From costume parties to pumpkin carving, get inspired with these 5 popular Halloween party ideas to ensure your party is spooky fun!
There are a wide array of fantastic Halloween themes to incorporate into your Halloween party, but which one to choose? This article will delve into our top Halloween party themes for October 2024.
Arguably the best part about Halloween are the parties. From little kids to great-grandparents, most everyone loves to dress up at least a little bit – and get together to see what others have dreamed up as well. Not to mention, if you love party planning, there’s nothing more fun than the limitless creativity that goes into planning a Halloween party.
We already covered how to 5 party hosting hacks for dazzling friends in a small space, so we won’t go over the basics again – but we are going to dive into what types of Halloween parties are trending for Halloween 2024 in large and small spaces alike. We’ll give you tips on how to make these ideas a success on your terms, whether you’re hosting an adults only Halloween party or including younger kids on the guest list. Of course, when it comes to Halloween – and parties – the only rule is to use your imagination. Here are 5 Halloween party themes for spooky season party inspiration.
1. Throw a Book Character Costume Party For a Unique Halloween Party Theme
Looking for a fun Halloween theme for all ages? Book characters are a great costume party theme for young and old alike because there are just so many places you can go with it. Animated, sci-fi, fantasy, Elizabethan…there may be no other Halloween theme with this kind of range. What other type of theme party could you find a Christian Gray and a Dorian Gray? Plus, kids will love dressing up like their favorite characters – and seeing others come to life in their friends’ costumes.
Like books, book character parties don’t have to take up much space. Some of our favorite small (or large) space Halloween party suggestions for decorating include:
- Adorn your front door or apartment door with paper cutouts of book titles to look like a bookshelf
- Create banners with popular book covers to string along walls
- Serve a cake that looks like a stack of books
- Use stacks of real books to create displays for appetizers
- Set up a bookmark crafting station for the kids
- Give out gummy “book worms” as party favors
End the evening with some good ole fashioned ghost stories. Choose wisely depending on your audience, but make sure the lights are dim and the wind is howling for maximum effect.
Looking for more Halloween costume ideas? Take a peek at our easy Halloween costumes from your closet that you can use!
2. Host a Spooky Al Fresco Scary Movie Night for Terrifying Halloween Fun
One of the best Halloween party ideas to ensure a horrifying night is to watch your scary movies outdoors. There’s just something about watching a horror movie outside that makes it a bit…creepier! If you’ve got the space for a backyard soirée, consider hosting an al fresco scary movie night. (How scary depends on the age of your invitees, of course).
Scroll down for our Halloween party suggestions on how to make your spooky movie night a success!
- Stock up on blankets, pillows, twinkle lights, candles, warm drinks (cocoa for the kids and hot toddies, mulled wine, coffees and teas for the adults), popcorn and other snacks.
- Buy an outdoor projector and screen and go through a few test runs before the guests arrive.
- Make sure you’ve got enough comfy chairs and seating options for the entire invite list.
- Spice up the backyard fun with Halloween decor options like spiderwebs, hanging ghosts and Jack lanterns. If you prefer more general fall décor, you can check out our sophisticated fall décor ideas for Halloween haters.
- Have a backup plan in case of poor weather! Halloween is always a tricky time of year, so make sure your entire guest list can pile into your living room at a moment’s notice.
If your living space doesn’t have a backyard, you can still host a spooky movie night – just rearrange your living room or basement furniture for maximum comfort and coziness. Don’t be surprised if you get some dozers in the midst. Take it as a sign they felt so comfortable in your home that they let their guard down – even during a scary movie!
3. Embrace Your Artistic Side With Halloween Pumpkin Carving & Decorating
Look, we didn’t say they were the top five most inventive Halloween party themes. A good pumpkin carving party is always going to rank high on the list of Halloween party ideas especially because, as you get older and do it more and more . . . let’s just say it becomes a lot more exciting to do it with friends.
The bonus is you don’t need too much space to throw a good party. Basically one big dining room or kitchen table (or any sort of comparable work area) covered in waterproof fabric (or garbage bags), and you’re set in terms of decor. A few masks and little decorative Halloween doodads (as seen in the picture above) and the party is on!
Of course, make sure you’ve got big mixing bowls for the seeds, several carving tools kits (no butcher knives, please), and any other sort of decorative paint, fabric, googly eyes, beads, and other craft supplies you have handy. Folks are getting pretty extra with their squash these days. Ask friends to bring their own pumpkins, but provide drinks and snacks. If they’re anything like me, they’ll be pleased at the opportunity to carve pumpkins in a group (and check that chore off the list) and happy for the company. Their kids will be excited for a party and thrilled with the art supplies. And if you start roasting pumpkin seeds while everyone is still there, you’ll all get a healthy snack too. Win, win, win.
4. Surprise Your Halloween Party Guests With a Mystery Box
Mystery boxes are a tried-and-true Halloween party staple as delightful and terrifying to adults as they are to children. And they’re relatively cheap, easy to make, and can work in relatively small spaces.
Simply take boxes of various sizes that an adult-sized hand can fit into and wrap them in black paper, or with gauze, or anything else to hide the insides and up the “Ew” factor. Then fill with some sort of relatively common item that feels really gross to the touch. (You can add extras like mayonnaise, ketchup or oil to increase the effect.)
Have each player feel what’s in each box and write down their guesses, with the winner getting a small prize. Here are some ideas of what to include, but the options are truly limitless:
- Peeled grapes: eyeballs (this one is a classic)
- Canned or cooked spinach: innards
- Corn silk: hair
- Dried apricots or dried apples: tongues or ears
- Cooked spaghetti: veins
- Slime with mandarin oranges: innards
- Cold, cooked oatmeal: brains
- Tortilla with a little bit of oil: human skin
Add layers of gross smells to cover up the evidence (fish, rotten fruit, etc.) and get ready for plenty of high-pitched squeals as children and adults let their imaginations get carried away.
5. Pay Tribute to Lively Horror With a Beetlejuice Party
Dressing your space up like the Deetz attic is one of the easiest, cheapest, and spookiest ideas on the list. All you need are some white bedsheets thrown over the furniture. Then replace the lightbulb in a lamp with a blue hue lightbulb. Finally hang some twinkly lights over the table with the the movie snacks. If you’re feeling really fancy, you can arrange the snacks to look like the model of Winter River!
Suitable for kids on up, the Beetlejuice is extremely simple to pull off. Invitees should dress as their favorite charter from the original or new Beetlejuice. Add a candies warms bar or simply add a few black striped to cupcakes already frosted with vanilla frosting. If you’ve got the time, decorate a dirt dessert casserole to look like the graveyard from the movie.
Looking for Halloween costume ideas that won’t break the bank? Check out our Instagram feed for more Halloween party ideas!
Storage Options When the Party’s Over
If you want to keep the Halloween party decor or decorations you invested in, but are already tight in space, self-storage might be the perfect fit! You might not need climate-controlled storage for your exterior decorations if you pack them carefully, but you’ll want it for anything more delicate – like costumes, Halloween decor, etc.
Click through if you have any questions about types of storage we offer or give us a call to discuss with our storage professionals. For while your Halloween parties may cause a fright in October…we don’t want them to cause a nightmare for the rest of the year.
Looking for a place to store your Halloween decorations and costumes? Find a Storage Location near you!
