# Calling all Halloween Party experts!!!!!



## TosaTerror (Oct 1, 2015)

We are having our first Halloween party later this month. I've always been an exterior decorator during this holiday, but now that we are hosting a party we need our interior to look just as good. We are inviting a few families from our daughter's school over, so both kids and adults will be attending.

I need any ideas that have worked for people in the past (Dos and Don'ts). I'm talking about:

- Food
- Drinks (adult and kid friendly)
- Snacks
- Decorations (not over the top scary or gory w/ kids around)
- _Small_ scale cheap scares (I don't won't to send the kids home crying...but something fun)
- Lights
- Games
- Music

Thanks in advance!!


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## Zombie4* (Aug 29, 2015)

I love the warewolf game. Its great for older kids and adults. https://www.amazon.com/Bezier-Games-UWDXBEZ-Ultimate-Werewolf/dp/B00MHWUJA0


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## tarpleyg (Oct 28, 2014)

Personally, I wouldn't overdo it, especially on your first try. For instance, instead of focusing on the presentation of your food and beverages, focus on making them taste good. You can pick up inexpensive Halloween plates, napkins, etc. to eat from but if your food tastes crappy, nothing else matters.

I am not a big fan of games but the kids will be. Any opportunity to carry the party outside? Bobbing for apples is a good one that nobody does anymore.


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## hopelesslyinsane (Sep 6, 2013)

Check out the Party Ideas subforum


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## Halloweenutter (Feb 6, 2015)

I'm not a foodie, well, I like to eat, but not much for prepping, so I go the easy route. I order pizza, have some pumpkins carved that are "puking" out different dips for nachos, have a cheese tray etc. It's not time consuming and is so easy to plop a little spider here and there. For games, given that I have kids, we do some smaller things here and there with the biggie always being Zombie autopsy. I have a cardboard box that's hiding a body part (on a tray and I have about 6-7 things total), and the kids have to guess what food the part is made of. Gross to stick your hand into a box not knowing the gooey content. Then as a finale we always have a contest to see who can eat a donut off the string the quickest. This is the one game adults participate in, we have a kids, Moms and then Dads category.


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## QueenHalloween (Oct 9, 2013)

Hi TosaTerror,

Sounds like fun! We have thrown parties for as long as I can remember (at my parent's and then at our old place). This year, we moved to a new house so I feel like we're starting from scratch again as far as decorating, food, games, etc. Good chance for a clean slate! 

Here's my 2 cents:


- Food-decide on making it a potluck or providing food yourself. If you are making food yourself, prep as much as you can ahead of time. You will want the day of the party to make changes to interior deco and put finishing touches on things. Nothing worse than heating up tons of appetizers 10 minutes before your party and you aren't even dressed up yet!  Some easy options would be crock pot dishes, meat/cheese trays, veggie trays, dips, etc. Bakery cupcakes with a little Halloween flare added to them (witches hats or devil horns?) are a safe and easy bet. 
- Drinks (adult and kid friendly)- We are heavy on alcoholic punch and it goes fast at our parties. When guests arrive, we get them a drink and most of the time they don't know what to ask for, so we offer our themed punch and they go for it. It's easy because it frees us up as hosts and we don't have to play Bartender all night, and the guests can go back for more as they see fit. For kids, there is a great sherbert Halloween punch floating around out there. Can't remember the website, may want to try googling. 
- Snacks-We start our party at 7:30, so our guests are really only looking for snacks but we provide heavy appetizers 
- Decorations (not over the top scary or gory w/ kids around)-If you are looking for something easy, black plastic shredded and hung on the ceiling or under walkways is great! Everyone likes to walk through a doorway with creepy plastic or creepy cloth hanging under it. Another simple idea is lighting. Even a strand or 2 of string lights go a LONG way. Lighting really sets the mood. I find that people are more impressed by lighting and our scene setters on the walls than anything else I put up. 
- Small scale cheap scares (I don't won't to send the kids home crying...but something fun)- fog machines!! as long as they are outside. Found out the hard way that they set off smoke alarms. Also, small but fun animatronics are not too overwhelming for kids or easily scared adults. Target/CVS/etc. has good ones for as cheap as $12.99.
- Lights-String lights in orange, purple, or green go a long way. We also replace our regular lights with green, red, or blacklights. LOVE blacklights! Cheap and easy deco!
- Games-Search this forum for "The Winking Murder Game" or "Tempt Your Fate"
- Music-I subscribe to spotify for one month and then cancel after Halloween. I create a playlist and then start it about an hour before my party. 

Good luck!!


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## TosaTerror (Oct 1, 2015)

hopelesslyinsane said:


> Check out the Party Ideas subforum


Yea, I probably should have posted this thread in that subforum to begin with. 

Thanks to whoever moved it here.


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## TosaTerror (Oct 1, 2015)

Wow...Some really great ideas. Thanks and keep them coming!


