Halloween season is approaching and you may be wondering how to incorporate smart Halloween decorations into your home this year. Everything from smart lights to Halloween projectors can elevate your Halloween decorations to a new level of fright and fun. And if you have smart home devices, you can enhance your spook factor even more with compatible smart decor.
Here are our eight favorite smart Halloween decorations for this year.
1. Spook Guests With a Musical Pumpkin
First impressions matter. And you can create a spine-chilling experience for your guests as they step up to your porch. Simply place a portable speaker inside your outdoor jack-o’-lantern and stream your spooky Halloween playlist.
Just make sure the speaker is small enough to fit inside a pumpkin, is charged, and waterproof.
2. Program a Halloween Sound on Your Ring Doorbell
Another thing you can do to scare your guests is to set chilling sounds on your Ring doorbell. Two of the spookiest sounds available include the Scream and Addams Family Chime tones. These sounds are sure to give your guests the feeling of visiting a haunted home.
Here’s how to set a Halloween sound on your Ring doorbell:
- Open the Ring app and tap the three lines on the top left of the screen.
- Tap “Devices” and select your doorbell.
- Tap the “Audio Settings” icon and select “Chime Tones.”
- Select your preferred Chime Tone.
- Tap the “Save Changes” button to set it.
3. Set the Mood With Philips Hue Lights
The next thing you can do to up your smart Halloween decorations game is to invest in smart lights. Philips Hue is a line of smart light bulbs and light strips that you can operate with your smartphone or your voice assistant.
The Philips Hue light bulbs help you create a perfect Halloween ambience with 16 million colors to choose from. These smart light bulbs allow you to set custom scenes, including eerie lighting for your windows or walkways.
For example, you can replace the normal light bulbs in your lamps with Philips Hue light bulbs, then place the lamps near windows to create a ghostly glow at night visible from outside.
Alternatively for a ghoulish interior atmosphere, you can choose a color like Blood Moon to set the mood for your Halloween party or horror movie marathon.
4. Host a Haunted Smart Home Experience With Smart Assistants
If you connect the smart lights to your Google Assistant, Siri, or Alexa, you can prompt the assistant to start your mysterious playlist and flicker your smart lights. Just set the automation first, and then, depending on which device you have, say:
- “Ok, Google, let’s get spooky.”
- “Hey Siri, let’s get spooky.”
- “Alexa, let’s get spooky.”
5. Tell Scary Stories With Alexa
Though this one isn’t technically a Halloween decoration, it can still help you set the perfect Halloween mood. Whether you’re all alone at home this Halloween or have guests over, you can ask Alexa to tell you a scary story. The scary story library Alexa has is perfectly frightening and tailored to a variety of scare levels and age groups, which makes it ideal for the whole family.
Then, when the kids go to sleep, you can ask Alexa to tell stories that are even scarier. To do so, enable the Boo Bot skill on your Alexa, and then say, “Alexa, ask Boo Bot for a scary story.”
6. Create a Scary Scene With a Smart Projector
Nebula Capsule is one of the best options for a portable mini projector that you can control with your iOS- or Android-powered device. You can also connect the projector to a computer using USB or HDMI cables to watch movies from your memory card. Or, you can create a scary scene by streaming a Halloween favorite from Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, or more.
What’s more, Nebula Capsule will project an image up to 100 inches. This feature of Nebula Capsule enables you to do some cool things like play a family-friendly Halloween movie in your front yard for trick-or-treaters.
7. Activate a Motion Sensor to Scare Trick-or-Treaters
With the Philips motion sensor, you can trigger your Halloween decorations to scare at just the right moment, making trick-or-treaters drop their candy in fright. This sensor eliminates the hassle of manually turning a decoration on and off, and instead lets you set up an automation to activate a smart decoration.
For example, you can command the motion sensor to:
- Start a light show
- Turn on a fog machine
- Play music
8. Project AtmosFX Halloween Decorations for Animated Fun
AtmosFX is a Seattle-based company producing different Halloween-themed characters in digital Halloween decorations. Once you purchase your preferred set of animated projections, you can play them on your TV, PC, or project them onto your windows, walls, side of your house, or front porch. You can even use a motion sensor device to enable your characters to jump out to scare your guests.
For example, the Bone Chillers digital decoration collection is a set of short-movie animations that tell different stories featuring boisterous skeletons. You can project the skeletons dancing, playing music or generally creating a Halloween ruckus.
Ready to Bring a Spooky Experience into Your Home?
Smart Halloween decorations are not only fun but they last a long time, too. Buying a projector may seem like an investment, but with the proper care and storage, you should have it for many Halloweens to come. Plus, when it comes to projectors, smart lights, and portable speakers, you can also use them to decorate for other holidays and events. Let the smart spooky season begin!
