When it comes to throwing wicked awesome holiday parties is there any better holiday than Halloween? I don’t think there’s anything more fun than dressing up in a ridiculous costume, putting on your favorite spooky songs, eating sweets, and having some deliciously themed drinks. If you’re looking to throw a wicked Halloween party this year too then just follow our recommendations below and you’re sure to have a scary good time.
Setup & Environment
As is the case with any party, the hardest, but probably most important, part is the setup. There are a few things you need to make sure are ready before your Halloween party gets started.
Playlist
No party is complete without a bangin’ playlist. Halloween presents an even more unique situation in that you get to play songs that maybe you normally wouldn’t listen to. Our recommendation is to add songs that have any kind of element that could be scary. For example, Heads Will Roll by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Not necessarily about Halloween, but who doesn’t love a dismembered head? Another good example is Dark Lady by Cher. Again, not directly related to Halloween, but Halloween is definitely the time for dark ladies to come out. Follow this theme and your playlist is sure to satisfy. You also can’t go wrong with mixing in some classics like Thriller by Michael Jackson, Ghostbusters by Ray Parker Jr., Monster Mash by Bobby “Boris” Pickett … well, you get the idea.
Decorations
This one almost goes without saying but you have to have the best Halloween decorations to set the mood. You can find these almost anywhere in the weeks leading up to Halloween. No longer are you required to visit your local Spirit Halloween to find scary home decor. Even home improvement stores like Home Depot now stock some pretty awesome decorations for the scariest holiday of the year. We believe there’s no such thing as “going overboard” when it comes to Halloween decorations, so really go crazy with this one.
Lighting
This is a newer consideration as smart homes become more and more common. In the bygone days of the early ’90s and early 2000s, this may have been as simple as a couple of black lights or strobe lights in the house. Now with smart bulbs and lights being commonplace in most homes, it adds an entirely new level to the party atmosphere. Before your big Halloween bash, spend some time setting up some fun lighting profiles and effects for your smart lights. You may even consider creating custom commands to wow your friends. Create a voice command like “Let’s get spooky” that dims the lights and starts to play scary sound effects. Anything to surprise and delight your party-goers.
Food & Drink
You can’t have a party without holiday-themed food and drink. That goes without saying. Halloween makes this even more fun. Let your creativity shine with your food and drink offerings this year.
Food
The most important thing to remember with food at your Halloween party is the ease of consumption. Most of your partygoers will probably have on masks or makeup which may make eating complicated foods a challenge. Consider offering smaller finger foods or hors d’oeuvres that can easily be picked up and eaten in one bite. Don’t forget to look up some creative spooky foods. Pinterest is a great place to research ideas for these. Our favorites include Monster Mash Halloween Brownies, Skeleton Pudding Cups, and a Halloween Charcuterie Board.
Drinks
Don’t overlook the drinks at your Halloween party. You want a good mix for your friends and family to choose from. We recommend getting a few types of soda pop, flavored seltzer, and juice to cover all your bases. It’s also a good idea to have some alcohol for your adult partiers. Beer is the obvious choice here but consider making some super fun spooky punch too. Check out this article which features a bunch of fun Halloween-inspired punch recipes.
Entertainment
Once the party is hopping and people are having a good time, you want to make sure you have some entertainment to keep that vibe going through the night! Here are some recommendations to keep your party guests entertained.
Party Games
These party games with a twist are always fun and are super simple to implement – not to mention cheap and some even free!
Halloween Feel Box
Find any old box in your house, decorate it any way you’d like, create a small opening (big enough to fit a hand), and fill it with items of your choosing. The intent of this game is for your guests to reach inside the box and guess what the item is. You can make it as spooky or gross as you want. Honestly, the grosser the better!
Halloween Jinx
At the beginning of the party. choose certain words or phrases (for example: Halloween, spooky, etc.) that are most likely to be said throughout the night. If someone says that word, another person has to call them out and yell “Jinx!” The punishment could be to take a drink, do a dance, or some other activity that you come up with.
Murder Mystery
Who doesn’t love a good Murder Mystery?! This site allows you to choose from a list of different kinds of games based on difficulty, party-size, price, and more.
Costume Contest
Dressing up in costumes is the best part of a Halloween party. For the costume contest, it’s best to set your standards ahead of time. Make sure your guests know how serious or laid-back you are about costumes so they can plan accordingly. In the invite, give your guests some suggestions if they’re stuck on what to be. Here are some simple recommendations that are very easy to create, and they can make it their own kind of wicked. Custom face masks are also a great addition to compliment your Halloween look and makes attending parties a lot less frightening.
Now that you’ve warned them about the contest, you get to plan how you want it to go. You can have just one winner overall or a few winners based on different categories (most creative, scariest, funniest, etc.) It’s always fun to award the winner with some sort of prize such as a trophy or a basket full of Halloween goodies.
Now that you have all these recommendations, we are confident that you are going to throw the most epic, most wicked, most awesome Halloween party ever.