By: Giaco Furino
Having friends over this Friday for a party? Whether or not costumes are required, Halloween parties are some of the most memorable gatherings we throw each year. So don’t just plop down chips and dip, give your guests a good scare! These quick and easy tips will turn your plain old soirée into a haunted house-party.
Weave a Story
A good party starts with a great invite. Don’t just write “Party at my place, 8pm”. Begin to tell a tale that will add some flavor to your event. Tell your guests that a killer escaped from the nearby prison… but not to worry. Or tell them you’ve been hearing strange noises in your basement and you need everyone to come and drown out the noise. Did you just move into a new home? Tell your guests that you think the place is haunted, and the ghosts want you to have a party! That’s what we did, and we included this photo in our invite (written by the ghosts).
Decorate Accordingly
It’s amazing how far thirty dollars can get you at a party store. If you’re feeling budget-conscious, focus on moody items like cobwebs and plastic body parts. We can’t tell you how many parties we remembered because they put up a few spiderwebs around the bar. If you’ve got more money to throw around, you can tie in your decorations to the theme of your party. We told a story about how we were eventually possessed by the ghosts in our house, and turned our living room into an abandoned ballroom, full of deflating balloons, creepy music, and sad, sagging party streamers. And this homemade sign told our guests this party wasn’t going to be like other Halloween parties.
Get Crafty
Like the sign above, you can go craft crazy at your party. Create fake labels for your wines and liquors (labels that read “Rat Poison” or “Embalming Fluid”), make the table that’s holding all your snacks look like an operating table. Take a bag of those cheap spider rings and freeze them in ice cubes so that everyone gets a spider or two in their drinks! And if you’re very ambitious, get craft crazy like our friend Andrew did with this vomiting punch bowl!
Design “Pull Away” Events
A party’s just a party until you add interactive elements. Then it becomes truly memorable. Do you have a big (or small) closet? Add a strobe light to it, play some loud music, or play a freaky video and call it “7 Minutes in Hell”. We turned our basement into a secret, makeshift speakeasy, and quietly invited guests down for a drink (where we “bled” red food die into their cocktail). Word of mouth quickly spread, and everyone wanted to know what was going on in the basement!
So what are you waiting for? Get moving! Your Halloween party’s not going to make itself awesome!
