Halloween Party Decorations

Most of the Halloween party stuff you’ll need for a basic Halloween get together can be found starting the second week of October and right up until Halloween. If you’re planning a more elaborate party, though, you may want to start gathering your supplies as early as the last week of August. That’s because 1) special order props and decorations can take up to eight weeks for delivery and 2) the good stuff sells out fast.

Halloween Party Invitations and Thank-you Cards

Pretty self-explanatory. Styles range from elegant dark orange paper and black calligraphy to cartoon witches with wiggly noses. Planning ahead just gives you a little more time to find really unique Halloween party invitations and decide what you’re going to write in them (Costumes required? RSVP?). Having the thank-you cards on hand help with getting them out on time, too.

Tableware

There’s enough Halloween party stuff in the tableware department to make every single thing on and around your table Halloween-related. Paper plates, cups and napkins with Halloween designs are the bare minimum. There are also table covers, centerpieces, serving bowls, flatware, drink stirrers, and chair covers available.

Games and Entertainment

Make sure you have enough good game or entertainment ideas the supplies to need for your games, including prizes. Did you know there are Halloween board games? Try Geist Game by Rose Knows Inc. or Atmosfear by Flying Bark Productions. For kids, there’s Which Witch? by the Milton Bradley Company. (Break out the Ouija board and Tarot cards at your own risk. ) If you’re planning on telling ghost stories, pick up a book about real hauntings in case your guests don’t have enough stories to tell.

Halloween Party Food

Obviously not something you want to order in August, but it’s worth planning your menu early. That way you’ll have time to look around for unique Halloween party recipes and make sure you can get all the ingredients. (Like black frosting. Homemade varieties often taste like food coloring. Try Wilton’s black cake frosting instead.) If all else fails, you can pick up some Halloween party stuff your refreshments table, like cookies and cupcakes, at the grocery store.

Outdoor Halloween decorations

Halloween decorations for outdoors are fun because you know you won’t be the only one to see them. Generally anything large, like life-sized props, and anything that glows does well outdoors. Plan how you’re going to decorate your yard, driveway and doorway before you start buying decorations and props. Otherwise you could easily end up going way over budget.

Indoor Halloween decorations

This is some of your most important Halloween party stuff, but exactly how you do your indoor décor for Halloween depends on the type of party (Kids or adults? Spooky or fun?) and your theme. If you’re planning on creating one main display scene, choose your props and then decorate around that scene. Also pay special attention to the front door and hall, refreshments table and main seating area.

Had enough of the scary stuff and just want to have a fun Halloween party relaxing with some friends? Just because you’re throwing an adult Halloween party doesn’t mean you’re stuck with ghost stories and gruesome decorations. Here are some ideas on fun Halloween party decorations and games grown-ups can enjoy, too.

Fun Halloween Party Decorations

Up-beat, humorous Halloween décor isn’t just for kids’ parties. Take the “crashed witch,” for example—the witch doll you hang up so it looks like she crashed and flattened herself against a wall. It’s just a silly bit of slightly dark humor.

Also try pumpkins dressed up like witches or vampires, a skeleton dressed and posed in a funny position (eg. holding a drink), inflatable decorations, and windsocks. Decorate your yard with tombstones engraved with funny epitaphs like the classic “See, I told you I was sick!” or names puns like “I. L. Beabach” (make your own out of Styrofoam or plywood)

Fun Halloween Party Games and Activities

Remember bobbing for apples, pumpkin bowling, and bashing Halloween piñatas? Sure, they’re kid’s games, but Halloween’s the perfect time to act like a kid again. Set up a few childhood favorites to lighten the mood.

For the more “adult” (I said more “adult,” not more mature) games, consider scavenger hunts (racy items optional), mummy making race (pair guests up and have one wrap the other in TP), and “That’s my man” (in which a blindfolded female guest identifies her boyfriend or husband’s touch after all the guys present have touched her cheek or arm.) The idea is just to get guests laughing, with or without that second goblet of witch’s brew.

