A Halloween tree might sound like a novelty until you see one glowing in a front window: a black tree strung with orange lights, hung with grinning Jack O’Lanterns, holding court over the candy bowl. Trees stopped being a Christmas-only tradition a while ago, and October may be the month they have the most fun.
The roots of the holiday reach back to Celtic festivals marking the end of the harvest season and the start of a new year. Centuries later the tradition continued as All Hallows’ Eve, and today it is a season of festive gatherings, sweet treats, and revelry. A decorated tree fits that celebration as naturally as it fits December’s.
What Is a Halloween Tree?
A Halloween tree is exactly what it sounds like: an artificial tree, most often black, decorated for October instead of December. Black branches make orange, purple, and green pop the way evergreen branches flatter red and gold. Some Halloween trees come pre-lit, some sit in a decorative urn ready for an entryway, and some are simply a spare Christmas tree that moonlights in costume for a month.
The appeal is the same thing that makes a Christmas tree work: one glowing centerpiece that sets the tone for the whole room, with ornaments that can be as sweet or as spooky as your household prefers. It also solves the awkward decorating gap between the first cool weekend of fall and the day the Christmas boxes come down: the tree goes up once and simply changes costume as the calendar turns.
How to Decorate a Halloween Tree
Start with the tree
Black is the classic choice because everything contrasts against it, and smaller trees (in the 3-to-5-foot range) work beautifully on entry tables and porches where a full-size tree would crowd the candy station. Pre-lit black trees come through our Halloween collection when the season ramps up, and a spare green tree works too; nobody has ever accused Halloween of being strict about the rules.
Choose your lights
Orange is the anchor, purple adds the eerie glow, and green reads mad-scientist. One color keeps it elegant; two colors alternated read festive; all three belong at a serious Halloween party. The same rules from our guide to types of Christmas lights apply here, from bulb sizes to LED versus incandescent.
One practical note: if the tree lives on an entry table or a porch step away from an outlet, battery-operated light sets with built-in timers spare you the extension cord entirely, and six hours a night covers prime trick-or-treating traffic with power to spare.
Hang the ornaments
This is where the personality lands. Mummies, skulls, black cats, witches, and Jack O’Lantern ornaments have long been part of the Halloween mix at St. Nick’s, and collectors should keep an eye out for Halloween pieces from the big ornament makers; retired Halloween designs from lines like Christopher Radko are some of the most hunted pieces in our vintage Radko collection.
Finish with ribbon and toppers
Black-and-orange plaid, spider-web sheers, or a deep purple velvet ribbon turns a decorated tree into a styled one, and the techniques in our ribbon guide work in October exactly as they do in December. Up top, a witch hat, a bow with trailing tails, or a lone raven all make the point.
A simple order of operations
The build order is the same one that works in December. Fluff and shape the branches first. Lights go on second, wrapped deep and shallow for dimension (our guide on how to hang Christmas lights applies branch for branch). Ribbon third, while the branches are still easy to reach into. Ornaments last, with the biggest pieces placed first and the small ones filling gaps. Topper at the end, once everything below has settled into place.
Halloween Tree Themes to Steal
If a blank black tree is staring you down, borrow one of these:
- Pumpkin Patch Classic: orange lights, Jack O’Lantern ornaments, a plaid orange-and-black ribbon, and a burlap bow on top. The friendliest version of the tradition, and the easiest to shop for.
- Haunted Victorian: purple lights, black lace or web-patterned sheer ribbon, ravens, keys, and antique-look glass ornaments. Reads like the set of a very tasteful ghost story.
- Candy Corn: alternating yellow, orange, and white, with candy-themed ornaments. Sweet, bright, and beloved by kids.
- Cute, Not Creepy: warm white lights, friendly ghosts, black cats, smiling pumpkins. The nursery-safe and grandparent-approved edition.
- Elegant Gothic: black tree, deep purple velvet ribbon, silver and gunmetal ornaments, no faces anywhere. The version that stays up for dinner parties past Thanksgiving without apologizing.
Whichever direction you take, commit to it. A themed Halloween tree with five matching elements beats a crowded one with twenty strangers on it.
And make the decorating itself part of the holiday. A Halloween tree is a low-stakes rehearsal for December: let the kids place the unbreakable ornaments low, save the glass pieces for higher branches, and put the whole production on a school night with cider on the stove. The tree ends up decorated, and October gains a small tradition of its own that has nothing to do with sugar.
