The days grow short and the shadows longer, while the nights linger longer still. This can only mean one thing: Halloween approaches. For lovers of all things gothic and ghoulish, there’s no better time of the year.
With beginnings that blend the ancient Celtic harvest festival Samhain and the Christian observance of All Hallow’s Eve – the night before the feast of All Saints’ Day – it’s perhaps unsurprising that Halloween transcends cultures. In fact, it’s never been more popular, with schools, youth organisations, and offices hosting fancy dress contests, pumpkin patches come September, and sweet spooky treats making their way into every supermarket.
All this popularity means it’s going to take more for your Halloween event to stand out – so we’ve come up with some haunting Halloween event ideas that are sure to scare up some attention.
Haunting Halloween party event ideas
The Halloween party is a perennial favourite. After all, it’s hard to beat spending time with friends or making new ones. For event creators looking to set their party apart, the trick is to pick a theme and lean into it, reinforcing it with decorations, music, and even the venue. Get some dry ice (handle with care!) to add a spooky fog, and don’t forget sound effects like rattling chains, agonising moans, and hooting owls.
1. The classic Halloween event idea: a fancy dress party
Dressing up lets people release their wild sides, and Halloween fancy dress parties are a perfect way to help your crowd let loose. Consider hosting one if you’re looking for school or corporate event ideas for Halloween – they’re great for kids, and adults-only soirées work well too. Include a fancy dress parade or competition to show off the best outfits, and decorate with false cobwebs and carved pumpkins for more spine-chilling fun.
2. Pet-friendly fancy dress party
Halloween can be a stressful time for our furry friends, filled with constant knocking sounds at the front door, strange children in fancy dress shouting “trick or treat”, and mysterious screams and howls coming from decorations and toys. So why not include your home’s favourite furballs in the fun with a pet-friendly fancy dress party? Coordinate child and pet costumes for twice the ghoulish entertainment, and don’t forget snacks – for both human and pet party monsters.
3. Halloween ball
A Halloween ball offers a more formal appeal than a standard Halloween party. While fancy dress is a common but not necessarily required part of the festivities, including a dress code can make it feel like even more of a special occasion. An appropriately spooky theme adds to the fun – Cocktails & Conversation hosted Bal Masqué, a black-tie masked ball featuring spine-chilling live music and haunting interactive performances.
4. Vampire ball
Put on your best fangs and enjoy a vampire ball: only immortal bloodsuckers allowed. Vampire balls often feature a gothic or Baroque style, inspired by the elegance of Bram Stoker’s Dracula and the opulence of Anne Rice’s Lestat. Decorate with (electric) candelabras and break up the dance music with snippets from Bach organ sonatas or ancient Gregorian chants for a haunting, Old World atmosphere. Pro tip: Use black cherry juice to give your fruit punch a blood-red hue.
5. Neon glow party
Want to lighten things up? Then a neon glow party is for you. Ask guests to dress in glowing neon or all white, and fill your venue with UV lights and glow sticks. Add laser lighting and neon body paint, then use a strobe light for a truly surreal effect.
6. Sinister silent disco
At a silent disco, guests wear headphones to listen to a DJ’s beats, a perfect solution when you want to respect your neighbours. Headphones also enable different channels, so you can offer a variety of vibes for your party-goers to groove to. A silent disco puts a fun spin on your classic fancy dress party, and headphones are easy to fit over or under masks and other costume elements.
7. Haunted warehouse
While a haunted house might be a classic, a haunted warehouse will really scare up some spooks. A warehouse gives you plenty of space to feature mazes filled with ghostly scenes and screams and includes a dance floor or chill-out section. A warehouse is also more often in an industrial part of town, so your curfews will likely be later. Pro tip: Backlighting a sheet hung from above creates an effective silhouette on the opposite side, perfect for suggesting terror.
8. Circus party
A circus is more than a bunch of clowns doing pratfalls. Include stilt-walkers, fire-breathers, acrobats, fortune tellers, or illusionists. Consider funhouse mirrors, a steam organ, and popular carnival foods like hotdogs and ice cream. Include DJs and a cash bar for more of a night-out feel.
