It's easy and fun to turn your yard into a cemetery for Halloween! Greet trick or treaters with a lawn decorated with tombstones by following these step by step instructions for how to turn your yard into a cemetery.

• RIP

• "I Sleepwalk" http://www.hauntedbay.com/thelab/epitaphs.shtml

• "As you are now so once was I" http://seniors-site.com/funstuff/epitaphs.html

• "Here lies Johnny Yeast. Pardon me for not rising." http://www.webpanda.com/ponder/epitaphs.htm

• "Here lies an Atheist. All dressed up and no place to go.." http://www.joe-ks.com/tombstone.htm

Cemeteries are at the heart of most Halloween mythology, so it's appropriate to turn to a cemetery when considering how best to decorate your yard for Halloween. Your cemetery can consist of just a few tombstones, or can be an all out fully decorated affair. You may want to start small the first year, as most of the props can be saved, and add a few more decorations and special effects each Halloween.

All you need is a few tombstones scattered around your lawn to turn your front yard into a spooky cemetery. Tombstones can be purchased at a party store, or you can make your own by cutting headstones out of a sheet of styrofoam insulation with a utility knife. Carve interesting sayings and epitaphs on the tombstones with the utility knife before painting them. You can either make a stand for them or screw the tombstones onto a stake which you can insert into the ground.

You can increase the spookiness of your cemetery by including an open grave in front of one of the headstones. While its easy to dig a hole if your lawn is dirt, not grass, most people don't want to dig up their beautiful green grass for a cemetery. To give the illusion of an open grave, you can cover a black trash bag with fresh dirt, and place a few strips of sod around the edges. A hand peeking up from the dirt would be a creppy addition.

Skeletons, Zombies, and other creatures of the night will add to the ambience of your cemetery. If you don't have the budget to purchase life-sized monsters, you can stuff black trash bags with leaves, Cover them with a suit jacket, in which you've stuffed the arms, and top the dummy off with a Halloween mask. Position them as if they are rising from the ground.

Special effects will improve the look of the cemetery. Cover spotlights with blue cellophane to cast an eerie glow over your lawn. Scatter a few cauldrons containing dry ice for smoke, and make sure you have creepy music in the background. You might be too scared to leave the house!