AI Halloween Prompts for Photos and Videos

Generative AI models can create unique Halloween content. You can make a ghostly portrait from a selfie or a short video of a haunted forest.

To get good results, you need to write clear prompts. This guide provides prompt formulas, examples, and tips for making Halloween photos and videos with AI.

Key Takeaways

• Structure Your Prompts: Use specific formulas for image and video AI tools to get better results.
• Create with Your Photos: Use "cameo" features to place your face into spooky scenes and costumes.
• Design Characters: Generate original characters by giving the AI names, descriptions, and settings.
• Refine Your Creations: Edit images and videos by changing backgrounds, lighting, and objects with follow-up prompts.
• Understand Video AI: Use detailed cinematography terms for video tools like Sora and Veo to control camera shots, movement, and style.

How to Write AI Halloween Image Prompts

You can use your own photos or create generic characters to generate Halloween images. A descriptive prompt gives you more control over the final picture.

Use Your Own Photo for Images

Many image generators let you upload a photo. This is useful for creating "cameo" images where your face appears in a Halloween setting.

Describe the scene, clothing, and lighting you want.

Best Practices:

• Clearly state that the AI should use your facial features.
• Describe the outfit, background, and lighting in detail.
• Use follow-up prompts to make small changes instead of starting over.

Prompt Examples:

1. Turn my uploaded photo into a vampire portrait. Keep my facial structure but give me pale skin and sharp fangs. Dress me in a black velvet coat with a high collar. Place me in a gothic castle library with moonlight coming through a large window.
2. Using my selfie, transform me into a friendly scarecrow. Give my face stitched details and rosy cheeks. Put me in a plaid shirt and a straw hat. The background should be a sunny cornfield in autumn with pumpkins on the ground.
3. Make my photo into a zombie version of myself. Keep my face recognizable but add decaying skin textures and hollow eyes. Place me in a deserted city street at night, with green fog and streetlights creating an eerie glow. Style as a cinematic horror movie still.

Create Generic Character Images

If you prefer not to use your photo, you can generate images of generic characters. Giving the character a name helps the AI focus on a single subject.

Best Practices:

• Assign a name to your character to create a clear subject.
• Specify the character's appearance, clothing, and actions.
• Define the artistic style, such as "children's book illustration" or "photorealistic."

Prompt Examples:

1. A zombie barista named "Gus" serves coffee in a spooky café. Gus has green skin and wears a dirty apron. The café is decorated with cobwebs and glowing skulls. The style is a detailed digital painting with warm, inviting light from the coffee machines.
2. A ghost detective named "Specter" investigates a mystery in a haunted mansion. He is translucent and wears a 1940s trench coat and fedora. He holds a magnifying glass over glowing footprints. The image should have a black-and-white noir film aesthetic with high contrast.
3. A cheerful skeleton named "Bonesy" plays a guitar in a cemetery. Bonesy wears a colorful sombrero. The scene is festive, with lit candles and marigold flowers decorating the tombstones. The style is vibrant and reminiscent of Dia de los Muertos art.

How to Create AI Halloween Videos

AI video generators like OpenAI's Sora and Google's Veo turn text into short video clips. Your prompt should work like a director's brief, detailing the camera work, subject, action, and scene.

Creating Videos with Sora 2

Video prompts for models like Sora need a balance of detail and flexibility.

A good prompt includes four parts: style, subject, action, and scene. This structure guides the AI while allowing for creative results.

You can use our Sora 2 Prompt Generator

Best Practices:

• Start with the overall style, such as "cinematic" or "16mm film."
• Clearly define the subject and what it is doing.
• Describe the environment, time of day, and any important background elements.

Prompt Examples:

1. Found footage style: A group of friends explores an abandoned hospital on Halloween night. The camera is handheld and shaky, with flashlight beams cutting through the darkness. The action shows them reacting to distant noises and mysterious shadows. The sound includes nervous whispering and creaking doors.
2. Anime style: A young witch flies on her broomstick across a cityscape filled with Halloween decorations. The camera follows her from the side as she weaves between buildings. The city is lit by a giant full moon and colorful lights. The mood is energetic and magical.
3. Macro photography style: A spider spins an intricate web between the branches of a pumpkin. The camera is extremely close, focusing on the dew drops on the silk threads. The background is a soft, out-of-focus orange and black. The scene is quiet and detailed.