9. Fancy dress fest
We’ve all been to fancy dress parties where half the crowd is too cool for a costume, undercutting all the fun. Get everyone involved by turning your party into a fancy dress fest, where costumes are required for entry. Set a theme such as Bloodsuckers and fill your venue with vampires, or “Regency era” for a party straight from Netflix’s “Bridgerton”. Sell tickets and offer a cash prize for the best look to encourage the crowd to up their costume game.
Community Halloween event ideas
When we think of community, we tend to think of our homes and families, local schools and organisations, and the nearby businesses and offices that support them.
Halloween community event ideas should focus on activities and themes appropriate to families, which bring a smile to adults too.
1. Spooky scavenger hunts
Got a neighbourhood full of rambunctious kids eager for spooky merrymaking? A scavenger hunt brings fun while serving as a release for youthful energy, as hunters race from clue to clue to find the next treasure. Place clues in hidden, half-buried plastic skeleton hands for a unique, appropriately creepy effect, and use sound effects like blood-curdling screams and wolf howls to add to the haunting atmosphere.
2. Autumnal farm tour
Halloween’s not just about ghosts and goblins. It can also encompass harvest and farming themes, so a tour of a local farm or pumpkin patch can be just the thing. Small or family-owned orchards might offer apple or pear picking, while some farms have wineries or breweries for adults.
3. Halloween steampunk market
The steampunk aesthetic brings the Victorian Age and the Industrial Revolution to fantasy and science fiction, with Jules Verne and H.G. Wells stories such as “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” and “The Time Machine” serving as inspiration. Instead of a farmers market, set up a Halloween steampunk market, complete with local artists’ wares, musicians, and performers, all featuring a steampunk style. Tink Bell’s COGWARTS STEAMPUNK SPECTACULAR festival even includes thematic steam train rides across the nearby Welsh valley.
4. Culture & cocktails evening
For an adult-oriented evening that doesn’t involve makeup, costumes, or trick-or-treating but still revels in the season’s spooks and haunts, simply mix culture and cocktails. Explore local legends with tours of nearby sights and invite experts such as university lecturers to recount the gory details. At Plastered Pouches‘ Halloween Cocktail Class, guests learned to make three different drinks themed around Halloween movies while finding out more about the films they were based on.
5. Pumpkin lantern wonderland
Simply say the word “Halloween” and the image that pops into peoples’ heads is invariably a glowing jack-o’-lantern pumpkin. A pumpkin lantern wonderland puts the big orange gourd front and centre, showcasing the best carvings and designs, all lit up in a haunting scene of glowing pumpkin faces. Set it up in a pumpkin patch (naturally) or bring it into a barn or warehouse if the weather doesn’t cooperate.
Halloween event ideas for families
While these days Halloween can be enjoyed by adults as much as by kids, the modern version really took off as a night for kids to put on their fancy dress. To make your Halloween event more family-orientated, keep the spooks on the lighter, playful side, and try to avoid the blood and guts.
1. Kid-friendly movie screening
Halloween has inspired countless movies that give off the spooky spirit without keeping children awake from fright all night. Whether you want to screen an older film like the original Ghostbusters or its newer reboot, you’re sure to find movies that kids will remember. Animated films such as Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit and Frankenweenie put a fun spin on classic Halloween imagery that will delight adults, too. Instead of plain popcorn, serve green-dyed Rice Krispie treats decorated like Frankenstein’s monster (chocolate sprinkles make perfect monster hair).
2. Arts and crafts with spirit
Halloween’s iconic imagery lends itself well to various arts and crafts. Host a make-your-own-costume party prior to Halloween, or consider a candle-making or mask-making lesson. Homemade decorations add warmth and charm that shop-bought offerings can only imitate. Craft lessons also easily translate to online or hybrid events (just be sure to let online participants know whether you will deliver art materials to them).
3. Family Halloween festival
Looking for sugar-free fun? A family Halloween festival, like the Family Halloween Spectacular run by Excel Martial Arts Academy, is just the ticket. Organising a festival lets you decide what activities to offer, like pumpkin carving, fancy dress contests, and bobbing for apples. Invite local restaurants to set up stands and ask a local school drama club to stage ghastly scenes. To be sure to keep it family-friendly, specify no gore, and make clear no weapons are allowed (apologies to any pirates and cowboys who’ll have to leave cutlasses and six-shooters behind!).