If your friends are the artsy types, do some fun Halloween party crafts, too. Pumpkin carving or painting are fine, but if you’d rather avoid the mess try “build a monster.” Clipping parts out of magazines to create their own Frankenstein-style monsters. Another crafts theme is autumn home décor, such as a leaf wreath your guests can take home and leave up throughout November.

Outdoor Halloween lights improve visibility around walkways and doors without detracting from your other decorations. These outdoor lights typically come in strings of mini-lights covered with plastic covers shaped like ghosts, pumpkins, skulls or other Halloween symbols. Of course, those are what all the neighbors have, too. If you’re looking for something a little more unique, read on.

Light, Sound, and More

If you’re on a budget, one cheap way to get interesting outdoor Halloween lights is to go with the typical string of mini lights, but look for a set in an unusual style. Some play blink, play music or talk. Look for more elaborate shapes like skeletons or spiders or a variety of light shapes like alternating skulls and headstones. Fabric ghost lights and Halloween icicle lights are other unique options. If you want something a little mellower than the average bright mini lights, look for LED Halloween lights.

Path lighting and Driveway Markers

Use electric or solar Halloween outdoor lighting to mark your driveway or the path to your door. If you’re planning a party or expecting trick-or-treaters, this is especially important. It’s all too easy to stumble on a poorly lit path, especially when you’re wearing a costume and looking at yard decorations.

Orange jack-o-lanterns, skeleton or monster hands, skulls in a variety of colors, and witches’ hats are all popular styles for path and driveway lighting. For something a little different, try floating ghost lights. These are white plastic ghost lights on top of a black rod you stick in the ground. At night, the black rod isn’t visible and the ghosts seem to float in mid air.

Light-up Decorations

Light up decorations won’t do much to improve visibility outside your home, but they’re still a lot of fun. Porch light covers are one of the easiest outdoor Halloween lights to install. Just hang the cover over your existing porch light.

If you don’t have a porch light, set a “haunted lantern” by your door. These battery operated decorations make spooky noises when the motion sensor is triggered. You can also find hanging outdoor Halloween props equipped with lights. These are typically white figures like ghosts, mummies, and zombies. And of course, Halloween pumpkin lights never go out of style.

The bathroom may not be the first place you think to put up Halloween party decorations, but if your guests will be staying more than an hour or so, it’s worth extending your party décor theme to a room at least someone is sure to visit. The first step is to replace that bright but boring bathroom light with a black light or light in some other funky color. Which other Halloween party decorations you choose depends on how much you want to unnerve your guests.

The Creepy Bathtub or Shower

Setting up a scene from Bates Motel is the most obvious idea, of course. Gruesome as it is, though, it’s not very unique. For something different, try putting a weird aquatic creature prop in a tub half full of green colored water (a green light overhead will do). A shower stall filled with spider webs and inhabited by a giant spider is also fairly nightmarish.

The Haunted Mirror

When you’re in the right mind set, even a normal mirror can be a little spooky. Under the influence of enough ghost stories, you half expect to see something emerge from the depths of the mirror. The easiest and cheapest way is to haunt your bathroom mirror is to stick a ghost window cling to the glass. You can buy a cheap mirror and etch a ghostly image into the back. If you really want something special, Halloween party decorations like ghost mirrors can either replace your mirror or be hung on in a highly visible spot.

Quick screams

Want to really startle your guests? Set up a noise-making prop with a motion sensor that’s triggered by the opening door. If you’re bathroom’s totally dark (or you can make it that way) stand a large prop right next to the first thing your guest sees when they flick on the light is that “thing” towering over them. Alternatively, if your bathroom has a window, set up a prop on the outside looking in so it looks like a creepy peeping tom. An eerie ghost hanging over the sink or commode can also be unnerving.

Want to scare off trick-o-treaters? In competition with the neighbors for scariest yard display? When inflatable ghosts and smiling scarecrows just won’t cut it, there are a number of other, far more disturbing displays you can create. You don’t need thousands of dollars to do it, either. There are plenty of chilling scenes you can set up with less than $100 and a little creativity.

