Halloween projection mapping
for your window, door and step
Halloween projection mapping turns the front of your house into the one the street talks about. Fire burns in the window, fog rolls round the door and the pumpkins on the step glow from inside. You need a laptop with Chrome or Edge, a projector and an evening to set it up. Prism Mapper runs in the browser and you can start on the free plan.
Three places to haunt
Projector Halloween decorations work best on something pale and matt. Choose one of these for your first year rather than all three.
The front window
Hang a white sheet, a cheap shower curtain or frosted film inside the glass and project onto it from the room. From the pavement it glows like a lit screen. A sheer curtain makes a good home for a ghost that drifts past.
The front door
A pale door is a ready-made surface. Map the door and its frame as separate shapes, so flames can lick up the frame while the door itself pulses red. A mask cuts round the letterbox or the handle.
Pumpkins on the step
White craft pumpkins take light far better than orange ones, and a phone scan finds their curved faces for you. Line up three of different sizes and give each its own look.
From a box in the cupboard to a lit house
Give yourself the weekend before Halloween, not the night itself. Most of the work is placing the projector, and that needs darkness.
- 01
Saturday afternoon: place the projector
Find a spot where the projector can see the whole window or door and will not be knocked. Connect it to the laptop with HDMI as an extended display (Win + P, Extend), and switch off auto-keystone, auto-focus and eco dimming in its menu.
- 02
Saturday after dark: scan
Prop your phone right beside the lens, open the projector window full screen, and press Start scan. Over a cable it takes about half a minute. The room or porch should be dark, so the projector is the brightest thing the phone sees.
- 03
Pick what to map
Prism shows the surfaces it found and asks what you want to map. Click the window panel, the door and each pumpkin. A scan keeps every surface it finds, even on the free plan.
- 04
Sunday: give each surface a look
Put Fire on the door frame, a slow red gradient on the door and something different on each pumpkin. Save it as a scene, then make a calmer second scene for early evening when small children come round.
- 05
Halloween night: switch on and leave it
Open the project, open the projector window, check it says P1 ready and press GO. Do not move the projector once it is mapped. If it gets knocked, scan again.
Your phone draws the shapes for you
The projector shows a series of black and white stripes while your phone watches. From the way the stripes bend over your door and pumpkins, Prism works out which projector pixel lands where, and draws a clean shape round each surface. No tracing corners by hand.
Keep the phone on its normal 1× camera, propped so it cannot move, with the whole projection in view. If you would rather not use a phone, you can draw shapes by hand instead; see Pair your phone and scan for both.
Kit and cable sense for Halloween projection mapping
Prism looks after the picture. The kit and the cables are up to you, so treat this like any outdoor electrical job.
- Keep the projector dry
- Projecting from inside, through the window or onto it, is the easiest way to keep rain off. If it has to sit outside, keep it under cover and check what the maker says about damp and cold.
- Outdoor-rated leads
- Use extension leads made for outdoor use, keep plugs off wet ground, and run cables where nobody will trip on the way to your door.
- Laptop on mains power
- Plug it in and turn off sleep, screen savers and notifications, so the show does not stop at nine o’clock.
- Mind the flicker
- Lightning and failing-light effects flash. The flash limit holds every projector to three flashes a second by default; leave it on for a street full of strangers. See Flash safety.
- Stray light
- Aim so the beam does not shine into drivers’ eyes or a neighbour’s bedroom window.
What you can do free, and what needs Creator
The free plan gives you one projector, 12 starter looks and up to four shapes you add by hand, with a small watermark. Fire is one of the starter looks, and so are Plasma, Kaleidoscope, Edge Chase and Text, which is plenty for a burning door and three glowing pumpkins. Looks can follow the beat and the volume of whatever you play.
The Creator plan opens every look and the built-in Halloween pack: blood drips, a hell gate, a thunderstorm, ghostly fog, an apparition, rising slime and failing lights, many already set to move with the music. It also lets you use your own images and videos, and scenes that move on by themselves after a set time, so the house can cycle through its scares without you.
New to all this? Projection mapping for beginners covers the basics in ten minutes.
Can I project onto a window from inside?
Yes. Glass lets light straight through, so hang something pale on the inside: a white sheet, a shower curtain or frosted window film. Project onto that from the room and people outside see it lit from behind. Words will read backwards from the street, so stick to fire, fog and figures.
What projector do I need for Halloween decorations?
Any projector that connects to a laptop as a second screen will do. Brighter is better when street lights are nearby, and a cable connection is faster than Wi-Fi. Our guide to the best projector for projection mapping covers what to look for.
Can I leave the projector outside all night?
Prism does not make a projector weatherproof. Most home projectors are made for indoors, so projecting from behind a window or under a porch roof is safer. Check your projector maker’s advice on damp and cold.
Is Halloween projection mapping free with Prism Mapper?
You can start free. The free plan has one projector, 12 starter looks including Fire, and a small watermark. The Halloween pack, your own videos and timed scenes are on the Creator plan.
How dark does it need to be?
The scan needs a dark or dim scene, so do it after sunset. The show itself also looks far stronger once it is properly dark; a projector cannot compete with daylight or a bright porch light.
Light up your door this weekend
Open Prism Mapper in Chrome or Edge, plug in your projector and start free.
Start creating free