How to Draw a Haunted House

Start low on the page. Draw a big L shape, then an upside-down L to close it into a box. That is the base of your haunted house. Add two short lines sticking out past the top corners and join them with a long thin rectangle for the roof ledge. Do the same along the bottom, wider this time, for the porch. Wobbly lines are fine. This house is supposed to look old.

From each end of the roof ledge, draw a diagonal line up and in, then connect them across the top. Stand the second story on that roof. Draw a line up on the left side and another a little right of the middle, then close the top with a line. Turn that line into a ledge rectangle and add two more slanted roof lines with a flat top, the same way you did below.

On the right side of the second story, draw an A shape that goes up and back down. Connect it to the wall, run a small line out to the side and bring it down to the first roof. Add a box with another A shape on top for the tower roof, then a diagonal line up to the same height. For the chimney, draw two crooked lines and cap them with a line and a small rectangle.

Draw a tall rectangle on the ground floor for the door and a second rectangle inside it. For each square window, draw an L, then an upside-down L, then a bigger box around it for the frame. Divide the panes with two lines down the middle and two across. In the side tower, draw an upside-down U, close the bottom, add a long sill underneath and trace a second U around the outside.

Draw a line down each side of the house for the corner boards. On both ends of the porch, draw a rectangle that sticks out from the wall, then run two lines from it down to the porch floor. These pedestals are where the pumpkins will sit. Fill the porch with short crooked lines going up and down so it looks like it is built from old stones.

Draw a line down the middle of the roof, then a few more on each side, slanting outward as you go. Now fill each column with short crosswise lines, and change their angle from column to column. Two lines here, three tilted ones there. The mix makes the shingles look loose and ready to slide off. Repeat on the upper and tower roofs, then add brick lines to the chimney.

Draw a pumpkin on top of each porch pedestal. Give one a scary face and make the other small. Now give the house something living inside. Draw angry eyes with two diagonal lines and a curved bottom, or scared eyes with two circles and a dot in each. Put them in the door and windows, then color the door and window glass solid black around the eyes.

Draw a big circle behind the house for the full moon. Stop the line where it hits the roof so the moon sits behind it. For a ghost, draw an upside-down U for the head, then arms reaching out on both sides. Close the bottom of each arm with a spooky zigzag line and trail the body back into the house wall. Add two long oval eyes and a long open mouth.

Draw a small M shape for the bat's head and ears. Add an A shape on each side for the wing tops, then connect the wing tips across the bottom with a zigzag line. Color the whole bat black. Scatter a few more around the sky, with one flying across the moon. Mix big and small bats so some look closer than others.

Swap to colored pencils. Color the walls dark purple and the roofs orange. Use gray for the chimney, porch and pedestals, brown for the window and door frames, and orange for the pumpkins. Color the moon yellow and press hard with yellow on the eyes so they glow against the black. Leave the ghosts white. Pause the video at the end to match the finished colors.