Halloween has long been revered as a holiday for the kiddos, but who said the grown-ups can’t have fun, too? While the tiny ghosts and ghouls wander down the streets with their candy bags, the big kids stay in to play, sipping on witch’s brew and sharing in the spooky shenanigans.
You want to thrill your guests from the second they step through the door and, well, let’s just be honest, most of the Halloween lore that you’ll find in traditional stores doesn’t exactly embody the epitome of timelessness.
Don’t get us wrong, we don’t have anything against the color orange or those figures that jump out at you when you walk by – they’re perfect for thrilling the littles – but we’re here to help you set the scene for your ghostly gathering.
October 31st is coming up scarily fast so tuck in and feast your eyes on our ultimate guide hosting a spectacularly spooky Halloween party.
Sights
Fright night begins before your guests even make it to your doorstep. Set the tone for the evening by crafting together a thrilling display that will raise up the hairs on the back of their necks. Tempt them to your door with a few of these four exterior decoration ideas:
1. Line your front walk with spooky, flickering lanterns. While this will help your ghostly guests see in the dark of the night, the dancing candlelight will also add a sense of mystique to your yard.
2. Rent a fog machine to obscure your front yard. Not only is this an unobtrusive decoration, but it plays into the human tendency to fear the unknown. What’s underneath all that fog? No one could know.
3. Add some red glowing LED lights into your bushes to simulate ghastly eyes, watching your guests’ every move. A simple addition that has quite an effect.
4. If you really want to get some hearts pumping, drape faux spider web across areas around your front porch. To amp up the scare factor, purchase some realistic looking spiders and secure them to the threads. As the wicked wind blows and the web sways in the wind, it may be hard to tell what is real and what is fake.
If your guests successfully arrive at your front door, sans any arachnoid-induced heart attacks, cause a stir as they enter into your home with your darkly divine interior décor. To help you deck out your haunted house for the evening, try out these four interior design ideas that are sure to bewitch your visitors.
1. Create a stylishly spooky entryway for your guests. Play with the senses by dimming the lights, spreading out a few candles, and playing quiet, ominous music. Finish off with a few ghostly accessories like some dead roses, faux cobwebs, vintage glassware, and realistic looking skulls.
2. Serve your guests in a way that impresses. One of our spells for creating thrilling table settings is to stick to a monochromatic look; In this case, we’re using matte black finishes. To add dimension, dance a few colorful accessories throughout the table. In the spirit of the season, a miniature orange pumpkin here and there and a few withered roses over there, will do just the trick.
3. Display your food and drinks in an offbeat way. One of the tried and true classics is to store your beverages in suspicious looking glassware, that maybe, possibly, says the word, “poison” on the side. As far as food goes, a little bit of creativity in the names on the buffet signs goes a long way.
4. Leave your guests on their toes by hiding spooky surprises throughout your home. We’ll let you tap into your dark sense of humor for this one but we will say that the best places to do this are in high-traffic, non-descript areas – think the wall behind the bathroom door, the mud-room just off the main entrance, the pantry in the kitchen. Have a little bit of ghoulish fun with your guests 😉
Sips
As your guests settle in for the eerie evening, it’s time to brew up some drinks. We’ve found a few bewitching bevies, both alcoholic and nonalcoholic, that will fit right into your spooky soirée.
The White Widow – (@bestfriendsforfrosting)
What You’ll Need:
- 5 oz gin
- 1 oz heavy cream
- 1 oz coconut water
- Sprinkle of cardamom
- The juice of one lime and one lemon
- 1 egg white
- Black gel icing for garnish
Combine all of the ingredients into a cocktail shaker, sans any ice, and shake vigorously – you want to introduce enough air to foam up the mixture a bit. After your impromptu arm workout, gently pour into a martini glass. Create 4 concentric circles on the top of the drink using the icing. Now, to spookify this drink, take a toothpick and drag the icing into the shape of a spiderweb.
Witch’s Blood – (@sprinklesandsprouts)
What You’ll Need:
- 1/2 cup cherry schnapps
- 1/2 cup vodka
- 1 cup whiskey
- 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
- 4 cups cherry soda
This recipe is so easy to prepare it’s scary – combine the cherry schnapps, vodka, whiskey, and lemon juice into a vessel with ice. Once stirred together, slowly add in the cherry soda for to give this drink its bewitching red color.
Blood Orange Mock-tini – (@culinaryginger)
What You’ll Need:
- 4 ounces of orange juice
- 1/2 ounce Triple sec
- 4 ounces of fresh squeeze blood orange juice
No tricks here, just a super easy to make mocktail recipe. Start by filling a martini shaker with ice. Pour in all the ingredients and shake for 5 seconds. Strain into martini glasses and serve them up to thrill your visitors.
Hot Buttered Cider – (@tasteandtell)
What You’ll Need:
- 1/2 gallon apple cider
- 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice, plus 1 strip of zest
- 1/2 cup fresh orange juice, plus 1 strip of zest
- 3 cinnamon sticks
- 4 whole cloves
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
When the wicked wind blows, it can get chilly. Warm up your guests with this alcohol-free recipe. Begin by combining all the ingredients, save for the butter, in a large pot and simmer for 20 mins. Before ladling the cider into mugs, add a smudge of butter to create that belly-warming richness.
Bites
As the evening unfolds, your guests are sure to get hungry. To keep your night flowing smoothly, we recommend keeping a tray of appetizers out, even after dinner has concluded. Here are 2 scarily easy recipes to whip up in a pinch to please your party go-ers.
Pumpkin Cheese Ball – (lolfoodie.com)
What You’ll Need:
- 11 ounces of goat cheese, softened
- 8 ounces of cream cheese, softened
- 1 pound of sharp cheddar cheese (any combo of yellow or white), shredded (I used a food processor)
- 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 tsp dried chives (fresh would be better, if you have them)
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp dried oregano
- 1 braided pretzel (for stem)
- 1 parsley sprig (for leaf)
Presentation, presentation, presentation. A little bit of effort is all it takes to entrance your guests. All you have to do is throw all the ingredients into a food processor or blender and wait until a dough-like consistency develops. If the mixture is too wet, throw in a bit of flour to stiffen it up. Next, take the dough onto a clean work surface and create a rounded shape. To turn it into a pumpkin, simply take a skewer and score the sides. Serve with crackers and you’re good to go!
Spooky Charcuterie Board – (@feastinthyme)
What You’ll Need:
- A blend of cheeses: soft, semi-soft, semi-hard, and hard
- Meats of your choice
- Dried fruits and nuts
- Crackers
There is no perfect recipe for a charcuterie board, but that’s the fun of it! To spookify this entertaining staple, we recommend sticking to darker meats and fruits to add to the eerie atmosphere. The true wickedness of this recipe comes in the extras. Set out the contents of your board on dark, antiqued serving tray. Clean some spooky accessories, lay them across the spread, and place in front of your ghoulish guests.
So, there you have it, our spectacularly spooky guide to having a wicked soirée. As you enjoy the season’s festivities, we wish you and your family a wonderful and safe Halloween.