Haunted theme Ghostly theme Horror theme Fairytale theme Pumpkin theme (everything orange!) Graveyard theme Costume theme (anything goes) A theme from a spooky book you love
Decorations you’d like to have Types of food Music Prizes and games (optional) Movies (optional) Other ideas
If the party is in your house, limit it to a number you can handle. After all, you’re the host – the party blunders (and successes) lie on your shoulders.
Grab some black construction paper, a template off the internet, and design and cut out a witch’s hat. To write in the necessary details, use a white or silver gel pen. If a witch’s hat isn’t your cup o’ tea, cut out pumpkins, ghosts, tombstones, or black cats out of construction paper instead. If you put it in an envelope, add in some Halloween-themed confetti for an extra touch. Buy a bunch of small pumpkins or gourds from your local grocery store or farmer’s market. In permanent marker, draw a funny face on the front and have the details on the back. Be sure to let it dry though! Otherwise you risk everything smearing. To stay organized, ask guests to RSVP 1 month before the party date. [1] X Expert Source Christina MillikinFounder & CEO, Glow Events Expert Interview. 11 February 2020. If you don’t have all the party details ready by the time you send out invitations, create an event website. Then, link the website address on the invitations, so your guests can get more information about the party. [2] X Expert Source Christina MillikinFounder & CEO, Glow Events Expert Interview. 11 February 2020.
For a haunted house: If you have a walkway already lined with lights, replace them with lit-up skulls. Place glowing sculptures in your windows and make sure to take advantage of technology: Lots of decorations now have motion-activated sensors that will surely creep out your guests as they walk in. For the inside, utilize cobwebs from corner to ceiling and a fog machine in the doorway. Hang spiders or bats in not-so-obvious areas and if the lights are dim, invest in a few bottles of glow-in-the-dark spray.
Witches’ fingers are fairly simple to make with cookies and almond slices. Think cheese for a brain and mozzarella eyeballs with black and green olives for eyes. As for drinks, a cauldron of punch is pretty mandatory. And if you can get your hands on some dry ice to make it smokey, all the better. A glow-in-the-dark LED light at the bottom of the bowl would make for a nice added touch, too. Coat the edge of drinking glasses using corn syrup dyed with red food coloring, turn right side up and allow mixture to drip down the glasses to serve your creepy concoctions in. [3] X Research source Don’t forget dessert! If you’re feeling creative, try making bloody cupcakes or rising zombie cupcakes. If you host the party in the late afternoon, you can serve light bites to eat instead of a heavy lunch. [4] X Expert Source Christina MillikinFounder & CEO, Glow Events Expert Interview. 11 February 2020.
Play this outside to get your guests excited even before they walk in. The outside loop can be much shorter than the music you have playing inside. See what snippets you can download offline for free.
Costume parties are a tried and true favorite. You could even get narrower – all guests must dress as a character from a horror film or even a specific movie (maybe your house is themed along that movie?) or as dead people. Pumpkin decorating contest – a great idea as long as your guests don’t get too rowdy and turn it into a pumpkin throwing and mashing contest.
It’s best to party proof your house beforehand, too. The food table should be away from anything that shouldn’t get spilled on or ruined. If guests are drinking, have a place for coats, keys, and get the bathroom ready.
Wait to add ice to any drinks or to bring out any food that needs to be warm until numbers have accumulated.
Design your workplace like the set of a movie. The staff can take a vote prior to Halloween. Then, on the actual day, members can dress up as characters. Or certain sections of the work environment could be different movies. Then, you could pass around a bowl of movie titles and each person gets a movie title for the basis of their costume design. It could get turned into a contest or a guessing game on the day of. A music theme works too. . . as long as you celebrate dead rockers of the past. For a twist on Halloween, choose this orientation, decorate your workspace like an abandoned music studio and get each of your peers into a dead but musical persona.
You’ll have to write up a character outline for each guest, informing them how they knew “the deceased” and how they feel about other characters. Give one to each guest at the start of the game and reveal clues throughout the night, uncovering alibis, secrets, and interactions, etc. Before people start going home, have them all take a guess at the murderer (if they’re the murderer, it should be indicated on their character outline). Of course, have the perp reveal themselves![5] X Research source
Generally, finger foods are the way to go. Pumpkin cookies, lady fingers (can be decorated like a witch’s finger), devil’s egg eyeballs, and crab leg spiders are solid hits.
