Five ways to throw a grown-up Halloween party

Halloween isn’t just for the kids, we grown-ups can get involved too and, in fact, have even more fun than the kids. We’ve been counting down the days for months, haven’t you? With series such as Stranger Things and American Horror Story hitting our screens, this year more than ever, adults are inspired to get in on the action and throw Halloween parties that will knock the thoughts of screaming kids and sticky candy right out of your head.

So you’re planning on throwing your own Halloween party for the grown-ups? Festive Lights have created an awesome guide as a free downloadable pack on how you can entertain and scare your guests, and here are a few of their ideas:

Decorate the venue

Visions of tacky shop-bought decorations and village halls fill your head, but you can do better than that! Throw your party at home with your own handmade decorations that should only take five minutes to do: “mummify” your front door with toilet paper or streamers and secure beady eyes between the rolls; drape black lace over your lampshades to cast an eerie shadow; and create some bloody handprints out of PVA glue and red food colouring.

Prepare the drinks

What would a party be without the cocktails? Festive Lights’ guide suggests on-trend American Horror Story cocktails themed to each season of the popular show including the Hypodermic Sally with a syringe of blood (raspberry syrup), a steaming Communion Wine, best served in a chalice style goblet if you can, and a tart Freak Show Lemonade.

Get guests to bring food

Since you’re serving the drinks, ask your guests to bring along their own “trick or treat” snacks. Suggestions of mummified hot dogs and spider cupcakes are bound to go down well alongside your horrifying cocktails.

Plan the games

If you choose to serve up the spooky cocktails above, you’ve got a game in itself there – quiz guests on which cocktail relates to which season of American Horror Story. For a bit more fun, use pumpkin templates to host a jack-o’-lantern carving competition, gather round a campfire (if you can) to exchange scary stories, float apples in punch or cider for a twist on the classic apple bobbing, or pick an especially cheesy Halloween classic movie and dare everyone to down a shot every time someone screams or dies.

Sort out your costume

It wouldn’t be a Halloween party without a costume, but don’t want to splash the cash on it? Try to create something like one of this year’s anticipated most popular costumes out of pieces of basic clothing and make up: yellow clothes and brown accessories makes an awesome Pikachu; a navy suit, white shirt and red tie along with a flag pin and fake tan will make you a double of Donald Trump; and for a Harley Quinn-inspired outfit, pair a white tee with a black skirt, over the knee socks and plenty of makeup.

The editorial unit