4. Trunk-or-treating
Trunk-or-treating is an increasingly popular alternative (or addition!) to trick-or-treating. Instead of wandering from house to house, organised groups drive to a car park so kids can trick-or-treat by moving between car boots. It’s also a fun way to improve your event’s accessibility, thanks to the open space. Be sure to decorate cars with rubber bats, plastic spiders, and fake cobwebs, and play spooky music to set the scene.
5. Night at the museum
Museums love to engage with new audiences and can be receptive to Halloween-themed events such as film screenings and special after-dark viewings of their exhibitions. Museums make especially excellent venues, as any dinosaur or Ice Age bones on display can offer a fun mix of spookiness and science. Contact a local museum’s events director to learn what might be possible.
6. Haunted bouncy castle
Turn a bouncy castle into a haunted house to wear the little monsters out while they enjoy spooky slides (decorate with disembodied arms reaching out over the edges!) and trampolines (place monster masks along the ceiling, so kids bounce up at them). Provide scary treats like ghost-shaped biscuits and that seasonal standby, roasted pumpkin seeds, then feature a screening of a child-friendly movie like “The Corpse Bride” or “Muppets Haunted Mansion” as a cool-down option.
7. Halloween scavenger hunt
Set up a scavenger hunt alongside a maze, pumpkin patch, or empty barn for an appropriately ominous touch. Hide clues in fake coffins, under half-buried plastic bones, or in bowls filled with rubber spiders. Scavenger hunts are great ways for kids and adults to interact, put their heads together, and figure out the treasure clues. Once the hunt is over, have a pumpkin-carving party or a fancy dress competition.
8. Magic show
Magicians and illusionists are crowd-pleasing options that bring a touch of the (seemingly) supernatural. Put a Halloween spin on a magic show by dressing the magician’s assistant as Vampira or Frankenstein’s monster. Instead of pulling a rabbit out of a hat, consider pulling out a pet snake or other harmless reptile.
Halloween event ideas for university students
For university students, Halloween is an excellent excuse for socialising. Events that put the emphasis on mixing it up and going to scary extremes are sure to attract attention. And while some university students may enjoy alcohol, not all of them do, so it’s worth having options that let everyone participate and pace themselves. Mix up some punch or mocktails to keep everyone included.
1. Horror movie double feature
Since many horror movies are made with the student audience in mind, your options here are virtually unlimited. Slasher films frequently feature student characters in schools and other academic settings, including classics such as “Sorority House Massacre” and the more recent “Happy Death Day”. Pair a black-and-white creature feature such as “The Wolfman” or “Creature From the Black Lagoon” with a more modern scare-fest like “The Ring” or “IT”.
2. Haunted houses
While haunted warehouses are exciting, for a haunted house aimed at university students, you’ll want to amp up the scariness, including some jump scares that’ll have friends clinging to each other in fear. Make it uni-themed with a haunted lecture hall or zombie-filled library. And since they’re not kids anymore, feel free to include some fake blood to get their hearts racing.
3. Ghost tours
Who doesn’t love a ghost story? Many tour operators and venues, such as Dunster Castle and Watermill, will feature a tour of local haunts where ghosts have been reported, providing a history of the region and lore about who the spirits might be and why they might still materialise into the earthly realm. Be sure to bring a camera to capture any ghosts that decide to manifest themselves, then head to a pub or cafe to discuss impressions over delicious food and drink.
4. Horror convention
The horror crowd is famous for its close-knit sense of community, with filmmakers and stars often feeling a special appreciation for the fans of the historically under-appreciated genre. A horror convention could be a chance for guests to meet the creators of their favourite nightmares and gives studios and filmmakers alike the opportunity to promote their films to an enthusiastic audience. Be sure to invite stars of yesteryear as well – you’d be surprised how many are responsive to a chance to relive their gore-y days!
5. Fright farm
For universities in rural settings, go for a country-style twist on the haunted house with a fright farm. Haunted haystacks and mazes recall Halloween’s roots as a harvest festival and bring a disquieting dread. Set it in an empty barn for added atmosphere – but note that farm tools can be dangerous, so be sure no one can access leftover pitchforks, hatchets, or other implements.
