Are you throwing a Halloween party this year? Though All Hallows Eve involves plenty of trick-or-treating, there’s nothing tricky about throwing the perfect party. It just takes a little planning to create the perfect party with plenty of spooky food, eerie decorations, and haunting activities. So whether you’re hosting some neighborhood kids in the backyard or a soiree for all of your friends and family at a fancy ballroom venue, here are 50 tips and ideas, along with Halloween gift ideas, that can help you plan the event of the season.
- Tips for Throwing a Fabulous Halloween Party
- Halloween Party Food Ideas
- Halloween Party Decoration Ideas
- Halloween Party Activity Ideas
Tips for Throwing a Fabulous Halloween Party
The first thing you need to get nailed down for your Halloween party is your venue. Are you going to hold it at your home or in your backyard? Or will you host it at a banquet hall, warehouse, or spooky farm? It all comes down to your preference and your budget.
2. Pick a Date
Next, you need to figure out a date for your party. Will you hold it on the actual day of Halloween? Or will you plan it in advance so your guests can spend the day of trick or treating? Keep in mind that you never want to plan a party for the weekend after Halloween, so shoot for the day of or the weekend before.
Halloween is the best time to get creative. Send your guest list some spooky invitations a few weeks before the big day. You can choose to send paper invitations through the mail or send them out via email. Either way, i’s a great opportunity to flex your creative skills and create interest in your party.
4. Create a Halloween Playlist
You can find so many great Halloween songs to keep things spooky and fun at your party. Think Thriller by Michael Jackson or “Ghostbusters” Theme by Ray Parker Jr. They’re classics for a reason and will ensure every one of your guests gets into the mood.
Don’t forget the treat bags for when your guests leave your party. You can find tons of DIYs online to create adorable Halloween-themed goodie bags, such as bat treat bags, paper cauldrons, monster cups, and so much more. Fill goodie bags with candy corn, M&M’s, or other fun treats your guests will be sure to appreciate.
Halloween Party Food Ideas
Food is the highlight of your Halloween party. Delight all of your guests with this spooky platter. It’s filled with pineapple cakes dipped in white chocolate and decorated like mummies and gory zombie eyes, chocolate-covered strawberries, fresh grapes, and more.
7. Pumpkin Cheesecake & Chocolate Fruit Platter
This autumn-themed platter is sure to delight your guests. It comes with pumpkin cheesecakes topped with whipped cream, Granny Smith apples covered in creamy caramel and topped with chocolate, banana bites covered in white and semisweet chocolate and Hazelnut crunch, and much more.
These cookie spiders make a big impression, but they’re really easy to make. Just use mini pretzels for the legs, tips of candy corn for the teeth, and a combo of mini marshmallows and black icing for the eyes.
Spider webs are also easy to make with just mini pretzels and melted chocolate chips piped on in a circular pattern. Pair these tasty treats with a scoop of ice cream or just enjoy them all on their own.
With pineapple, oranges, and homemade whipped cream, this fruit parfait creates the perfect candy corn. It’s healthy, delicious, and Halloween-themed. Plus, it’s really easy to make.
Made with buttery shortbread cookies, these witch fingers are super delicious. To make them spooky for Halloween, they’re made with green food dye, while slivered almonds and blood-red gel create creepy fingernails.
What could be healthier than a platter of veggies? This arrangement ups the ante, creating “monsters” out of veggies and clear glass containers. Top it off with some veggie or ranch dip.
Made with fresh fruit, these strawberry ghosts are both healthy and delicious. Just dip some strawberries in melted white chocolate and use tiny dots of milk chocolate to create cute ghost faces.
Wow your guests with this party popcorn that’s quick and easy to make and will feed a crowd. It combines a delectable mix of popcorn, melted white chocolate, Oreo cookies, candy corn, and sprinkles.
These tiny little pumpkins are so adorable, the kids will just gobble them right up. To make them, simply unpeel a tangerine and turn it into a pumpkin with a tiny piece of celery and a celery leaf.
