12 Sophisticated (But Still Fun) Halloween Decorations

As with any holiday, decorating for Halloween can easily veer from festive to utterly over-the-top…and not in a great way. The old adage of removing one accessory before leaving the house should perhaps be applied to decorating for the holidays as well. And while a house that’s overly festooned with Christmas decorations can still be quite magical, there’s something about decorating for Halloween that can enter tacky territory quite quickly. Unless you’re kitting out your house to be, well, an actual haunted house, it’s wise to decorate thoughtfully and judiciously and perhaps avoid a profusion of animatronic witches, fake spider webs, and inflatable cauldrons. A real black cauldron bubbling away on your stovetop, however, we can get behind.

Here, 12 “decorations” that will add some moody vibes to your abode without screaming Halloween (literally or figuratively). The added bonus? Unlike the ceramic mummy cookie jar you stash in your deepest cupboard 11.5 months of the year, many of these will be useful long after the trick or treating is done.

What's your favorite way to set the Halloween mood? Tell us in the comments!