Enter If You Dare! Creepy Hallowen Decorations For Your Yard!

R.I.P. Tombstone

It seems just like yesterday that I was taking down last year's Halloween decorations, but I will once again drag out everything and decorate my yard for Halloween Night in a few weeks. For me, this has been an annual tradition since I was a middle-grader. I'm now in my 30's and I still enjoy giving out candy to trick-or-treaters, which there are normally between 120-130 trick-or-treaters every year.

Last year, I put out a creepy cemetery in my yard, which I received positive praise from trick-or-treaters and their parents. Of course I want to expand the cemetery this year by adding a few more creepy things, so I teamed up with Oriental Trading, who kindly sent me a few complimentary Halloween products to review.

Up first is the R.I.P. Tombstone (IN-13687750), which is a 22" tall foam tombstone that comes with two plastic ground stakes. The tombstone has a realistic weathered look to it, as well as a cross and R.I.P. on the front of it. The tombstone retails around $9.50, bu it is currently out-of-stock.

I'm rating this 4 out of 5!

Light-Up Gothic Tombstone

Having a few creepy tombstones can spook up any yard, but if you really want your yard to pop out, then you're going to have to get some decorations or props that have lights in them. That is why the next item I reviewed was the Light-Up Gothic Angel Tombstone (IN-13636966), which retails at $22. The 22" tall tombstone is made from foam, unlike what the description on the Oriental Trading website states - it is not made out of plastic. It also doesn't come with batteries like it says in the description You'll need to purchase three AAA batteries. It does comes with two plastic ground stakes.

You'll also need a small Phillips screwdriver to remove the lid, so you can install the batteries. There is also a strobe light that is located below the In Loving Memory R.I.P. engraving.

The Light-Up Gothic Tombstone is not as detailed as I thought it would be, but the strobe light does give the tombstone a creepy look.

I'm rating this 3.5 out of 5!

Light-Up Gothic Tombstone's light!

"R.I.P." Tombstone in box!

Next is the "R.I.P." Tombstone (IN-42/123), which retails at $21, but its currently on sale for $19.98. The tombstone arrived in two different part which were packaged together. You'll have to slip the cross into the slot that is located on the top part of the bottom half of the tombstone. The overall height of this tombstone is 35" and comes with two plastic stakes. 

"R.I.P." Tombstone

Cons: The multicolor eyes lights never worked. I thought maybe it was the batteries, which were included, so I changed the batteries and it still didn't work. Since I received the product "free" for review purposes, I decided instead of contacting Oriental Trading about the problem, I would just repair the lights myself. After taking the battery panel, I realized it was just a faulty panel. Therefore, I just purchased a new pair of eye lights and a battery panel. The panel was slightly bigger than the old one, so with a knife I carefully cut out the exact size I needed from the back of the cross foam. Then I placed the eye lights in and hot glued the battery panel.

Pros: This is the creepiest and most realistic tombstone I have ever seen. There is a  skull (now with
red eyes) on the cross. The bottom half of the skull looks aged with several cracks. There is also a R.I.P. engraving on it too. There are fake spider webs and patches of moss on the back of the bottom half.

"R.I.P." Tombstone's eyes!

Despite the problems I had with the original eye lights, I'm still rating this 4 out of 5.

Diggin' Out Graveyard Scene

If you are on a budget and don't want to spend $10 to $25 dollars for a foam tombstone,  there are cheaper products out there, like the Diggin' Out Graveyard Scene Yard Decoration (IN-13636936), which can be purchased for only $6!

The Diggin' Out Graveyard Scene comes in one plastic piece featuring a tombstone, skull and a pair of boney hands. The hands and skull can be carefully twisted off, turning it into a three-piece set.

Diggin' Out Graveyard Scene in bag!

It looks a lot better than the picture that is on the Oriental Trading website. The plastic is heavier than what I thought it would be. The plastic is also weather proof. The tombstone, skull and hands needs to be exposed to sunlight for several hours before it will glow during the night.

I was pretty impressed by the quality, so I'm rating this 5 out of 5!

Some of my tombstones are going to look a little bare, that is why I reviewed the Gruesome Grave Breaker (IN-13636907), which retails at $13.50.

Front of the hands!

Back of hands!

Rats!

As you can see by the photos, the hands do have a realistic look to them. The paint job is remarkable. The arms are definitely going to look frightening staked in front of a tombstone. I'm rating this 5 out of 5!

Every Halloween cemetery needs a few last touches to give it a haunting look that is why I reviewed a package of 10 Rats (IN-13636904), which can be purchased for just $2.  Each rat is approx. 2 1/2" long with a 1/2" tail! These rats will look great sitting around or on a tombstone on Halloween Night!

Looks like I'm all set to bump up the creep factor on my Halloween cemetery! Have fun trick-or-treating this year!