Caramel apples are a quintessential autumn treat. This recipe tops them in melted chocolate, crushed cookies, mini M&M’s, mini chocolate chips, coconut flakes, and chopped nuts.
17. Jack-o’-Lantern Chocolate Sugar Cookies
This recipe features easy sugar chocolate cookies with orange homemade cream cheese frosting. The pumpkin shapes are easy to create with a pumpkin cookie cutter and jack-o’-lantern templates.
18. Mummy Brie
This adorable recipe features brie cheese topped with brown sugar and cinnamon pecans, baked inside a puff pastry until gooey. The eyes are created with apple slices and dried cranberries. Serve warm with apple slices and crackers.
19. Mummy Hot Dogs
These mummy hot dogs are wrapped in buttery crescent rolls, filled with American cheese, and topped with cute candy eyes for a spooky Halloween treat. Serve with mustard for dipping.
20. Smoky Chipotle Pumpkin Hummus
Made with chickpeas, pumpkin puree, tahini, chipotle powder, smoked paprika, this hummus is smoky and spicy and perfect for autumn. Serve with chopped veggies or grain-free chips for a healthy snack.
Halloween Party Decoration Ideas
21. Marquee Letters
Create these fun marquee letters with just a few simple supplies: black and purple paint, paper mache letters, mini lights, and a paintbrush. Display your creation on a mantle or an entryway table.
22. Spooky Spiders
These spooky spiders are just so adorable. They’re made with black Christmas ornaments, spider cupcake holders you can buy online, and large self-adhesive googly eyes.
23. Spooky Crystal Ball Halloween Candlesticks
These candlesticks exude a spooky Victorian vibe that’s perfect for a Halloween party. You’ll need transparent film, candlesticks, black spray paint, clear glass Christmas bulbs, and some hot glue.
Welcome your guests to your party with this impressive pumpkin archway. It takes a few dozen pumpkins, some PVC piping, rebar poles, and a one-and-a-half-inch hole saw bit and drill.
25. Floating Witch Hat Luminaries
These witch hats add a fun and unexpected element to your front porch or entryway. You can buy witch hats inexpensively on Amazon, string them up with fishing line, and use LED light sticks for the illumination.
Print out this trick-or-treat chalkboard sign for an interesting addition to a mantel or entryway table. A simple white frame goes a long way in making it look pulled together and festive.
27. Halloween Witches Cauldron
This witch’s cauldron decoration strikes the perfect balance between funny and spooky. You just need two plastic cauldrons, a pool noodle for the witch’s legs, a pair of witch tights, pillow stuffing, witch shoe covers, and newspaper or other packaging material.
Create your own spooky glowing eyes with toilet paper or paper towel rolls and glow sticks. Cut out a variety of monster eyes with an Exacto knife, and place them in bushes, trees, or shrubs around your home.
With just a few simple supplies, you can create these adorable mummy candles. You’ll need glass mason jars, white gauze bandages, googly eyes, black craft paper for a mouth, and a small candle or battery-powered tea light.
30. Skull Garland
Make this skull garland with black tulle, florist wire, and battery-operated tea lights. Not only does it add a fun and spooky element to your decor in the daytime, but it also lights up at night for a spooky spectacle.
Elevate your candy bowl with this sweet ghost. Just cover a bucket stand with a white bed sheet and place your candy bowl on top. Use peel and stick felt (or just regular felt and glue) for eyes and a mouth.
You’ll never believe it, but this candy jar is made out of a terra cotta pot, a saucer, a glass bowl, and a wooden knob. You can use the adorable end result to display and serve your favorite candy treats.
33. Boo Pumpkins
Choose these boo pumpkins as an interesting centerpiece for your tablescape or an entryway table. You just need some dollar store pumpkins, cardstock letters you can decoupage on, and a few unique candlesticks.