Use your Image to AI Halloween Video prompts;

1. A grand ballroom scene at midnight: [AttachedPhoto] steps through a massive carved-stone archway into a candle-lit Vampire’s Masquerade. Medium close-up, 50mm lens, camera dollies in slowly while masked guests part. The chandeliers cast flickering light; soft classical string quartet plays; footsteps echo across marble floor; [AttachedPhoto] glances up and the camera shifts to a wide establishing shot showing bats fluttering overhead. The palette: deep crimson, black silk, subtle fog drifting across floor. Realistic physics: flowing gowns and swirling fog.
2. Low-angle shot of an old wooden pirate ship in a violent storm at sea: [AttachedPhoto] as the ship’s captain, gripping the wheel, hair and coat flapping in the wind, lightning illuminating roiling waves. Camera is handheld and shaky to reflect the storm’s motion; 35mm lens, shallow depth of field on the wheel, background blurred. The sea spray hits the lens; thunder rumbles and sails snap; a ghostly figure emerges from the mist behind the wheel. The mood: high-drama horror adventure.
3. Tracking shot: [AttachedPhoto] walks down a dimly lit stone corridor with flickering torchlight. The camera tracks backwards as the corridor seems to loop endlessly. 24mm lens, steady gimbal, slight slow-motion as the walls subtly shift behind [AttachedPhoto]. Sound: subtle heartbeat rhythm, distant chains rattling, faint whisper of a child’s giggle. Lighting: cool greys and blues, torchlight warm contrast. At the end [AttachedPhoto] turns, looks directly at camera, door slams shut with thunder.

Use your Photo to Create AI Halloween Video with Dialogues Prompts;

1. “The Vampire Ball Entrance”

Camera: Steadicam tracking shot, 50 mm lens, following [AttachedPhoto] entering a gothic ballroom filled with masked guests.
Action: The crowd parts slowly; chandeliers sway as bats fly overhead.
Dialogue:Host (off-screen): “Welcome, immortal one… we’ve been expecting you.”[AttachedPhoto] (smirking): “You shouldn’t have waited so long.”
Soundscape: Echoing footsteps, string quartet detuning slightly, faint wing flutters.
Lighting: Red velvet and gold candlelight reflections; haze drifting through chandeliers.
Mood: Supernatural elegance meets danger.

2. “Ghost Ship Captain”

Camera: Low-angle close-up, handheld camera shakes slightly in storm winds.
Scene: [AttachedPhoto] steering an ancient ship through crashing waves, ghost crew behind.
Dialogue:Crew (shouting): “Captain! The fog’s closing in!”[AttachedPhoto] (commanding): “Hold the line! The dead sail with us tonight!”
Soundscape: Crashing waves, thunder cracks, creaking wood, spectral whispers.
Lighting: Blue-grey palette with lightning flashes highlighting water spray.
Mood: High-drama sea horror with epic orchestral rumble.

3. “Haunted Corridor Loop”

Camera: Tracking backwards through a long, stone corridor, torches flickering.
Scene: [AttachedPhoto] walks forward; the hallway stretches infinitely behind.
Dialogue:[AttachedPhoto] (whisper): “How many times have I walked this hall?”Disembodied Voice: “You never left.”
Soundscape: Distant dripping water, echoing footsteps, faint heartbeat bass.
Lighting: Cold blue tones, flickering orange torchlight, subtle fog.
Mood: Psychological suspense, dreamlike surrealism.

Creating Videos with a Veo 3.1 Structure

Models like Veo use a five-part formula for more control:

Cinematography + Subject + Action + Context + Style & Ambiance.

This method allows you to specify camera movements, mood, and audio with greater precision.

You can use our VEO3 JSON Prompt Generator

Best Practices:

• Begin with a specific camera shot and movement (e.g., "dolly shot," "crane shot").
• Combine subject, action, and context to build the core of the scene.
• End with style and ambiance to set the mood, color, and lighting.