One Tree, Three Holidays
Here is the quiet genius of a Halloween tree: it does not have to come down on November 1st. Swap the spooky ornaments for autumn leaves, mini pumpkins, and copper ribbon and it becomes a Thanksgiving tree. Some families hang small notes of gratitude on it through November. Then, when December arrives, the black tree either retires for the year or goes full glam with silver and jewel tones while the main Christmas tree takes the spotlight. One purchase, three months of decor.
Two placement notes from experience. Urn-style trees flanking a front door make the single best first impression of the season, but check the tag before anything sleeps outside; a tree that is not rated for outdoor use should watch the trick-or-treaters from inside the window. And if the tree shares a room with a candy bowl and a doorbell, anchor the base well, because October foot traffic is not gentle.
A Halloween Village to Match
If a tree is not enough Halloween for your household, you are our kind of people. Department 56 builds an entire Halloween Village of haunted houses, spooky trees, and delightfully macabre characters, and our tour of the D56 Halloween Village shows how deep that rabbit hole goes. A lit village under a lit black tree is about as October as a room can get.
The village side of the aisle even has trees of its own: miniature pieces like D56’s Trick Halloween Trees, Gone Batty Trees, and glowing orange and purple Spiralight LED trees, sized to loom over a tiny haunted main street instead of a living room. Plenty of collectors run both scales at once, the big black tree in the corner and its miniature cousins terrorizing the sideboard.
Celebrate the Season with St. Nick’s
To help you celebrate, St. Nick’s stocks a full Halloween collection alongside the year-round Christmas selection: ornaments, trees, village pieces, and the odd delightfully creepy surprise. Come by the Littleton store and let your imagination take flight, or shop online any night of the year. The lights are always on, and in October, some of them are orange.
Frequently Asked Questions
An artificial tree, usually black, decorated for October: orange or purple lights, spooky or sweet ornaments, and often a ribbon or witch-hat finish. It works exactly like a Christmas tree as a room’s glowing centerpiece; the palette is just borrowed from the other end of the calendar.
They are a fast-growing one. Halloween itself descends from Celtic harvest festivals, and decorating for the season has only grown richer over the decades, from porch pumpkins to full lit displays. The Halloween tree is the natural next step, and every year more of them appear in front windows.
Absolutely. A green tree strung with orange lights and hung with Halloween ornaments does the job with charm to spare. A black tree deepens the effect because every color pops against it, but Halloween has never been strict about the rules, and repurposing the tree you own is a fine way to start.
Orange is the anchor. Purple adds an eerie glow, green reads mad-scientist, and combinations get more festive as you add colors. One color is elegant, two alternated are playful, and all three together belong at a full Halloween party. Warm white also works for a subtler harvest look.
Jack O’Lanterns, black cats, mummies, skulls, witches, ravens, and candy-themed pieces are the classics. Glass Halloween ornaments from collectible makers add a vintage feel, and retired Halloween designs from lines like Christopher Radko are genuinely collectible in their own right.
Most households put theirs up in late September or the first week of October, which gives the tree a solid month of duty before the candy runs out. There is no official calendar for it; the tree goes up when the season starts feeling like yours.
Smaller trees in the 3-to-5-foot range are the most popular because they fit entry tables, porches, and corners without competing with the room. A full-size tree makes a bigger statement if you have the space. Black trees in urns are made for entryways.
Yes, and that is the quiet genius of it. Swap the spooky ornaments for autumn leaves and mini pumpkins in November, and some families hang notes of gratitude on the branches. In December a black tree can go glam with silver and jewel tones, or rest while the main Christmas tree takes over.
Many do, typically with warm white or orange bulbs, which saves the stringing step entirely. Pre-lit black trees tend to arrive and sell within the season, so if one is on your list, shop early in the fall rather than the week before the party.
St. Nick’s carries a full Halloween collection alongside its year-round Christmas selection, online and at the Littleton, Colorado store: ornaments, village pieces, and seasonal trees as they come through. October shoppers get the best pick.
Find It at St. Nick's
St. Nick’s Christmas and Collectibles has been Littleton, Colorado’s Christmas store since 1976. Shop online, visit us in person, or call 1-800-875-8865 with any questions.