Realistic Ghosts

I’m not talking about a garbage bag with a newspaper-stuffed head here. What you want, at least for your main ghost, is something that looks like it used to be human. A life-sized figure with a human, albeit twisted, face and skin that’s either white or greenish works well. The eyes may be either empty holes or “alive” looking.

If budget isn’t an issue, look into a ghost illusion prop. These make semi-transparent, 3D and very realistic looking ghosts appear and disappear. They’re good scares, but can run to $2000 or more. A cheaper option is a Halloween special effects “scary faces” DVD running on a TV placed in a window.

Ghoul in a Cage

This one’s blessedly (or should I say “cursedly?”) cheap and easy. Pick up a suitably unsettling looking ghoul or other creature. The creepiest ones tend to look at least partly human, which makes you think such a thing “could be real.” Put your critter in a cage such as a small dog kennel or fence covered with chicken wire. Scatter dismembered body parts from the ghoul’s dinner and splash fake blood to taste.

Witches’ Coven

Depending on your budget or inclination to make your own props, your coven may be a party of two or half a dozen. Give your girls a cauldron that steams (equipped with a fogger). Supply them with spell books made from Styrofoam or plywood. Make sure each has a broom, too. Add a few black cats and ravens, as well as bats suspended from the trees.

The Devil and his Demons

For this you’ll need one—just one, but as realistic as you can find—devil prop. Skip the cutesy red guys with friendly smiles and get one that looks like he’s real enough to reach out and grab your soul. Good demons are fairly cheap. You don’t really need a lot of detail because they’ll be viewed from a distance. You can even animated tree-hanging demons for between $10 to $30. In addition to the tree hanging models, pick up a few demon dogs to guard your property.

Criminally Insane on the Loose

Where there’s one escaped psycho, there are bound to be others. Place your best dangerous wacko crouching in the bushes where he appears to be hiding, but is easy enough to see. Then put his fellow crazies partially hidden behind trees or other objects. The idea is to set the scene with one obvious prop and make a few others hard to see until your right up on them. If done right, just for a second, your guests will think someone’s really lurking there. Decorate with appropriate weapons like bloody machetes. A discarded “muzzle” mask or other restraints also suggest danger.

Ordinary Halloween skeleton decorations are easy to find, but it’s what you do with your skelly that makes it unique. Of course, it doesn’t take a whole lot of work to make a skeleton look scary. After all, even in “normal” settings such as anatomy classrooms, full size skeletons still look creepy. Here are a few easy ways make dem bones look even creepier.

Enhance Your Skeleton

Few Halloween skeleton decorations are impressive right out of the box. That’s not such a bad thing because half the fun of using skeleton décor is seeing how gruesome you can make it look. Turn your skeleton into a corpse by coat the bones in latex, stretch a gauzy cotton material like cheese cloth over the sticky bones. When dry, paint and corpsify to as you like.

Animated Halloween Skeleton Decorations

Part of the reason human skeletons give us the creeps is that somewhere in the back of our minds, we’re afraid the thing is going to come to live. Play into that fear with a motorized, motion-sensor activated skeleton that rattles and shivers when someone walks by. Extras like flashing and jangling chains add to the effect. The most basic animated skeleton props start at around $50, but you can find torsos, arms and skulls for less.

Set a Scene

A skeleton is a lot scarier when you let your guests’ imaginations work on what made that skeleton in the first place. Instead of leaving your skelly lying around by himself, create the scene of his demise. Cover a large area with spider webs and place a giant spider inside. Lay the skeletal remains of one of the spider’s recent victims, wrapped in webs or not, beneath him. Create a prison scene complete with rats and chains. Dress your skeleton in striped prisoner garb and ankle shackles. Put your skeleton in pirate hat and stick a plastic cutlass through his ribs.

If you’ve got a graveyard scene in your yard, include some “ground breaking” Halloween skeleton decorations. These are the upper body and hands (sometimes other parts) of the skeleton designed to look like the undead is digging out from the grave.

