SCARY TACTICS
Halloween home decor themes include creepy carnivals, clowns
Films, TV shows and stories, including the current hits It and American Horror Story, have long imagined a dark side to circuses and side shows. No surprise then that they’re a theme for Halloween decorations.
Vintage imagery of clowns, beasts, scary rides and carnival denizens provide inspiration for seasonal home decor and parties.
Grandin Road, for instance, has a circus tent-style tiered serving dish for treats. A painted resin elephant balances expertly on a stand, a candle holder perched on his back. Vintage-style signs offer palm reading and directions to scary attractions. And there’s a black and white print of a turn-ofthe-century fire breather to hang on the wall. (grandinroad.com )
Vintage circus and funhouse posters are colourful and eyecatching, and you’ll find a variety of them on Etsy.com.
For example: Chicago artist Terry Hoffman’s studio, Parachute 425, offers a gothic art Freak Show poster in a palette of carnival hues. (etsy.com/shop/ parachute425)
Reproductions of early circus posters with roaring tigers and grinning clowns can be found at ringlingonlinestore.com
The designs come from the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus archives.
Or set up a sideshow photo booth under Oriental Trading’s Big Top Terror standup display. Vintage-style posters with face cutouts would be fun props for a photo booth; guests can be Crabman, Ringmaster, Strongman, Trapeze Artist or Bearded Lady. (orientaltrading.com )
Spirit Halloween has a slightly alarming number of scary clowns from which to choose, including a life-size, animatronic one modelled after the fearsome Pennywise of Stephen King’s horror novel (and recent movie), It. (spirithalloween.com )
If you’re ready to take charge of your circus-themed Halloween party, consider outfitting yourself as a ringmaster. An Arizona studio, Cupcake’s Cottage, offers an array of colourful, satin-trimmed men’s jackets. (etsy.com/shop/ CupcakesCottage )
And for women, Kirsteen Wythe, a costume designer in Norwich, England, handcrafts sumptuously detailed red and blue velvet corsets embellished with gold detailing. (etsy.com/ shop/KirsteenWythe )