Halloween event ideas for adults
It’s true, as you get older, your ideas of a good time evolve. An adult-orientated Halloween still offers plenty of ghosts and ghouls but lets you savour the season’s pleasures in a more mature fashion.
1. Creepy cocktail night
Ring up your favourite mixologist to create a creepy cocktail evening filled with dastardly concoctions such as an Ichabod Crane (pumpkin vodka and vanilla ice cream) and a Vampire’s Kiss (hibiscus syrup, mezcal, and lemon juice). Include lessons so your attendees can learn the tricks of the trade, then provide canapés to soak up the spirits.
2. Not-so-scary singles night
The ghosts and goblins of Halloween are so much easier to face when you’ve got a hand to hold. Invite singles to mingle while you offer themed cocktails and snacks – have waiters and waitresses dress as vampires in formal wear to set a ghoulishly fun tone. Perhaps ask your singles to come in fancy dress and allow personalities to shine.
3. Connect with spirits through a séance
For brave souls seeking to break through to the “other side”, the Halloween season is the perfect time for a séance. Contact a medium to facilitate the evening, which you can organise outdoors by torchlight at a park or local landmark (be sure to get any necessary permissions from your local council). Or set the mood at an indoor event with candles and comfortable cushions.
4. Local bar crawl
We get it – sometimes people want to enjoy the season without wearing a costume or facing down scares. Instead, let attendees spend the night on a bar crawl and get to know their neighbourhood (and neighbours!). Bar crawls are popular with out-of-towners and newcomers, and you can use them as a chance to introduce guests to a range of local haunts.
5. Carnivorous plant workshop
Carnivorous plants aren’t just horrific organisms seen in 1950s sci-fi movies. Meat-eaters like Venus flytraps and pitcher plants can make great houseplants, and really do eat flies and other bugs. Many species are native to swamps and similar environments and require special care to thrive in foreign conditions. Invite green-fingered locals of all ages to learn from a botanist how to keep carnivorous plants healthy (so they eat more bugs!).
6. Halloween cruise
For an extravagant All Hallow’s Eve affair, a coast or harbour cruise, or a simple boat party, can quickly become the place to see and be seen. At Sober Events‘ Halloween Boat Party, guests can enjoy a range of music with a stunning view over the River Thames at night.
7. Undead celebrity shows
In a celebrity-drenched culture, an undead celebrity show puts a spin on the entire concept of fame and immortality. Feature celebrity impersonators or local drama students, as well as makeup artists, to bring dead celebrities back to life for one final night of entertainment.
8. Eerie escape room
Escape rooms are natural fits for the Halloween season – they can already be intense experiences. Feature settings such as a dungeon, Dracula’s castle, or an ancient crypt to escalate the scares. Generate a storyline around your settings to allow guests to participate as characters in the narrative, creating an even more immersive event. Pro tip: Pipe in dramatic music to increase the tension.
Virtual Halloween event ideas
Virtual and hybrid events have recently gained new popularity, with cameras and sound systems allowing you to reach people who may not be able to attend an in-person event. Some events lend themselves to being held online better than others (it’s a challenge to do an online scavenger hunt!). Events with a single focus, such as lectures or workshops, work well online. This is because it’s easy for an online audience to hear a single speaker in a fixed location. By contrast, events requiring movement and multiple speakers can make retaining audience engagement more difficult.
1. Cooking events with a Halloween twist
No social event is complete without treats, canapés, or food of some kind. A cooking class demonstrating how to make those spooky cookies and scary berry cups is definitely on point. Set up a camera to capture the prep board and the oven so your audience can see the techniques used, and be sure to do all of your chopping and cutting beforehand. Include a download of the recipe for anyone who logs on late or wants to make the recipe again in the future.
2. Themed paint or craft nights
A major part of this season’s fun is seeing how the community decorates homes, shops, and schools with cobwebs, skeletons, witches, bats, zombies, vampires, and mummies. Get a local art teacher to lead a workshop for kids and adults, showing how they can make their own decorations that are just as spooky – and much more charming – than store-bought selections. Charge a fee so that you can post the required supplies to registered guests before your event.
