60 Fun Halloween Party Ideas to Celebrate the Spooktastic Holiday
Easy games, decorations, themes and more to recreate on October 31.
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Halloween is the perfect excuse to host an epic gathering with family and friends. In fact, the scary costumes, festive games, and spooky decorations may make your event the best one yet! From eerie mantel displays and gothic table settings to carved pumpkins and ghostly treats, we have the scariest (and most delightful) roundup of Halloween party ideas you can recreate below right in the comfort of your own home.
A memorable Halloween party is one that will keep your guests engaged all night long. This means hosting fun games throughout the day, from pin the spider and spooky bingo to a pumpkin sweep race and costume contest. Serve a classic Halloween dish, like mummy jalapeño poppers, before diving into otherworldly treats, including "poison" toffee apples and candy corn chocolate bars. And don't forget to try the coolest twists to your cocktails and mocktails (a Jack-o'-Lantern float, perhaps?). What's more, many of these ideas can easily be DIY'd a few nights before All Hallow's Eve. We're thinking colorful skull centerpieces, spiderweb drink umbrellas, glitter pumpkins and ribbon bat cake toppers.
No matter who you plan on inviting to your Halloween party — a co-worker, friend, neighbor, you name it — these spooktastic ideas will brighten up their day (in a terrifyingly good way!). Plus, your children can help put these projects together, along with trying other Halloween crafts for kids to keep them entertained.
Skull Centerpiece
Easily give your table an eerie feel with a faux skull full of fresh blooms and greenery. Place a cup inside the skull, then add water and your favorite blooms to put on display.
Candy Eyeball Chocolate Bars
These chocolate bars are far from normal. In fact, they're a ghostly (and mouthwatering!) mix of chocolate, candy corn, gummy bears and candy eyeballs. Simply add candy to the melted chocolate after pouring your mix into break-apart molds.
Vintage-Inspired Tablescape
Consider decorating your dining room with a retro theme that's just as spooky as any other! Blogger Michael hung black, white and orange fans from the chandelier. He used a black cheesecloth as the runner and DIY'ed vintage graphics onto candy treat bags.
Spiderweb Drink Umbrellas
For this quick craft, you'll need a Cricut machine and 12x12 black craft paper to cut out a spiderweb umbrella template. Use a bone folder to score the straight lines that lead to the center. This will make it easier to fold into a 3D look. Fold the straight lines to make an umbrella shape before hot gluing the center of the webs to the skewer stick. Once your guests see their new drink umbrellas, they'll want to use them all day!
Candy Corn Halloween Party
Here's a theme kids will enjoy. Spruce up your dinner table with orange, white and yellow decorations. Place pumpkins on both ends of the table and hang candy corn-colored balloons on the walls.
Skeleton Face Candy Packaging
Along with adding fake blood to the black utensils (use red spray paint or dip the ends in the paint), we also made these skull candy holders. Start by spray painting your egg boxes white. While they dry, cut these skeleton face templates out of black craft paper. Use tacky glue to attach the faces to your boxes.
Boo-zy Drinks
A cocktail as frightening as this one deserves to be on display. By adding stuffed olives or blueberry-stuffed lychees, your boo-zy drinks, or mocktails, will look infested with eyeballs.
Spooky Brownies
Decorate your brownies with cut-out white fondant. With so many designs to try out, including ghosts, pumpkins, bats and skulls, you can easily upgrade your baked or store-bought treats for a Halloween party.
Costume Trophies
Have everyone come in costume so you can host a contest with multiple categories. The awards can range from the cutest costume and scariest costume to the funniest costume and overall best costume of 2023.
"Pick Your Poison" Treat Display
Purchase black urns or cauldrons from your local Halloween store. Fill them with candy and download our calligraphy clip art to display on the front. Place your treat "bowls" around the house or on the front porch for guests to indulge in a quick treat before walking inside.
Pin the Spider
Instead of pin the tail on the donkey, let's play pin the spider! Blogger Kristen found a spiderweb template online, printed it out and hung it on the wall for her kids to start pinning their spiders (use stickers or spider paper cutouts).
Dip Dyed Donuts
Everyone will be mesmerized by these glossy pumpkin cake donuts. The glaze is a sweet mix of sugar, cream of tartar, egg whites and food coloring.
Pumpkin Punch Bowl
Cut open the top of a large pumpkin and scoop out most of the guts. Pour your drink inside and leave your new concoction in the fridge for chilling (or add ice). It's an easy pumpkin carving idea that'll add an earthy sweet flavor to the drinks.
Spooky Dinner Menu
When guests sit down for dinner, they'll get a little spook after seeing the skeleton hands attached to their menus. If not menus, use place cards or photos.
Glam and Gothic Tablescape
A black gauze table runner and a skull centerpiece make for an otherworldly Halloween spread. Feature black napkins, black utensils and red flowers for "blood-inspired" contrast.
Char-boo-terie
Take your cheese and cracker platter to the next level with help from your spooky friend, Mr. Skeleton. Arrange an assortment of cheeses, meats and crackers around his bony frame for an eerie presentation.
Pumpkin Sweep Game
Divide players into teams and gather pumpkins and brooms to play with. The first person to sweep their pumpkin to the finish line wins!
I See You Halloween Snack Mix
Turn a simple snack mix into a spooky treat by adding candy eyeballs. You'll need Rice Chex cereal and creamy almond butter (yum!).
Spooky Bingo
Use these spooky bingo tiles and cover the designs with M&M's. After the game is over, the M&M's make delectable treats.
Splatter Paint Candy Bags
Use these treat bags to dole out assorted candy as party favors! To make them, just mix water with acrylic paint until it reaches the consistency of heavy cream. Coat a craft brush with paint and then lightly tap it repeatedly over a small muslin drawstring bag. You can also try an old toothbrush by dipping it into paint and then, using your finger, flick the bristles onto the bag. Let it dry completely and repeat on the other side.
Mariah Thomas (she/her) is an assistant editor for Good Housekeeping, where she covers home and lifestyle content. Mariah has more than four years of editorial experience, having written for TLC, Apartment Therapy, Women's Health and Avocado Magazine. She received her master's degree in journalism at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism and published her first book, Heart and Soul: Poems of Thoughts and Emotions, in 2019. She's also the founder of RTF Community, a platform for creatives of color to connect, learn and showcase their work.
Monique Valeris is the home design director for Good Housekeeping, where she oversees the brand's home decorating coverage across print and digital. Prior to joining GH in 2020, she was the digital editor at Elle Decor. In her current role, she explores everything from design trends and home tours to lifestyle product recommendations, including writing her monthly column, "What's in My Cart."
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