Are you looking at setting up a walk through type haunt or are you looking to decorate the front of your house? What props do you currently have? If you are just starting out I would first decide wether you are going to purchase props from the stores, are you going tro build you own? When I first started many many years ago, I started with a few latex props, some tombstones and a cemetery fence. Lighting was simple flood lights staked throughout the yard with enough light to read the tombstones but not so much light that you could see the extention cords running everywhere! I guess you need to figure out what direction you want to go in and go from there....zombies, clowns, monsters, etc.