Turn glass jars you already own into poison bottles and herbs for a mini witch’s apothecary vibe. You just need some glass stain, chalkboard paint, and some spooky labels you can buy online.
35. Skull String Art
This skull string art is simply stunning and so appropriate for the season. Plus, it’s easy to make. Just paint a piece of wood black, use a skull printout for the outline, place nails about one inch apart along the entire outline, and wrap the string in a zig-zag pattern between the nails.
Halloween Party Activity Ideas
Have you ever tried bobbing for donuts? It’s harder than it looks! Just tie long pieces of string or yarn to a pole or broomstick and then attach your donuts. Have a race to see who can eat the donut off the string the fastest without using their hands.
37. Pin the Bow Tie on Mr. Bones
Just like pin the tail on the donkey, pin a bow tie on Mr. Bones is a classic kids’ party game. The link above includes a free printable. You just need to create your own bow tie out of ribbon or fabric.
Nothing says Halloween quite like bobbing for apples. The link above includes some ingenious ideas for bobbing for apples without using your mouth to keep things a bit more hygienic.
Have your guests participate in a cake walk. They walk around a numbered circle while you play music. When the music stops, each stands on a number. Pick a number and the guest standing on that number wins a cupcake.
40. Pumpkin Twister
Get all twisted with this Halloween version of Twister. The link above includes printouts for everything you need, including colored pumpkins for your game board and a pumpkin spinner.
41. Poke a Pumpkin
This cute game consists of plastic cups filled with all sorts of treats and goodies glued onto a gameboard and covered in orange tissue paper. Your guests can pick a cup, break through the tissue paper, and reveal a fun surprise.
Kids adore this fun game. Just grab a pack of orange balloons and some candy or small coins. Slide the candy or small coins in the balloons before you blow them up. Set them up on the ground like a pumpkin patch and let the kids stomp on them and reveal the treats within.
43. Halloween Mystery Bag Game
Your guests will love this fun and surprising game. You fill each bag with a different object, such as seeds, cotton balls, cranberries, and golf tees. Then have guests guess what the objects are just by feel.
44. Find the Eyeball in the Haystack
Fill up a large bin with hay and hide a few candy eyeballs in the hay. Then, let the kids try to find the eyeballs in the bin. Any candy they find, they can keep.
This game is perfect for all the movie buffs on your guest list. The link above includes all the printables you need to create your own Halloween movie trivia. From Ghostbusters to Edward Scissorhands, this game covers all the classics.
To recreate this game at home, simply draw ghost faces on ten plastic cups. Stack them in a pyramid shape and have guests try to knock them down with a ping pong ball or another small ball.
47. Pumpkin Toss
This game couldn’t be simpler to create but is so much fun. Hot glue six mini cauldrons in a triangle formation on a piece of canvas or painted wood. Then, have your guests toss in some mini pumpkin candies.
48. Halloween Bingo
Without letters or numbers, this game of Halloween bingo is perfect for all ages of guests. The link above includes free printables for everything you need for the game, and you can use candy corn for the markers.
Grab some toilet paper and have plenty of fun with this mummy game. Guests break into 4 or 5 kids on each team. One person is chosen to be the mummy and all of the other guests each get a roll of toilet paper. The first team to cover their mummy in toilet paper wins.
Whether you love candy corn or hate it, you can’t deny that it makes for a fabulously fun Halloween relay race. Fill a few buckets with candy corn on one end and empty buckets on the other end, and line up your participants. Using only a plastic spoon, they’ll take turns carrying spoonfuls of candy corn and dumping them into the empty bucket. Add some obstacles to make it even trickier. Which team can fill the empty bucket fastest? Which team manages to get the most candy corn in the empty bucket (instead of on the ground)? With multiple ways to play and make it more challenging, this activity is great fun for all ages.
If you’re hosting a Halloween party this year, these tips are tricks are essential to planning a spooktacular party. Whether you’re hosting kids or adults, your guests are sure to appreciate all of these food ideas, decorations, and activities and remember your party for years to come.
