Adult's Halloween party ideas

Halloween cocktails in two martini glasses

What says 'Halloween party' more than this cake? Fondant icing, strawberry jam and red food colouring are the secrets behind the 'blood' topping and filling.

Discover more showstopping cake recipes with our 37 Halloween baking recipes.

2. Kiwi slime pies

These mini kiwi lime pies, which resemble eyeballs sitting in ‘slime’, will go down as a treat with your guests. Using shop-bought pastry saves a lot of time, meaning they can be ready in under an hour.

Discover more fuss-free recipes perfect for hosting with our easy Halloween recipes.

3. Halloween bark

This easy-to-make Halloween bark is the must-have treat this 31 October for guests with a sweet tooth. You can swirl the different chocolates together to create a marbled effect by combining melted white chocolate and orange food colouring and dark chocolate with black food colouring.

Discover more melted chocolate recipes to satisfy your sweet tooth.

4. Halloween cake pops

These eerie eyeball chocolate cake pops will be a hit this Halloween. You don’t have to use the oven for this recipe by using shop-bought madeira cake and chocolate sandwich cookies. Combine melted milk chocolate with madeira cake and cookies in a food processor, roll into walnut-sized balls and chill for two hours before dunking in melted white chocolate, ready for decorating like veined eyeballs.

Discover more Halloween cake recipes.

5. Hooting Halloween owls

These owl chocolate cupcakes are real crowd-pleasers. While they look impressive, the decorating is incredibly simple so that they can be ready in only 35 minutes. The cakes can be frozen (undecorated) so you can make your prep before the party minimal.

It's fun baking all year round, so try our cupcake recipes for recipes suitable for every occasion.

Savoury

6. Healthy Halloween nachos

Nachos shaped like bats next to a bowl of sweetcorn salsa, bowl of guacamole adn bowl of purple carrots

Party food doesn’t have to be unhealthy to be delicious. These Halloween nachos are shaped like bats and served with sweetcorn salsa and guacamole, and the whole platter is made from five different fruits and vegetables, so it’s full of essential vitamins and minerals. Read up on some of the health benefits of the ingredients in our helpful guides to avocados, tomatoes, peppers and carrots.

7. Halloween spider pizzas

Decorate these mini pizzas with a spider on top made using your favourite toppings – we used olives and salami. If you’re a vegetarian, you can easily replace the meat with vegetables such as peppers. Pizzas are a great way to get guests involved as you can make it an event to see who can spin their pizza the best, who can decorate it the best and whose tastes the best.

For more pizza games and recipes, check out our pizza party ideas.

8. Halloween devilled eggs

Make these popular party nibbles into a suitably spooky canapé this Halloween by soaking your boiled eggs for three hours in different bowls of food colouring. The recipe makes 24 halves, so it is enough to feed a large crowd and, other than the soaking, they can be ready in 30 minutes.

Discover more Halloween snack recipes.

9. Pumpkin hummus

Pumpkin filled with hummus with pepper sticks sticking out

Prevent waste this Halloween by using the innards of your carved pumpkin to make this pumpkin hummus. It uses less than ten ingredients to make and takes only three steps. It is a creamy dip that everyone can enjoy as it is vegan, gluten-free and healthy.

Try our leftover pumpkin recipes for imaginative ways to reduce waste.

10. Spider’s web taco dip

A hand dunking a breadstick into the Spider’s web taco dip

Make this fun and colourful spider’s web avocado dip for your Halloween party. It looks impressive, but it's deceptively easy to make: blitz together avocado, lime juice, soured cream, coriander and salt to make the dip, then pipe a spider’s web design on top with soured cream and serve with your choice of tortilla chips for scooping.

Discover more dip recipes.

Halloween party drinks

Alcoholic

11. Witch's brew

Coupe glass filled with black cocktail topped with glacier cherry

Get some berries bubbling in your cauldron and add some edible glitter to this spooky purple cocktail, made with vodka, raspberry liqueur and blue curaçao.

Discover more vodka cocktail recipes.

12. Grasshopper cocktail

Two martini glasses with green liquid inside and mint leaf garnish

This minty grasshopper cocktail fits perfectly in a Halloween-themed party as it’s bright green like Frankenstein’s monster. Serve your green cocktail in martini glasses and put in the extra effort by garnishing with a chocolate-dipped mint sprig.

Discover more green cocktail recipes.

13. Vampire's kiss cocktail

Martini glass filled with red liquid and rim covered in red sugar

If your guests are in a bloodthirsty spirit, serve them this vampire-inspired cocktail with champagne, vodka and raspberry liqueur. Garnish with red sugar for extra wow factor.

Discover more champagne cocktail recipes.

14. Corpse reviver no.2

This spooky sipper is a fresher, more citrus-led version of the corpse reviver no.1. It has a hearty hit of absinthe, which is excellent for warming your insides on a cold October evening.

Discover more absinthe cocktail recipes.