Halloween ghost decorations come in perhaps the widest variety of all Halloween party decorations. The ghost décor out there today ranges from Casper and his friendly smile to realistic looking phantasms your guests won’t even want to approach. Here are a few ghost decoration ideas you may not have thought of yet. I’ll try to resist calling them spook-tacular.

Truly Scary Halloween Ghost Decorations

A decent ghost decoration isn’t that hard to manufacture, so even the moderately priced props can look disturbingly realistic. These are typically the models with a carefully detailed face that looks properly undead. Hang one of these ghosts in a corner of the ceiling in the bathroom or hallway, where your guests will least expect it.

String up some white ghost lights (a string of holiday lights in ghostly shapes) or a banner of paper gut-out ghosts. Light your living room with a ghost lamp that glows an eerie purple, green, or pure white.

Friendly Ghosts

Whether your party is for kids or adults, a few Casper-style friendly ghosts lighten the mood a little. Cute inflatable Halloween ghost decorations are cheap and easy to hang. Ghosts decorations are also some of the easiest to make yourself. Make little ghosts by wrapping gauzy material around lollipops and securing the “neck” with ribbon. Create large outdoor ghosts large white trash bags by stuffing one corner with newspaper, tying the neck with string or ribbon, and if you want, drawing on a face.

Deaden up your refreshments table with a ghost serving bowl, ghost-printed plates and napkins, and other Halloween party tableware.

Haunted Objects

Haunted Halloween party decorations change and move seemingly all by themselves. In reality, of course, they move when the internal mechanisms are set off by a motion detector or timer. When set up just right, few things scare guests more than a seemingly normal object that starts moving and talking like a thing possessed. Take the “haunted radio” for example described at the ScaryGuys.com Website.

For a simpler haunted item, try a changing portrait that shifts from a normal face to gruesome apparition depending on your angle. That added haunted atmosphere will make your Halloween ghost decorations that much scarier.

Besides decorations, there are a few other Halloween party supplies you’ll want to make sure you have. Tableware with Halloween designs is a must-have, even if you’re only serving simple refreshments. Games and movies keep your guests entertained and the right lighting and sound effects help set the mood.

Halloween Table Décor and Tableware

How much you want to deck out your table really depends on your personal tastes. The first thing to consider is your centerpiece. If you have nothing else “Halloweeny” on your table, at least have a good centerpiece.

A Halloween tablecloth is another nice touch. Most of the novelty table covers are paper, but there are higher-end cloth ones, too. For a Gothic or haunted theme, an old lace tablecloth will work well. For a murder or mad scientist themed party, butcher paper spattered with fake blood makes a fine table cover.

Then add your plates, bowls, flatware, and napkins with Halloween designs. Gothic goblets are a nice touch, even if they’re plastic. Chair covers also add to the mood, especially they’re the creepy kinds.

Halloween Party Games and Entertainment

Pumpkin carving is good, messy fun, but you’ll want decent lighting or you might end up with a real dismembered finger in among those plastic body parts. Another classic form of Halloween entertainment is telling ghost stories. In your invitation, ask each guests to come prepared to tell the spookiest ghost story they know.

A Halloween scavenger hunt is another option. Have guests hunt for objects around your haunted house and yard or go out on the town for a photo scavenger hunt using digital cameras. Don’t forget prizes like goody bags and novelty items.

Truly Disturbing Scary Movies

Sometimes when it’s just a small group of close friends, nothing’s better than sitting around in the dark and watching a scary movie together. But let’s face it, they’ve probably already seen Psycho and The Shining and few times already.

For something really scary, try a lesser known movie. Don’t shy away from old movies, either. Try Basket Case, a 1982 movie directed by Frank Henenlotter, about a boy who carries his deformed brother in a basket. Another good one is Ruby, a 1977 movie director Curtis Harrington, about a dead mobster possessing his daughter. Better yet, pick up a documentary or two about real hauntings, possessions and the like.

Sound and Lighting Effects

Few things set the mood for your party like sound and light. Dim lights and odd colored lights, like red or green, are the easiest way to get this effect. Strobe and flicker lights are great for when the guests arrive, but can wear on the eyes if left on too long.

