Halloween is less than a week away, which means you’ll see plenty of homes with some extra ghouls and goblins. Whether you've had your decorations up for weeks or still have work to do on them, your smart home devices are perfect for quick and effective spooky effects.

From creating special lighting to spooky sounds with your smart devices, we’ve compiled a handful of simple ways you can bring a haunted house vibe to life at your home that will surely delight trick-or-treaters.

Setting the scene

The perfect way to make your home spooky is with some specialty lighting since a brightly lit home doesn’t usually give off a spooky feel. While dimming the lights inside and out is a good start, incorporating the best smart lights can help you unlock a new level of creepiness.

Any smart light can help conjure up an eerie vibe with random dimming and flickering, but adding color can really help create an ambiance that will raise the hairs on the backs of visitors' necks. Many of the top brands, like Philips Hue, Govee and LIFX, have preset scenes that use greens, purples, reds and more, plus the option to turn on random flickers.

Of course, your spooky home will be even more eye-catching if you incorporate outdoor string lights into the mix.

Getting your lighting configured is a great start, but when you pair smart sensors with the lights, you can create automations for Alexa or Google Assistant. These automations will allow you to schedule when specific lights turn on and off or respond to motion sensors.

There are many buying options for these types of sensors. You can buy ones from the same brand as your lights, like Philips Hue and Govee. Or, if you have a hub or smart speaker that can act as a hub, like the Amazon Echo (4th Gen), you can use third-party Zigbee devices such as this one from Thirdreality.

Add sounds from the unknown

Halloween is when your smart speaker can really start to shine. In addition to answering questions, Amazon Echo and Google Nest smart speakers and displays can play nearly any song you request. But these devices can also help you get into the Halloween spirit with built-in features created specifically for spooky season.

For example, on a Google speaker, if you say, “Hey Google, get spooky,” you'll get an hour’s worth of what Google calls “spooktacular sounds and music.” 

Here are additional phrases you can use on your Google Nest: 

• "What does a werewolf sound like?" While it might seem obvious how Google would respond here, hearing the howl for yourself is still fun.
• "OK, Google, boo." Google responds with “Were you a ghost this whole time? I should’ve known,” and some fun sound effects.
• "Hey, Google, tell me a scary story." Here you’ll get an interactive, choose-your-own-adventure-style story complete with spooky sound effects.
• "OK, Google, Happy Halloween." Your Google Assistant will give you some fun choices like singing you a Halloween song, riddle, and more.

For Amazon Echo users, you can ask Alexa to play creepy sound effects, tell a scary story or even share Halloween jokes. (This is also a great way for your kiddos to get ideas for their joke to use during trick-or-treating!) Amazon offers many different Skills, like little apps for your Echo, including Halloween Skils, which you can activate to make your Echo devices extra spooky. The Halloween Sounds Skill is great for adding extra creepy sound effects to your house, especially when they’re coming from the Jack Skellington Echo Dot.

Whether you’re using Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant, these ideas can add an extra layer of eeriness to your home. As technology becomes ever smarter, there are sure to be additional ways for you to have your smart devices join in on the fun for years to come. Plus, don’t forget about your smart home’s security devices. These are another great tool to help you achieve a spooky Halloween feel.