Many of us remember the days of plastic masks, black bin bags with a hole cut out so you could wear them over your shoulders and the odd carved pumpkin grinning at you from someone’s window… but now the ghosts and ghouls have enticed us to really let loose with our Halloween party decorations!
Halloween parties are becoming more popular each year, as let’s face it, trick or treating in the pouring rain is a bit of a downer! So, not only do Halloween parties allow us to celebrate indoors, but they also open up the silliness of dressing up to adults too! This is why more and more people each year are embracing their spooky sides and really ramping up their Halloween decor.
So, lock your doors, turn out the lights and make sure you have your crucifix at hand as you bear witness to monstrously good Halloween decor ideas!
#1 Serve frighteningly good food
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Halloween is more than just candy, it’s a lifestyle for some and it is always about presentation. So, why not treat your guests to a spooky spin on the charcuterie board and serve them up a treat which they can snack on through the night? A simple mixture of meats, crackers, cheeses, fruits and nuts held together by the bones of a skeleton will make a simple platter look daringly delicious!
Eerie fact: Apple bobbing was originally popularised as a fortune-telling game on Halloween. The apples would represent all of a woman's suitors and the apple she bit into was supposed to represent her future spouse. Women would then peel the apple and throw the peel over their shoulders, as it is believed those shavings would reveal their future husbands’ initials. (www.refinery29.com)
#2 Master the macabre with cocktail hour
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A great way to inject more spookiness into your party is through the medium of macabre cocktails! One way to achieve this is by using colouring to make your cocktails look menacingly good. Choose purples, greens, or blacks and you could even dust the rim with edible glitter. You could even create a spooky cocktail by styling fruit to look like floating eyeballs! This way your drink will look deliciously gruesome.
(Always remember to drink responsibly!)
Eerie fact: Halloween parties often included a "chestnut hunt" - which meant the first person to find a 'burr' (the bristly outer case of a chestnut) would be the first in the group to walk down the aisle! (www.womansday.com)
#3 Ramp up the vamp at your Halloween party with bloody good tableware
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For those of you who prefer a more sophisticated Halloween party, a great theme to embrace would be that of the alluring vampire. Whether you have a dining table set up for a sit-down meal or an area for food that guests can peruse at their own leisure, you can make your Halloween party decorations look dangerously good by using black and red tableware. This colour combination instantly screams Halloween and can be done on a budget. Decorate further with blood-red roses, black glittering skulls and flickering candles.
Eerie fact: In the late 18th and early 19th century, New Englanders were gripped by a ‘vampire panic’ in which people believed the dead were rising as vampires and killing family members. To stop the “vampires” from rising they would… tamper with the bodies to keep them from rising! (www.smithsonianmag.com)
#4 Set the scene with a spooktacular Halloween backdrop
Mural in photo: Halloween Background
A quick and simple way to transform your home into a hauntingly good party is with a Halloween-themed wall mural. You can choose from mysteriously misty forests, ghoulish ghost trains, or pumpkin graveyards to name but a few! This way you can instantly set the scene for your monster bash as a creepy mural is one of the ultimate Halloween party decorations!
Another ghoulishly great aspect of this wallpaper is that is available as peel and stick – meaning you are able to remove it from your wall once all your creepy guests have escaped for the night! All you have to do is make sure your wall is correctly prepared before you apply it. It’s that easy you’ll want to throw a Halloween bash every day!
Eerie fact: A full moon occurring on Halloween only occurs three or four times every century! The last occurrence of a full moon on Halloween was in 2020! Unfortunately, this means we could be waiting a while for the next one… (www.sykescottages.com)
#5 Halloween party decorations aren't afraid of the dark
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Tim Burton famously said “for some of us, every day is Halloween” and he certainly wasn’t wrong! Your fireplace is the main focal point of your room which makes it the perfect place to start with your Halloween decorations. All you need is black netting to drape over your mantle, a few scowling pumpkins and some candles. It is always worth using battery candles when fabrics are floating about! Now you can lower the lights and put on that spooky playlist for when your guests start to arrive.
Not only is this an effective way to decorate for Halloween, but if like me you wish every day was Halloween, you can leave these decorations up for as long as you please, as they create a beautifully gothic vibe that can well outlast the Halloween season.
Eerie fact: Black cats have been an iconic part of Halloween for centuries. But sadly, due to superstition and folklore, black cats are less likely to get adopted than other cats, as they're supposedly "bad luck" (www.greenmatters.com)
#6 You’ll be rockin’ around a Halloween tree!
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Who said Christmas trees are only for Christmas? Not us! Halloween trees are a creepily creative spin on your standard Halloween party decorations and have been a popular trend for quite a few years now! A Halloween tree would make an amazing centerpiece to wow your guests! Depending on your chosen Halloween theme you can dress your tree accordingly or just go all out Halloween on its branches!
Not only will you have fun decorating your spooky tree, but another great aspect of a Halloween tree is how you only need to switch up your black decorations for red and green ones when December approaches!
Eerie fact: Between 1625 and 1685 in Iceland, 92% of those prosecuted for witchcraft were in fact men! (www.icelandicmagic.com)
#7 Use Halloween party decorations to conjure a spooky staircase
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To create an immersive Halloween party, make sure you decorate throughout your entire house. You can adorn your stairs and hallway without splurging on decorations. Simply choose orange and black items, such as bunting or even tinsel and use orange fairy lights to wrap around your bannister. Drape fake cobwebs over any exposed items and don’t forget to include some pumpkins! This way your guests will have a full Halloween experience and let’s face it, be in awe of your creative ways!
Eerie fact: Halloween originates from a pagan celebration, Samhain, which means ‘End of summer’. People believed that on this night the veil between our world and the spirit world is at its thinnest and evil spirits may cross over, so they dressed up in scary clothes to scare the spirits away. (www.mysacredspacedesign.com)
#8 Give your garden a ghoulishly good makeover
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Your guests certainly won’t get lost as they make their way to your haunted house party - especially if you use Halloween party decorations to dress up your garden! It is a simple but effective way to fully embrace your Halloween side. You can decorate with pumpkins, dangling skeletons, or even pun-related gravestones. This way everyone will know exactly which house to arrive at! They can be made out of simple items such as cardboard, papier-mâché, or even polystyrene. It is also a great way to say you are open to trick-or-treaters. Because let’s face it, only boring people hate Halloween!
Eerie Fact: One of the most haunted gardens in the UK is The Lost Gardens of Heligan in Cornwall. Staff and gardeners have refused to work alone in the gardens, especially at night as they report a very unsettling and sinister atmosphere. (www.higgypop.com)
If you are a lover of all things spooky and are planning to throw a ghoulishly good Halloween party, let us know in the comments below how you decorated your home!
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