Real candlelight may look good, but avoid using candles in high traffic areas where someone’s costume could knock one over. A house fire probably isn’t the kind of scare your guests were hoping for. A safer alternative is the very realistic electric candles made of wax available at Halloween party supplies stores. The right soundtrack may be even more important in setting the mood.

Ever watch a scary movie with the sound off? Even if you haven’t, you can probably guess the movie wouldn’t be half as spooky without that “horror film music” working on your nerves. There’s a science to producing this kind of music, which is why it “works” so well.

Fun Halloween party songs like Thriller and Monster Mash are great for dance parties, but if you’re trying to create a truly scary atmosphere in your home, you’ll need Halloween sounds of a different kind.

Halloween Sound Effects

Halloween sound effects CDs and tapes are most useful at the beginning of the party. They help set the mood provide as the guests walk up your haunted sidewalk and enter the house. The only problem with them is that those traditional sound effects like hooting owls, yowling cats, and cackling witches get repetitive fast. Once you’ve heard the same woman scream for the eighth time, it ceases to be scary.

Scary Halloween Sounds

Once you’re guests are settled in, you’ll probably want to turn on the sound effects and turn on something a little more…disquieting. The genre of music known as dark ambient is perfect for this. This type of music has an very strong unsettling effect. Not surprisingly, themes from horror movies also work well for this. While not repetitive like Halloween sound effects, dark ambient still isn’t really something you want to leave on throughout the party. The whole point of this music is to set you on edge and too much of that is tiring.

Suggestions

• Nox Arcana
• Midnight Syndicate

Halloween Spooky Sounds From Nature

For a good background noise throughout dinner or the whole party, I recommended the wholesomely spooky sound of a menacing thunderstorm. Kept at a low volume, this natural sound is neither distracting nor overly disturbing. It does, however, help to set a mellow and rather dark mood. Look for a thunderstorm recording taken direct from nature rather than a synthesized version. Ideally, it should be free of twittering birdies and other not-so-scary noises.

You can use Halloween witch decorations to create a witches’ ball or coven meeting theme or just add a little human touch to all those vampires and ghosts. If you’re expecting nothing more than the plain old pint-sized standing or hanging witch dolls, though, you’re in for a surprise with today’s variety of witch décor.

Indoor Halloween witch decorations

If you’re working with a witch theme for your Halloween party, a good quality life-sized witch prop will do a lot. A simple standing or hanging witch prop, without sound or animation, can be for less than $50. If you really want to go all out, look for an animated talking witch prop.

Cheaper models go for less than $100, moderate high quality ones for around $250 and professional haunted house props can easily top $1000. In addition to life-sized models, witch dolls, posters, window clings and other Halloween witch decorations range in style from the friendly good witch variety to the scary Blair witch type.

Witch accessories

Besides the witches themselves, add some Halloween witch decorations to help your witches feel at home. Pointy black witches’ hats, flowing capes, witch shoes with curling toes and of course, brooms.

A few books of witches’ spells, tarot cards, crystal balls and other magical objects will help you witches get some work done, too. In addition to the traditional ravens and black cats, fill your house with other spooky animals like bats, owls, spiders, snakes, and lizards.

Lighten the mood a little with a crashing witch decoration (a flattened “crashed” witch you mount on your wall so only her back is visible). Use serving wear shaped like cauldrons and goblin hands and ornate goblets to serve your witch’s brew.

Outdoor Halloween witch decorations and scenes

Use heavy cardboard (or plywood, if you’re handy with a saw) to cut out the silhouette of a hunched over witch. Place her in front of a fogging cauldron. Add a few of her familiars, like black cats and ravens. Set up a fog machine and replace your porch light with a green light to add to the eerie atmosphere.

Put out a few extra cauldrons, possibly with a ghouls or goblins peeking over the edges. Give your garden witch a sister and hang her, mounted on her broom stick, from a nearby tree. Before you buy Halloween witch decorations for your yard, though, make sure they’re made for outdoor use.