles used Disguise to elevate its experience. By seamlessly integrating projection mapping, lighting, and visual effects, they transformed buildings into terrifying scenes with lifelike precision. Disguise also managed LED lighting systems, dynamically shifting colors and intensities to build suspense throughout the park’s scare zones and mazes.

Disguise’s real-time playback capabilities enabled the flawless integration of high-definition screens, holographic effects, and spatial audio, aligning visuals and sounds perfectly. This sophisticated use of Disguise allowed Knott’s Scary Farm to deliver a highly coordinated, high-tech haunting experience, immersing guests in a continuous, scary atmosphere.

Bradford Benn, Chief Advisist, Advisist Group

For Halloween, I used a similar setup for displays at our previous home, but I haven’t fully implemented it since moving. The old house had a front door with three 2-ft. by 2-ft. frosted glass panes, each spaced a foot apart. I had videos such as a large spider crawling on the windows, a foggy moon with thunder and lightning clouds, or bats flying for example formatted for portrait use. I projected video onto these panes, adjusting the mapping to fit the layout using QLab, a multimedia playback Mac software designed for live performances that allows users to control and synchronize audio, video, and lighting cues across multiple outputs. I took the content and cropped it to fit each specific projector, sent it via HDMI to each projector aimed at the back of the door. I used a basic phototripod to hold the projectors and QLab to compensate for keystoning. To enhance the experience, I placed a powered speaker outside to reinforce the audio with the visuals. The looped video lasted five to 10 minutes, designed to be eye-catching but not distracting for drivers. Over time, we noticed pedestrians stopping by just to watch, especially since I would regularly update the content using QLab’s scheduling features. This created a dynamic, evolving display that added a fun, engaging element to the neighborhood during the holidays.

Meghan Athavale, CEO, LUMOplay

Making a haunted interactive wall for your TV, projector, or LED wall is easier than you think with LUMOplay’s Motion Maker! In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to design a haunted interactive wall for Halloween from start to finish, import your custom content into LUMOplay’s code-free Motion Maker design tools, and publish your game so it can be played on any projector or TV.

Perfect for Halloween, a haunted house themed location or event, or just to creep out your visitors because you’re that kind of person (you know who you are).

Samantha Stevens, Project Manager, CrimsonAV

My husband and I love Halloween! Every year we set up our decorations differently.

We like to tell a story when people look at our house from the street and provide an experience as trick-or-treaters visit. Not to mention, we must get creative with cord management to maximize our power supplies and to make sure there are no tripping hazards for visitors.

On the day of trick or treating, we set up fog machines, and speakers to play creepy music as well as projectors to display alternating images to bring the experience more pizzaz. If we could leave our Halloween decorations up all year round, we would.

Matt Wilson, Director of Marketing, McCann

While I will not do this (this year…), why not turn the garage or porch into an escape room? A haunted garage, prison break, or scientist’s lab would be ambitious but amazing. You could segment the space with pipe and drape to make it a tiered challenge to “escape” from. Depending on the entrants’ skill level, there are many ways to theme the space and make the puzzles interactive and exciting using AV products.

Spooky audio effects and dramatic lighting could make your candy stop the talk of the neighborhood. Adding simple input triggers like pressure mats and key switches through a controller or a Raspberry Pi would be fun—the lowest time is rewarded with all the king-size treats!

Charles Freedman, President, NEED Technologies

The obvious Halloween technology has always been sound-based and may have some projection. The industry is in a new stage where filters and AI-generated images could be used as a tool for Halloween. I would have some fun by arranging a filter using creepy images over participants in videoconference meetings.

To take it a step further, you can automate everything using motion sensors, and proximity sensors that would integrate into the full control system. You can also have hologram solutions with the proper sounds to create a scary scene using the proximity sensors to arm them as people enter an area. For a more simplified solution that would have an impact, I’d adjust voice tones with wearable microphone systems to give that menacing sound or even silly sounds. Have some fun with it.

Ernest Bakenie, Sr. Director of Global Sales, Themed Entertainment, Christie

Spooky season is here, and at Christie, we have decades of experience delivering show-stopping themed experiences for customers around the world. A key to creating a great experience is pairing your Halloween décor with the right technology. While our 50,000-lumen Griffyn 4K50-RGB pure laser projector would be the talk of the neighborhood—creating true bloody reds and deep spooky blacks—I think our HS Series 1DLP projectors would suit the job much better.

I would projection map the façade of my house with the 4K22-HS—it’s 22,500 lumens, 4K UHD resolution, and runs on 100-120 VAC power. I would manage terrifying content from my laptop, running Pandoras Box Software to ensure that it’s perfectly mapped to the features of my home. I can also sync music to my content through the software, for added impact. And the final touch? I’ll hand out full-sized candy bars, to ensure the kids return next year.

Jeremy Meyer, Owner, CableEZ

At my home, we’ve got this great little window that overlooks the driveway. In years past, it’s been fun to make that window appear to have spooky eyes using green goobo type lights.

For this year, we’re going to make an iteration that’s a split between the eye of Sauron (a Lord of the Rings character for those who are unfamiliar) and some shifty red eyes.

For this, we used a display in the window and found a video of the creepy eyes for the effect. The kids in the neighborhood really get a thrill from the eyes watching them.

Have a Happy Halloween!

Whether you’re aiming for a haunted mansion vibe or a futuristic nightmare, there’s a plethora of technology at your fingertips that can elevate your decor from spooky to downright terrifying.

With the help of cutting-edge AV technology, your Halloween setup will be nothing short of boo-tiful! So go ahead, transform your haunted house into a spine-chilling spectacle with using the tech-savvy tricks you just read from the experts. Don’t forget to tag us on social media (Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc.) when you share your creations!