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## TosaTerror (Oct 1, 2015)

tarpleyg said:


> Personally, I wouldn't overdo it, especially on your first try. For instance, instead of focusing on the presentation of your food and beverages, focus on making them taste good. You can pick up inexpensive Halloween plates, napkins, etc. to eat from but if your food tastes crappy, nothing else matters.
> 
> I am not a big fan of games but the kids will be. Any opportunity to carry the party outside? Bobbing for apples is a good one that nobody does anymore.



I know what you mean...I'm a big advocate of food tasting good. But knowing our friends, as long as there's plenty of snacks for the kids and alcohol for the parents, then I'll be all set.  Food is kind of an afterthought. However, I'll still do my best to something that's easy but tasty.


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## TosaTerror (Oct 1, 2015)

Watched some videos about making a dry ice punch. Anyone have any experience with this? I think this would be very cool to do (as long as all the proper precautions are taken).


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## MikeinMunich (Sep 10, 2013)

Food
- Drinks (adult and kid friendly)
I put beer on the patio (weather depending) or in the fridge as well as soft drinks and then at our bar I put away all nice bottles of liquor and then leave the rest out with plenty of ice, limes and tonic to mix your own drink and we always end up with empty bottles. It's a good way to get rid of that bottle of Absolut you got as a gift but will never drink. I also tape mini skeleton skulls to the bottle caps and have a handmade sign that says "Pick your poison". Oh, and for wine bottles (this would also be fine for cola) I put scary labels and for beer I have a True Blood logo I tape to the bottles as well as a Pennywise Brewery (From IT) label I made and tape to the bottles and it's always a fun gag. 


- Snacks
Don't over buy. I over buy every year and always have a junk food feast on November 1. And don't buy too much candy. That's always a problem I have. The kids don't need that much (have fun dealing with them) and the adults don't want it.

- Decorations (not over the top scary or gory w/ kids around)
I would say check out the threads here or pinterest. So many ideas. I make a lot of handmade thing and wall scene setters. Check out my photos. I make a haunted forest with a scene setter, spider web and black lights in our hallway.

- Small scale cheap scares (I don't won't to send the kids home crying...but something fun)
I always make a corpse wrapped in a trash bag and leave it in the tub with a Psycho blood stained shower curtain and a strobe light.

- Lights
For lights I went to the electronic shop and bought a different color bulb for each room and that really helps transport the guests and the party. I only use red or green. Red meaning hell and green meaning spooky and also because these are the only two colors that really change any lighting. 

- Games
My party is only adults and 1 or 2 kids. So, costume contest and a baking contest I usually let the kids win.

- Music
Search spotify for halloween playlists. I have been building my playlist for over 5 years and update it every year. My name on Spotify is Michael Moore and my first playlist I use is titled "Halloween 8-10pm" and the second is "Halloween Dance" feel free to follow/sbscribe to my playlist and use it. The trick is not to have too many Halloween songs. To be honest most Halloween songs are party killers and guests don't really listen to lyrics. They need fun, upbeat music with a few Halloween gems mixed in. 

Hope this helps!

Oh, and never feel like you're inviting too many people - there will always be last minute cancellations, people who don't like Halloween and then people bring friends. Another thing I learned was don'T stress too much about the decorations. Your guests will be happy and your family will also be happier when you're not stressing for two weeks before for a 4-8 hour party...


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## MikeinMunich (Sep 10, 2013)

Here are some pics of some simple and effective things I do....


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## TosaTerror (Oct 1, 2015)

Bravo...well done!


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## Rowsdower (Oct 7, 2016)

With my parties, I've found Tempt Your Fate to be a big hit. They're all adults, though. You could modify the game to be more family friendly and silly in a heartbeat. We put our "fates" inside balloons that people have to pop to get to. If adults get a kick out of doing that, I'm sure kids would, too. As for food, I agree with the potluck idea- that way it's not all on you. 

For decorations-Sometimes just coating the place in streamers and have a few Halloween decorations can make all the difference. One thing that I would add, though, is candles. To me, nothing sets a mood quite like scented candles that not only provided fun ambient lighting, but also smell appropriate to whatever holiday you're doing. And, since smell is such a powerful thing, when people come back next year, they're immediately transported to that mood. I know every time I smell pumpkin or Halloween candy, I'm instantly giddy and ready to party!


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## Haunted jan (Oct 26, 2016)

Games for both young and old a like.
What am I. Glouish objects like giant tapioca ( sometimes called pearls.) & watered down jelly = frog sporn. 
Cooked carrot sticks = witches fingers.
Dried apricots = gobblins ears. 
Cooked spagetti = earth worms.
Pop each different one into a cup or mug, labled a, b, c etc, tape a black binliner around the cup. Make up a small printed sheet for each guest to write their guesses down. 
Good for a few screams. 
Kids can be shown what each one is after they have wrote/ said what they think it is. 

Hold a murder party! Each guest is told that if they are winked at during the party they have 5 mins to die! The rest of the guests need to figure out who the killer is ..... before they are killed next! 

Stretch out some fake spiders web, give each player 5 - 10 spiders. The object of the game is to throw the spiders into the web, so that they stay there. Some will need to keep score. The winner is the person with the most spiders still in the web. 
Spiders can be reused for each player.

Enjoy!


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