by Kassadee Marie, HSM team writer

If you’re like me, you love holidays and love decorating for them. But again, if you’re like me, you hate taking the decorations down at the end of the season and packing them away for another year — even when you have help, or you’re just the helper, like I am. Unpacking and setting up decorations is fun, but the second activity is just work with no reward at the end.

One of the many great things about owning several personal estates on Home is the ability to decorate for a holiday and not have to remove the decorations when the season is through.

If you want to decorate for Halloween, almost any estate could be used for this theme with the right furniture, items and ornaments. You may even like to re-decorate your Harbour Studio apartment for this occasion. However, there are several estates you could choose from to celebrate Halloween all through the year, places that work well with a spooky or Gothic theme. “Spooky” and “Gothic” seem more traditional for Halloween than the alternatives, and can be more fun, especially on Home.

The best choice for decoration may be Juggernaut’s awesome (and sometimes scary) Cutteridge Estate. Juggernaut made several changes to this space during last year’s Halloween season. We saw the addition of the little ghost girl, Jessamine, and a scarecrow who came out of the cornfield and started running around the estate. It was startling to see him through the windows, running swiftly past, just outside the mansion. And who could forget the mirror with “Help me” written across it in red; the misty glowing well; or the chained and pulsing door with an ominous green glow coming from under it? They also added games, which when purchased and won, give you an alternate universe version of the estate. There was even a full set of furniture available to purchase for this universe. Most of these were active items with great animations and low furniture slot counts. I’m really looking forward to seeing what changes may be made this year at Cutteridge.

Another great choice for Halloween decorations is the Gothic Manor from Sony. This box estate has a very small upstairs, but a large patio and back yard, with features such as a garden pond, two grass plots and large pillars holding up the balcony. The matching furniture isn’t especially spooky, but you might want to pick up the pack as a start to your decorating, unless you already have suitable furniture. It’s easy to make the pond look spooky with cattails from Juggernaut, found in the armory store within the free Minibots space. There’s also a great spooky-looking tree there. Each item is just five Juggernaut coins. The two grass plots at this estate can be made into graves with one or two headstones ($.99 each) from nDreams’ nParty: Horror, or the tombstone chair from Codeglue ($1.49) or the level 2 Dead Ringer prize from Midway III. The large version of the Angels and Demons statue from Loot can also add a lot of atmosphere. The reward pillars with ivy strands from the Mercia game look great in this space as well.

If you want to “go big” for Halloween, consider the Gothic Cathedral from Konami for a Halloween estate. The main hall looks exactly like a place where a vampire would want to hang out, and there’s a smaller room to the left of the entry with a large fireplace that can be made into a Gothic bedroom. The halls and patio area with a fountain can basically be left as they are, if you wish to use your 100 furniture slots elsewhere. To help fill up this space, you’ll need large furniture items, so I recommend the purchasing the bundle for $9.99 — this includes a matching furniture pack with seven items, most of which are made of very dark wood and dark material for that Gothic mood. The pack includes a bench style pew, as well as a bed, throne, chair, rug, table and a stone gargoyle wall item. The gargoyle looks especially fitting for a Gothic Halloween theme.

Other estates that you may own and want to consider for this theme are the Visari Throne Room by Sony, the Wizard’s Den by Sony, the Ghost Pirate Ship by Lucas Arts, Zombie DeadQuarters by Sony, Silent Hill: Downpour Diner by Konami and the Savage Manor by nDreams.

Lockwood made a whole line of Gothic furniture that would look great in any of the medium-sized or smaller spaces you wish to use for a spooky-themed Halloween. The 21-piece bundle sells for $11.99. Some of the items available are a Gothic armchair for $1.49 and purple roses for $.99. Don’t overlook your friends this season; Lockwood also added a Gothic line of furniture and decorating items to their gift machine with a different color scheme. You’ll find a lot of suitable themed items there, such as a coffin table and Gothic candelabra for 128 tokens, two styles of beds for 256 tokens and a Gothic picture for 16 tokens.

Sony has offered many free items that you may already have, such as pumpkins, a cauldron, and a Halloween chair. Every year, Home’s developers offer more themed items, and there are some great ones to choose from. I suggest you check the Heavy Water, VEEMEE, Lockwood, and Granzella stores first. Konami keeps a tab in their store all year long called “Halloween” and Sony will likely add a “Halloween” tab under New and Featured when the season comes again, so be sure to check there, too. Of course you’ll want to check out the bundles there, as these usually offer a substantial price discount. But don’t over look individual items, as they may be perfect for your decorating choices.

One thing that would add a lot to any Halloween space with a night sky is Lockwood’s Spooky Special PODI  (Pyrotechnic Overhead Display Interface) pack for $5.99. This bundle includes the Podi with the original five fireworks, plus seven special spooky fireworks, including “Witch’s Sneeze”, “Shocker”, “Jack O’Phantom”, “Warlock’s Flare”, “Bouncing Pumpkins”, “Dragon’s Breath” and “Hellfire”. These fireworks are really well done and fun to watch, over and over. Even when you’re not watching the sky especially, they make a nice background to your spooky space.

Have fun decorating — and dressing up — on Home. And remember not to eat too much candy. Happy Halloween!

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