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Themes and Decorations:
Haunted House
Create a scary environment by stringing spider webbing in every place imaginable, especially in the windows. Backlight the webbing with candles so the effect shows through to the outdoors. Attach spiders to the webs as well. Dim the lights and light candles in strategic places. Candelabras are a nice touch. Use Christmas lights for more lighting while maintaining a feel of darkness. Make tombstones out of Styrofoam board. Paint them with silver paint and mark them with epitaphs. Then, secure them with stakes in the front yard. Use a sheet to drape over a large, round balloon. Hang it in an upper level window and leave the light on that room. Ask a friend to be a live scarecrow. Have him sit just outside the front door completely relaxed. When your guests arrive, he can give them a good scare and a chuckle to start the night off with. For another haunted house effect, see the section on games below.
Invite your guests to come costumed in frightening ensembles, play ghostly music, and serve spooky snacks.
Out of This World
Throw a space alien theme party and ask your guests to arrive in outlandish space costumes. Create a ramp to cover the front steps out of thick fiberboard to give the illusion of entering a spacecraft, after painting it silver. Frame the front door in flashing Christmas lights and utilize the lights inside as well. Fill an entire room with silver balloons. Give away space related door prizes.
Favorite Television Character
Celebrate Halloween by hosting a television character party. Invite your guests to come as their favorite television character. Decorate the setting with station and show logos. Divide rooms into individual television themes like cartoons, detective series, soap operas, and so on. String colorful balloons, toss confetti, and hang streamers in the cartoon room. Light candles, set a not-to-be-used table for two complete with bouquet of roses. For a bit of extravagance, rent a bubble machine.
Another idea in the television vein is to choose a more pointed theme. Opt for a 70's television show, medical show, or police drama party. Select games with a television theme to be played and give door prizes like a TV Guide, a Universal remote control, or a video based on a television series.
Games:
Traditional Bobbing for Apples
Fill a large, galvanized washtub with water after thoroughly cleaning it. Float a couple dozen apples in the water. The object of the game is to retrieve an apple with your mouth. It's extremely wet and messy, but a ton of fun. To make the game more complicated, remove the stems from the apples. For an evil flair, use ice water.
The Apple Snap
Push coins such as a dime, nickel, or quarter into the apples to be used for the game. Hang an apple at a time with a string tied to its stem from the ceiling, or if outside, a tree limb. To play, bite the coin from the apple. This game can be livened up by having two people play at the same time. Whoever bites the coin first, wins and gets to keep the money.
Pin the Hat on the Witch
Pin the Hat on the Witch is a variation of Pin the Tail on the Donkey. Before you can play, draw and color a hatless witch on a piece of posterboard and make hats to be placed on her head. When you are ready, spin the player around three times and watch them attempt to put her hat on straight. If drawing a witch is a bit beyond your creative talent, substitute her with a jack o' latern and pin its eyes or nose on instead.
Skeleton Race
For this game you will need several paper skeletons. You can either buy them in the Halloween section of a general store or make the body parts yourself. Make sure each person has all the body parts before they begin: skull, two arms, two legs, two hands and so on. The object of the game is to construct an entire skeleton as quickly as possible. Whoever completes their skeleton first, wins.
Haunted Attic
The object of this game is to create the illusion of an old attic and disgust each person brave enough to insert their hand in a box of eerie, unknown goo. The setting could be incorporated into an aspect of the decor.
The first thing you need to do is collect various boxes. Laundry detergent boxes and shoe or boot boxes work well. Cover each box in brown paper. Grocery bags are an appropriate material and any pieced together parts can be covered with stickers or signs that claim what is supposedly in them. Make sure you leave yourself access to the box to fill it with spooky contents. Next, cut hand holes in each box, then align the boxes along a table or stack them on the floor in the corner of the room. To add to the effect of a haunted attic, string spider webs, hang spiders, and sprinkle dust (baby powder). Before the party, fill each box with one of these items: cooked, cold spaghetti for intestines, popcorn for teeth, peeled grapes for eyeballs, hot dogs for fingers, an old wig for hair, gelatin for brains, cleaned chicken bones for bones, and a piece of oiled plastic for skin. Save one box to fill with dirt, then fill a plastic glove with water and freeze. For a more realistic effect, lean the plastic glove over a bowl as if gripping it. Once frozen, bury it in the dirt. If you opt for a table setting, you could have someone's live hand buried in the dirt from another outlet. Have each person willing to participate go through the boxes. As they do, suggest what might be inside. When using a live hand, have that person shake the player's hand as he reaches inside. Be creative and come up with your own spooky goo.
Snacks:
Popcorn Hands
Purchase a box of plastic gloves. In each fingertip, place a candy corn, then fill the hand with popcorn leaving enough room to close with a tie. Place a spider or skull ring on the ring finger. Tie the wrist with ribbon.
Dismembered Fingers
Use your favorite shortbread cookie dough recipe and pipe the dough without a tip onto cookie sheets using a finger-sized cylinder. Take a table knife to mark lines to give the illusion of knuckles. Press an almond into the tip, but remove before baking. After baking, glue the almond (nail) into place with a dab of frosting. For a bloody effect, use red gel frosting.
Witches Brew
1/2 C. Lemon Juice
1 Quart Apple Cider
5 Whole Cloves
1 tsp. Nutmeg
2 Cinnamon Sticks
Mix Lemon juice and cider in a saucepan over low heat. Place spices in a tea ball and add to the brew. Bring to a boil, then allow to simmer for 5-10 minutes. Cool slightly and remove the tea ball. This can be served either warm or cold.
Eerie or Buggy Ice
When serving punch, make an ice ring using a mold. Before freezing, add some raisins for a buggy effect.
Take a plastic glove, fill it with water, then freeze. Add to your punchbowl and it will appear as though someone is reaching out to you from the flavored murk.
Caramel Apple Slices
Core and slice a dozen apples. Dip the end of each slice in melted caramel, then roll it in chopped, toasted nuts. It's a great way to have a small sample of a seasonal treat.
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