A haunted house is a regular house that has had a very bad century. The walls lean, the shingles slide off, the windows are crooked and something is staring out of the door. That is good news for you. Wobbly lines are the whole look, so this is one drawing where a shaky hand helps.
Rob from Art for Kids Hub draws this one next to his son, one step at a time, in black marker. They build the house from boxes and triangles, add shingles, bricks and a stone porch, then fill the yard with ghosts, bats and a big full moon. Plan on about 30 minutes for the line drawing and another 15 to color it.
What you need
A black marker and a sheet of paper. A fine-point Sharpie gives a bold outline that survives coloring. For color, Rob and his son use colored pencils in gray, dark purple, orange, yellow and brown. Crayons, oil pastels or washable markers work too. Letter size paper is fine. Turn it portrait so the house has room to grow up.
Why crooked lines work here
On a normal house drawing you fight to keep walls straight. Here you let them drift. A roof that sags or a wall that bows makes the house look old and run down. If you want the tidy version, our guide to how to draw a house keeps every line square.
The one place to take care is the shingles. Change the direction of the little lines from column to column. When every shingle matches, the roof looks brand new. When they wander, it looks like they are falling off.
Make your haunted house your own
Around step 7 Rob stops and invites you to finish the house your own way. Some ideas:
- Put jack-o-lanterns on the porch posts. Our pumpkin drawing guide shows the round ribbed shape.
- Draw scary eyes peeking out of the windows and door.
- Add a sheet ghost drifting out of a wall. See how to draw a ghost for a cute version.
- Fill the sky with bats. How to draw a bat takes the wings further than the quick M shape here.
- Draw the ground, a few gravestones and a dead tree.
Coloring tips
Dark purple walls with orange roofs is the classic combo, and it pops against a yellow moon. Keep the porch and chimney gray. Color the windows and door black first, then add yellow eyes with a pencil pressed hard. Leave the ghosts white. Color the bats solid black with the marker.
Using your drawing for Halloween
This makes a great classroom activity because kids can follow the house and then invent their own spooky extras. Fold a finished drawing into a Halloween card, use it as a party coloring page, or tape it in a window with the moon facing out.
Common problems
- The house runs off the page. Start the base box in the lower half of the paper. The roofs, tower and moon need the top half.
- The windows look flat. Draw a second box around each one for a frame.
- The colors smear the marker. Let the ink dry for a minute before you color.
- The ghosts disappear. White on white paper fades. Trace their outlines twice so they stand out once the sky around them is busy.
