Say it three times

A ghostly couple who can't scare anyone, a gloomy teenager who can see them, and a wild, striped-suited "bio-exorcist" who promises to help and causes absolute chaos: Tim Burton's Beetlejuice has been a favorite of spooky-comedy fans since 1988. A Beetlejuice-inspired rug brings that gleefully weird afterlife into a room: bold black-and-white stripes, a striped sandworm bursting out of an orange alien desert, a hypnotic chalk spiral on a round rug or a crooked gothic house on a hilltop. Every design is printed into soft velvet and goes in the washing machine.

Beetlejuice-inspired designs

Design	The look	Best in
Black-and-white stripes	Bold vertical stripes, slightly crooked	Hallways, gothic bedrooms
Sandworm	A striped worm rising from an orange desert	Movie rooms, teen rooms
Chalk spiral	A hand-drawn spiral on a round rug	Entryways, reading nooks
Gothic house	A crooked Victorian house on a hill	Halloween, living rooms
Green and purple swirls	Eerie, ghostly swirls on black	Gaming setups, dorms
Model town	A tiny town laid out from above	Playrooms, studies

The black-and-white stripes work almost anywhere, including a hallway runner, while the sandworm is the bolder pick for a movie room.

The film

Beetlejuice was directed by Tim Burton and released in 1988. Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis play Adam and Barbara Maitland, a sweet young couple who die in an accident and come back as ghosts, only to find their beloved New England house taken over by a pretentious family from New York. Unable to scare them away, they turn to Betelgeuse, played by Michael Keaton, a chaotic, crude spirit who can only be summoned by saying his name three times. Winona Ryder plays Lydia Deetz, the gothic teenage daughter who befriends the ghosts. The film won the Academy Award for Best Makeup, and a sequel, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, arrived in 2024, with a Broadway musical in between.

Black-and-white stripes

Betelgeuse's black-and-white striped suit is one of the most recognizable costumes in film. A rug of bold vertical black-and-white stripes, drawn slightly crooked in Burton's wobbly style, is a striking, graphic design that works on a hallway runner, in a gothic bedroom or as a stylish neutral in a modern room. A custom runner up to 10 ft long makes a hallway feel delightfully off-kilter. Choose Standard, 5 mm crushed velvet on a non-slip faux leather back, about 500 g/m², which stays put as people walk by.

The sandworm

When the ghosts try to leave their house, they find themselves in a strange orange desert under a ringed planet, haunted by enormous striped sandworms. A sandworm rug, a black-and-white striped worm rising from orange dunes beneath a ringed planet, is a fun, surreal design for a movie room or a teen's bedroom. Our own sandworm design is inspired by the film's stop-motion creatures.

The chalk spiral

In the film, a door to the afterlife can be drawn in chalk on a wall, and spirals turn up everywhere in Burton's designs. A hand-drawn chalk-white spiral on a black round rug is a hypnotic, simple design for an entryway or a reading nook, as if the floor might open into another world. Our round rugs come from 2.6 to 5.9 ft (80 to 180 cm) across.

The gothic house

The story takes place in a tall, crooked house on a hill above a small Connecticut town. A gothic-house rug, a spindly Victorian house with pointed gables under a stormy sky, is a perfect spooky design for October and a lovely year-round piece for gothic fans. For more spooky designs, see our Halloween rugs and gothic rugs.

The model town

Adam Maitland builds a detailed miniature of the town in the attic, and that model becomes a key setting in the story. A model-town rug, a tiny town with streets, houses, a covered bridge and a graveyard seen from above, is a clever design for a playroom, where children can drive toy cars through it, or a grown-up's study.

Lydia's style

Lydia, with her black clothes, spiky bangs and camera, became an icon for generations of gothic teens. A moody rug in black with deep red and purple accents suits a teen's bedroom with that same strange and unusual spirit, alongside string lights, a vintage camera and a shelf of poetry.

The dinner party

One of the film's most famous scenes is a dinner party where the guests are suddenly possessed and forced to dance to a Harry Belafonte calypso song. A rug for a dining room with a sense of humor, a gothic tablecloth pattern or a scatter of tropical shrimp, is a fun nod for fans who know the scene.

A very bureaucratic afterlife

One of the film's funniest ideas is that the afterlife runs like a badly managed government office, with a crowded waiting room, take-a-number tickets, overworked caseworkers and a thick handbook nobody understands. A retro office-style rug, a ticket number, a ringing desk bell and a stack of paperwork in sickly green, is a witty design for a home office.

Stop-motion magic

Many of the film's creatures, including the sandworms, were brought to life with stop-motion animation, moving handmade models a fraction at a time, frame by frame. Burton has loved the handmade, slightly jerky charm of the technique since childhood, and it gives his worlds their unmistakable, homemade weirdness.