3. Special-effects makeup tutorials
Professional-style makeup can make a difference for anyone looking to win a fancy dress contest. Show attendees how to do it with a tutorial on special-effects makeup, including how to create realistic wounds, scars, devil horns, and other features. Cutting between two cameras that show a close-up and a medium frame of how the makeup looks as it’s applied will help vary your online presentation. Be sure to include a list of supplies attendees will need, such as powders, foundations, latex, and brushes.
4. Witchcraft webinar
Witchcraft has a long association with Halloween. Witch costumes with pointy hats, swishing capes and broomsticks are a popular fancy dress choice. A deep dive into witchcraft, its history, and its future can help your audience understand who witches are and what witchcraft represents. Do witches really use bubbling cauldrons? Can witches cast hexes? Do all witches keep a black cat? Invite a local expert such as a practising witch or esoteric professor to speak.
5. Virtual ghost walk
Everyone loves a good ghost story, so treat your virtual audience to tales of otherworldly horrors as you take them on a walking tour of the local haunted sites. Maybe it’s an old, crumbling house, an abandoned industrial warehouse, or a desolate office complex. Invite eyewitnesses to contribute their stories and interview experts who can provide a reasonable explanation. At Heygo!‘s A Walk With the Ghosts of Ancient York, attendees will explore Europe’s most haunted city while safe in their own homes.
6. Creepy cocktail classes
Like cooking classes, cocktail classes that demonstrate how to create delightfully creepy libations will appeal to attendees preparing to host their own holiday soirées. Ask your favourite mixologist to show them how it’s done – dress in costume to set the scene, and be sure to get a menu of ingredients so you can publish it to your attendees and they can follow along.
7. Virtual costume dance party
Sure, lectures and lessons are informative and insightful, but sometimes guests want to let loose, even if it’s online – and especially if it’s Halloween. For event creators, a virtual party can work best if it’s a hybrid event, as a party atmosphere is generated that online guests can enjoy. Find ways to create a focal point that a camera can capture, giving those watching on a screen a good look at what’s happening. A fancy dress contest, for example, provides drama that translates well over distances. Similarly, a DJ mixing tunes can offer a focal point for your camera.
Halloween charity event ideas
Any time is a good time to create an event for charity, so we’ve come up with some Halloween fundraising event ideas that can also be full of terror and scares.
1. Murder mystery dinner
A murder mystery dinner puts you at the scene of the crime in an interactive game where one or more guests are the designated victim(s), one (or more) are the murderer(s), and the rest need to figure out who did it before another victim bites the dust. Have everyone come in historical costumes to get into character and include a registration fee to cover the cost of food and drink. You can request an additional donation to benefit your charity of choice or include a donation surcharge – just be sure to let your guests know beforehand, so they feel comfortable with their contribution.
2. 5K fancy dress fun run
A 5K run is an ever-popular format for a fundraiser and is easy to organise with a few simple tips. Plus, it’s a relatively short distance (just over 3 miles) so runners and walkers of different levels can participate. Invite runners to come dressed in costume for an added challenge (and for a surreal spectacle!). Ask runners to gather sponsorships to benefit your charity or request donations from those who have registered.
3. Zombie walk
For families with young kids, the elderly, and others for whom mobility is challenging, a 5K may be impractical as a fundraising event. A zombie walk for charity can accommodate a broad range of participants. As a zombie, slow walking is encouraged! Like a 5K, participants might ask for sponsorships, or you can include the option to donate to your charity. Be sure to provide plenty of brains for the zombies to eat at the finish line!
4. Charity masquerade ball
A masquerade ball is an elegant event and instantly conjures up images of guests in formalwear and Renaissance-era masks, swirling to the strains of Mozart and Strauss. Of course, it’s your event, so feel free to replace Mozart with Metallica – it is Halloween, after all. Include a silent auction to allow guests to contribute to a good cause and win coveted items.
5. Pet parade
Pet lovers always relish the chance to show off their precious furry friends, so consider hosting a pet parade. Kids especially enjoy watching their pets march along with the neighbourhood entourage, and it will be even more entertaining with animals in costume. Try selecting a route down a street with shops if you’re interested in partnering with local businesses. Just remember to keep potentially aggressive dogs away from more vulnerable animals and ensure owners keep them on a lead.