15. Haunting Halloween cocktail

This haunting Halloween cocktail uses black vodka and pomegranate juice to get a dark, spooky-coloured drink. Preparing four servings takes only five minutes, so it’s great for your spooky themed parties.

Discover more pomegranate recipes.

Non-alcoholic drinks

16. Halloween punch

Big jug of red punch with a glass of it in front, garnished with some vampire teeth sweets

Make this easy punch for your Halloween party using cherry juice, chilli, cinnamon and ginger, then garnish with edible fangs. It tastes great on its own, but if you want to add a bit of a kick, add some vodka.

Discover more non-alcoholic punch recipes.

17. Halloween mocktail

Punch bowl of a purple mocktail with floating lychees and ice shaped like hands

This ghoulish fruit punch made from blueberry, blackberry, or purple grape juice mixed with cranberry or cherry juice and sparkling water is a refreshing drink for guests of all ages. Embellished with floating lychee ‘eyeballs’ and frozen ‘hands’, it’ll surprise your guests when they scoop out a glass.

Discover more Halloween mocktail recipes.

18. Eyeball snot-tail

This slimy mocktail’s jellied texture and edible eyeball are dreadfully delicious – perfect Halloween party fare for kids and adults alike.

Discover more Halloween jelly recipes.

19. Fruity mocktail

Orange and grenadine mocktail in two glasses with blueberry and grape stirrers

This fruit-flavoured mocktail with grenadine and orange juice is an excellent non-alcoholic option to serve at your Halloween party, as the blueberry and grape stirrers can double as a snack.

20. Mulled apple juice

This drink is the ideal replacement for a mulled cider, great for warming your guests and it means they’ll be safe to drive home.

Halloween party games

21. Halloween quotes icebreaker

Two women in fancy dress smiling at the camera

Introduce a fun activity to encourage your new and familiar acquaintances to engage in conversation. Distribute slips of paper to your guests, each containing the opening of a well-known Halloween saying. The challenge? Guests must mingle and chat with one another to piece together the complete quote.

22. Wink murder

Man and woman in fancy dress talking, woman is winking

In this intriguing game, select one guest as “the culprit.” While everyone mingles, the chosen “culprit” will discreetly wink at their desired targets. You’re “eliminated” from the game if you receive a wink. The challenge is for everyone to deduce the identity of “the culprit” before everyone is eliminated. If you spot “the culprit,” you can also declare yourself a “witness” and unveil the wrongdoer. But be cautious; you're also eliminated from the game if you accuse incorrectly.

23. Balloon popping race

Woman holding an orange balloon with a face on it in front of her

Attendees will be divided into teams, pitted against each other in a race to burst the balloons fastened to the ankles of the opposing team's players. This outdoor game is exceptionally competitive as it requires participants to use only their feet since using their hands is strictly forbidden. If the weather is not cooperating, try a team balloon race instead, where you stand in a line and have to pass the balloon above the person in front of you’s head, and then they will pass it under the legs of the one in front of them. When the person at the front of the line receives the balloon, they must run to the back and restart the passing. The race ends when the person who started at the back is there again.

24. Guess the pumpkin's weight

To set up this simple game, all that is required is one or even several pumpkins and a scale. Invite everyone to take a turn guessing the pumpkin's weight.

25. Doughnut eating race

This favourite kids’ party game is also great for entertaining adults because who doesn’t like doughnuts? Hang doughnuts on strings at around face-height and split your guests into two teams. Each person will have 60 seconds to eat as many doughnuts as possible. But the catch is that you can’t use your hands and must try to devour as many bobbing doughnuts as possible. Sounds easy? It’s a lot trickier than you think!

Halloween craft & decoration ideas

26. Pumpkins

Get the whole family involved with this fun and messy task. Use our easy templates for inspiration.

Check out our guide to easy pumpkin carving ideas.

27. Upcycled werewolf

Use our helpful instructions to upcycle your used cardboard into cute little creatures to decorate your party. You could keep with our autumnal fox or decorate your canine into something spookier like a Halloween werewolf.

Check out our helpful guide of Autumn crafts.

28. Paper bat garland

Black paper bats against an orange background

Start by drawing out a bat stencil onto a sheet of black craft paper and cut out as many bat shapes as desired. Afterwards, position the stencil over each bat and create folds along the marked lines. Fold the creases in opposite directions on each wing to give the wings a three-dimensional appearance. Finally, attach each bat to an extended string length using mini pegs.

29. Pumpkin shaped stamps

We've used halved apples to make a simple pumpkin-shaped stamp and a little herb leaf to make a stalk - perfect to decorate your party or to adorn your invitations.

30. Halloween biscuits

Biscuits shaped like ghosts on two plates

Bake our ghost-shaped piñata biscuits and dot around the house so edible spooky spirits surround your party. You could even make a game of it, hiding them and making a prize at the end of the party for the person that collects the most.