Who says Halloween is just for kids? Fright night has become one of the most popular holidays for throwing parties and adult Halloween parties have become as fun and festive as kids’ parties.
Thinking about throwing a Halloween party for adults? Here are some ideas for a frighteningly fun time.
Witch Theme Halloween Party
Lime green and black theme colors . . . low lights . . . lots of spider webs . . . and a Halloween party centered around a giant black cauldron filled with Witch’s Brew. Adults will love a witch theme Halloween party.
Guests dress in costume as their favorite fictional witch - The Wicked Witch of the West, the Witches of Eastwick, Samatha from Bewitched, Sabrina, the sisters from Charmed, the three witches from MacBeth, Broomhilda, Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty – the list goes on and on. Thanks to a booming Halloween costume and makeup business, witch costumes can be beautiful or hideous, whatever suits your guests’ fancy.
For Halloween party favors or a snack, serve mini witch’s brooms, made from Fruit by the Foot and pretzel sticks.
Witch themed food ideas can be found at Celebrations. My favorite are the witch finger cookies.
Invitations can be a black paper witch’s hat with specifics written in Day-Glo green. Or take a tip from Halloween expert Mary McCarthy at creativehalloween.com who suggests tying a ribbon around a rubber witch’s finger with a note: “Don’t forget!” and the who, what, when and where of the party.
For the Child in All of Us
Do we ever really grow out of our love of playing dress up and acting like a kid? Set free the inner child in your adult friends by throwing a Halloween party that’s just like the parties you went to as a kid.
Set up a haunted house and lead guest through it. Carve pumpkins and roast pumpkin seeds. Bob for apples. Serve orange cupcakes with sprinkles. Before your guests leave, pass out goodie bags full of candy, spider rings and Pez dispensers.
Remember the assembly line of gooey, gory body parts? Peeled grapes were eyeballs, spaghetti were intestines, raw calves’ liver was a heart, a peeled tomato was a brain, a dried apricot was an ear, and unpopped popcorn kernels were teeth. Turn off the lights and recreate this Halloween game by telling the tale of the murdered Hal O. Ween and his remains.
Murder Mystery Halloween Party
A murder mystery party is loads of fun for a group of adults. Murder mystery party kits can be downloaded or bought online from murder mystery party planners or you can hire a company to come in and plan the whole thing.
Plan your own who-done-it mystery, plant clues, and divide the party into teams to see who can solve the mystery first. For ideas on how to host your own murder mystery party, check out Host-Party.com.
Séance, Fortune Tellers and Ouiji Boards
For a couple hundred dollars, a fortune teller, medium, astrologer or tarot card reader will come to your home to entertain your Halloween party guests. Magicians for hire are more plentiful and many are cheaper. Check your local phone listings or get a recommendation from a local party store for professionals that will come to your home to entertain a party. Be sure to keep up the party spirit and remind guests that it’s all in fun.
Set up some small tables with Ouiji boards and guests can pair up and let the spirits move them while waiting for their turn with the fortune teller.
Halloween Party Recipes
Orange Witch’s Brew
This recipe makes 4 quarts of delicious non-alcoholic punch that you can make in a big cauldron or a bowl that is set inside a shallow tray of dry ice for a spooky, smoky effect. For an added Halloween effect, add ice cubes that have been frozen with a plastic spider in the middle of each.
- 1 14-ounce can Eagle brand sweetened condensed milk
- 1 46-ounce can pineapple juice, chilled
- 1 2-liter bottle orange soda, chilled
- Orange sherbet
In a punch bowl (or large plastic jack-o-lantern or plastic witch’s cauldron) stir together Eagle brand milk and pineapple juice. Add orange soda and stir. Top with scoops of sherbet and serve over ice.
Finger Sandwiches
Cut the crusts off of thin slices of pumpernickel bread. Spread all bread slices with cream cheese. On half of the slices, sprinkle with shredded carrot, green onion slices and finely chopped red pepper. Top with another slice of cream cheese bread and press together. Cut into triangles or cut out with a pumpkin cookie cutter or other Halloween shape.
Caramel Corn
- 8 cups popped popcorn
- ½ cup brown sugar, packed
- ¼ cup butter
- 6 tablespoons dark corn syrup
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Place popcorn in a 9-by-13-inch glass baking dish. In a medium pot, heat brown sugar, butter, corn syrup and salt until it simmers, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, add baking soda and stir. Pour mixture over popped popcorn, and stir until coated well. Bake for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.
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