6. Halloween bingo
Bingo nights work well to engage both young and old, and you can easily adapt them for a fundraiser, with raffles and prizes for winning participants. Ask attendees to come in fancy dress, and serve black-and-orange decorated cupcakes or other treats, and blood-red punch (plastic eyeballs in the punch bowl are a creepy touch).
7. Halloween drag brunch
Create a benefit for the local LGBTQIA+ community with a drag brunch that encourages all guests to dress up – in costume, if not in heels. For charity events, restaurants might be more willing to donate food and drink.
Traditional Halloween activities
While it’s fun to try new activities, there’s something about long-lasting traditions that brings comfort and fosters a sense of community. In many ways, Halloween wouldn’t be Halloween without at least one of these customs.
1. Pumpkin carving station
Pumpkin carving is always more fun when there are more people to help design the face and clean out the insides. Set up a community event with a carving station for guests to create their own pumpkin lanterns. Provide sheets of paper with possible designs from which guests may draw inspiration. Then rinse off the seeds and roast them for a timeless treat.
2. Toffee apples
Toffee-coated apples have been synonymous with Halloween and autumn for generations. Use a hot plate or portable stove to melt the caramel (stir in some milk for better texture), insert wooden lollipop sticks, and invite guests to dip their apples and make their own tasty treats. Make it the featured activity or add it to another event to bring a seasonal flavour.
3. Halloween games
Halloween hasn’t always been solely about trick-or-treating for kids. In many communities, games and mischief-making are a big part of the festivities. Put a twist on bobbing for apples – instead of blindfolded players grabbing floating apples with their teeth, have them grasp balloon strings in the dark or grab small prizes while wearing oven mitts. Or, play ghost in the graveyard, an old-fashioned game similar to hide-and-seek.
4. Scary movies
A showing of scary movies may seem like an all-too-common Halloween activity, so curate a collection of movies that tell a bigger story to make your screening stand out. Maybe it’s a comparison of Japanese (“Ringu”) and Korean (“Train to Busan”) horror, a showing of the complete “Scream” series, or a study of 1950s and 60s atomic-inspired horror (“Gojira”, “Them!”). With large-screen TVs so widely available, your venue options are greater than ever.
5. Creepy costumes
What distinguishes most Halloween events from events held at other times of the year? The fancy dress. Encouraging attendees to wear costumes at your Halloween events creates a more festive atmosphere that people will remember when Halloween rolls around next year.
How do I host a good Halloween party?
While Halloween parties can create additional buzz, they can also bring extra pressure. Guests want a memorable experience they’ll carry with them through the years.
Hosting a great Halloween party simply means appealing to your guests’ senses to make a strong impression.
- Sight: Encourage guests to wear fancy dress and decorate your venue to create a spooky, memorable setting
- Sound: Mix up Halloween pop standards like “Monster Mash” by Bobby “Boris” Pickett and the Crypt-Kickers and Bauhaus’s “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” with current hits – then combine with unsettling sound effects like screams and rattling chains
- Taste: Provide plenty of food and drink; including themed foods and cocktails reinforces the theme and sense of a special occasion
- Touch: Setting your event in too large a venue makes your event seem empty and unexciting; a smaller venue creates greater intimacy
- Smell: Ring in autumn with pumpkin-spiced candles or a cauldron of simmering cider
How long should a Halloween party last?
How long your event lasts depends on where you’re hosting it, what entertainment you have, and who your guests are. If you’re running an event for families, make sure it’s over in time for little ones to get to bed, while adults at a more grown-up event may want to party into the night. Work out how long any activities you have planned will take for the number of people you’re expecting. Check how long you have your venue for and make sure it all lines up with your event budget.
Where should a Halloween party be held?
There are loads of great options for a Halloween party location, from big industrial warehouses for a ball or market to local school halls or scout huts for a children’s fancy dress competition. When selecting a venue, make sure it has the correct facilities and space for the kind of event you’re planning.
Answer the full moon’s call
Do you have your event’s theme figured out? Have you chosen your venue? Then set up your event online and spread the word! Eventbrite makes it easy to create a free event listing, so the public can quickly find your event and all its details. Remember: the sooner you get your event posted, the longer people have to discover it.
