Halloween is the perfect time to throw a party! Whether your are hosting a party for a bunch of children, your 16-year-old’s teenage friends, or even an adults-only soiree, Halloween themes — creepy decor, spooky-looking food and haunted games and activities — make for a great party. With some creativity, budget-friendly ideas and a list of eager ghosts and goblins ready for fun, it’s not too late to host a dead man’s party. Here are some favorite ideas. For even more, log on to our Halloween board on Pinterest. 

Frightful food

Creating a menu for Halloween is one of the best parts of throwing a party this time of year. Forget the traditional Thanksgiving and Christmas party food, Halloween party foods are the best! A haunted buffet is probably the best way to go when hosting a party this month. Think finger foods — literally! Serve up Witch’s Fingers made of either sugar cookie dough adorned with almond fingernails or make breadsticks in the shape of a witch’s finger, perfect for dipping in blood-red marinara sauce. Wrapped mummies can come in the form of pigs in a blanket, jalapeño poppers or even icing-wrapped cupcakes. Create a delicious chocolate cheesecake dip and dress up the serving dish like a creepy graveyard. You can even serve veggie dip inside a small hollowed-out pumpkin for fun, too. Don’t forget to add some thrills to your punch bowl with floating plastic bugs or fake spiders frozen into the ice cubes. 

Devilish decor

Halloween is a great time for some really over-the-top decorating, especially when throwing a party! Welcome your guests with a caution tape-and-spider web-lined walkway, aglow in purple lighting or even the neon from glow sticks. Don’t forget to decorate the front door, too, with everything from toilet paper for the mummy look to black velvet for a Dracula design. Cut up some black plastic garbage bags to hang intricate spider webs. Create some mood lighting with spider web, light-filled Mason jars, complete with large scary plastic spiders inside. Dress up the legs to the buffet table with some long striped socks and witch’s shoes, too. Don’t neglect the bathroom, it’s a great place to add some extra thrills. You could break out your best “blood-stained” guest towels, or even dress the toilet up like Freddy Krueger.  

Ghoulish games

Halloween party games are a must this time of year! Bobbing for apples is a classic favorite, as is racing to eat donuts off a string, but other party games could also include pin the spider on the web, a few rounds of Halloween Bingo, mummy bowling, and don’t forget a good round of Murder in the Dark for those teenagers, too. Adult parties might be themed around a murder mystery dinner party. Or you could all embark on a crazy Halloween scavenger hunt. Above all those games, however, you must throw a costume contest. Be sure and create a set of Golden Skeleton trophies to give the winners, too. 

– Jennifer Durrant, Daily Herald