Prompt Examples:

1. Tracking shot following a small black cat with glowing green eyes. The cat confidently walks along a fence in a suburban neighborhood. The context is Halloween night, with jack-o'-lanterns on porches and kids in costumes trick-or-treating in the background. The style is cinematic realism with warm, atmospheric lighting and faint sounds of laughter.
2. Aerial drone shot flying over a massive corn maze. A group of people with flashlights are trying to find their way out. The context is a clear autumn evening at twilight. The style is a suspenseful thriller, with long shadows and a cool blue color palette. The audio is the rustling of corn stalks and faint, worried voices.
3. Close-up shot of a hand assembling a gingerbread haunted house. The hand decorates the house with black icing, candy bones, and gummy ghosts. The context is a cozy kitchen with flour dusting the table. The style is a warm and inviting cooking video with a shallow depth of field. The ambiance is cheerful and festive.

Use your Image to AI Halloween Video prompts;

1. Close-up shot of my attached photo standing in front of an antique ornate mirror; camera slowly pushes in from over-the-shoulder to the reflection in the glass. The mirror’s surface ripples and then reveals a ghostly version of attached photo stepping out of it. The setting is a dimly-lit Victorian attic full of dust motes and old portraits. Warm candle flicker on the left, deep shadows on the right. The style is dark fantasy cinema, subtle orchestral suspense music and distant whispering voices. Landscape 16:9, 6-second duration, 1080p.
2. Wide aerial crane shot from above a moonlit pumpkin field, then cuts to medium follow-shot of my attached photo running between oversized glowing jack-o-lanterns. Camera steadicam level, tracking from behind then swings around to reveal a creepy scarecrow figure ahead. Late-autumn night, frost on vines, mist under the moon. The ambiance: low orange lighting, cold blue shadows, subtle wind sound and crunching leaves. Horror-thriller style, aspect ratio 9:16 (for mobile), duration 8 seconds.
3. Medium shot of my attached photo, now dressed as a witch, arms raised over a bubbling cauldron in a candle-filled underground cavern. Camera begins on the cauldron (macro focus) then tilts up to my attached photo as lightning crackles outside a small window. The lens is a portrait 85mm with shallow depth of field, soft focus on foreground elements. Palette: rich purples and emerald greens, gothic magical realism. Ambient soundtrack: choral hum, crackling fire, distant thunder. Duration 4 seconds, 720p, 16:9.

Use your Photo to Create AI Halloween Video with Dialogues Prompts;

1. “The Mirror Whispers”

Cinematography: Medium shot, slow zoom on [UserPhoto] facing a cracked mirror, candlelight flickering behind.
Action: The reflection starts moving on its own, smirking before the real face does.
Dialogue:Mirror Voice (whisper): “You look… different tonight.”[UserPhoto] (confused whisper): “Who… are you?”
Ambience: Soft violin drones, wind tapping on the window, faint heartbeat rhythm.
Style: Psychological horror, gothic tones, desaturated color palette with blue shadows.

2. “The Pumpkin Field”

Cinematography: Wide shot, camera tracks behind [UserPhoto] walking through glowing pumpkins. Mist rolls low across the ground.
Action: A pumpkin head turns suddenly toward the camera.
Dialogue:[UserPhoto] (nervous): “Okay… who’s there?”Distant Child’s Voice: “Trick… or treat…”
Ambience: Rustling leaves, soft crunch of boots, low distant thunder.
Style: Cinematic suspense, orange glow from jack-o-lanterns, fog layers, lens flares.

3. “Witch’s Awakening”

Cinematography: Medium close-up of [UserPhoto] (as a witch) casting a spell over a cauldron. The camera circles slowly around.
Action: Smoke rises, forming ghostly faces.
Dialogue:[UserPhoto] (chanting): “By moon and mist, awaken the past…”Whispering Chorus (overlapping): “We hear… we rise…”
Ambience: Bubbling cauldron, distant thunder, faint chanting echo.
Style: Magical realism, emerald and violet color palette, slow mystical pacing.

Final Thoughts!

You can use AI to create impressive Halloween photos and videos. Success depends on writing clear, structured prompts.

For images, describe your character, setting, and style.

For videos, act like a director and specify the cinematography, action, and mood. By using these formulas and examples, you can guide AI tools to produce unique and spooky content for your projects.