Host Your Halloween Party in Style

The chance to see awesome neighborhood decorations is always one of the best parts of Halloween. If you’re hosting a party this year, these tips will help you set up some spooky scenery.

The Yard

Even if your Halloween party is mostly indoors, it’s a good idea to decorate your yard to set the scene (weather permitting). If you have a yard with trees or bushes, you can hang tissue paper ghosts from the branches. You can also pick up a big pack of cobwebs and turn your front yard into a graveyard with a few cardboard tombstones.

Porch and Patio

Carved jack-o-lanterns are a classic, but uncarved pumpkins let you go with a more rustic theme by adding Indian corn and piles or bales of hay. If you’re going for a creepy look, try some convincing fake spiders on webs. If you have a concrete patio, you can stage a fake murder scene by tracing a victim’s outline with white chalk and surrounding the scene with caution tape.

Inside

For indoor decorations, you can go two different routes: use party supplies in black and orange, or cover everything with white sheets to simulate the look of a haunted house. When using the black and orange theme and for more formal Halloween parties, you can use hollowed pumpkins and other gourds as vessels for flowers and candles. For the haunted house theme, bring in the spider webs, paper ghosts, and (fake) bugs, as well.

Lighting

Whenever you can, use candles in heavy candle holders for a gothic ambiance. You can get cheap, old candle holders in thrift stores and spray paint them gold to give them that medieval look. Of course, avoid setting lit candles on tables with paper decorations, or where people will walk by in flammable costumes. Instead, place them on mantles, shelves, and accent tables spaced apart from other decorations. If candles aren't a safe option, strobe lights or black lights will create the ideal Halloween party atmosphere, or invest in "simulation" candles that flicker convincingly, but don't use an open flame.