Spooky, not scary

The film is a comedy with ghosts rather than true horror, though it has a few creepy moments and some crude humor. Stripes, sandworms and gothic houses suit teens and older kids best, and they make a fun, not frightening, Halloween welcome.

Pairing with furniture

These rugs suit eclectic, gothic rooms: a black velvet sofa, a crooked floor lamp, an antique mirror, a few odd curiosities on a shelf and a pop of acid green or purple. A striped rug pairs well with a plain black or deep purple wall.

Tim Burton's style

Burton's films share a look: spindly, stripy, slightly crooked and gleefully macabre, mixing gothic gloom with bright, cartoonish color. For more stop-motion and gothic fantasy, see our Coraline rugs, and for more spooky film favorites, our horror rugs.

Gothic bedrooms

A striped or gothic-house rug is a natural fit for a gothic bedroom, with black bedding, velvet curtains, candles and a few framed prints of your own. Choose Premium, 7 mm plush velvet on a bamboo and cotton back, about 700 g/m², for the softest feel underfoot. Our bedroom rugs page has more layouts.

Movie rooms

For a movie room or a den, a sandworm or spiral rug in front of the sofa sets the mood for a Burton marathon. Our home theater rugs page has more ideas.

Dorms and teen rooms

For a teen or a college student with a gothic streak, a striped or sandworm rug is an easy way to make a small room feel like their own. On a hard dorm floor, choose Standard so the rug stays put, and pair it with black and white bedding and a single bright green accent.

Halloween

A Beetlejuice-inspired rug just inside the front door is a perfect spooky welcome for trick-or-treaters and party guests. Keep it indoors, out of the weather, and choose Standard for its grip on tile and wood.

Colors

Beetlejuice-inspired designs look best in black and white stripes, ghostly green and purple, desert orange and the deep red of Lydia's wedding dress. Black and white stripes are the most versatile of all.

Gifts

A Beetlejuice-inspired rug makes a great gift for a horror-comedy fan, a goth teen or anyone who knows exactly what happens when you say the name three times. A striped runner is the most stylish; a sandworm is the most fun.

Your own design

Want black-and-white stripes sized exactly to your hallway, a gothic house with your family name on the gate or a chalk spiral with a door of your own? Our custom rugs can print it in any size up to 5′11″ × 10′, or cut it to shape with our shaped rugs. Please only send artwork you're allowed to use; film stills and official art belong to their owners. Custom rugs are made just for you and can't be returned.

Sizes, shipping and returns

Rectangles come in 2×3, 2.6×3.9, 3.3×5, 4×6 and 5×7 ft. Round rugs come from 2.6 to 5.9 ft (80 to 180 cm) across, and shaped rugs from 2.6×2.6 up to 5.2×5.9 ft (80×80 to 160×180 cm). Custom sizes go up to 5′11″ × 10′, including long runners. Every rug is printed to order in 1–3 business days and ships from Turkey; US delivery usually takes 2–5 business days after that. Unused rugs can be returned within 30 days on US orders; custom rugs can't be returned.

Care

Machine wash on a gentle, cold cycle and let it air dry flat. Vacuum on a low setting between washes, and blot spills with cold water right away. The design is printed into the fibers, so the stripes stay sharp, wash after wash, after wash.

The cartoon, the musical and the sequel

Beetlejuice didn't stop with the 1988 film. An animated series ran from 1989 to 1991, and in it Lydia and Beetlejuice are best friends who escape to the Neitherworld, a cartoon afterlife full of skeletons, sandworms and puns. In 2019 the story became a Broadway musical, and in 2024 Tim Burton returned with Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, bringing Lydia back as a mother and introducing her daughter Astrid.

Each version adds a different mood to the designs. The cartoon's Neitherworld is bright and goofy, with lime green, purple and orange, perfect for a kid's Halloween room. The musical leans into theatrical stripes and stage lights. The newer film keeps the original's handmade gothic look, crooked houses, black-and-white suits and pale, painted skies, which suits a teen's room or a dark, cozy living room.

If several generations in one house love the story, a rug can bridge them: classic stripes underfoot, a crooked house on a pillow and a sandworm somewhere unexpected, waiting for someone to say the name three times.

Tim Burton's style ties all three versions together: crooked lines, black-and-white stripes, spirals and a sense of mischief that makes death look strangely fun. A rug that leans into those shapes, rather than any single scene, works with every era of the story. In a teenager's room, it pairs with gothic posters and fairy lights; in a family living room, it brings a playful Halloween spirit all year without frightening younger children. Fans of the musical sometimes add a framed playbill or a striped throw to complete the look, while fans of the sequel pick up Astrid's darker, moodier palette of deep purples and grays.

Padrift is an independent studio. Beetlejuice is named to describe what our designs are inspired by; we are not affiliated with, sponsored or endorsed by Warner Bros. or the film's creators.