Spook City

All Hail All Hallow’s Eve! This year, leave no (head)stone unturned as you plan and perfect a spooky Halloween party that’s sure to cast a spell on even the most welcoming of spaces. 

1.       Start with a spooky invitation.

Photo credit:ohsobeautifulpaper.com

Whether heading the traditional snail mail route, or the electronic one, make a scary impression from the get-go. Purchase black envelopes and use chalk or a white marker to draw spider webs and ghosts on the packaging. Short on time? Download the RedStamp.com app on your smart phone and use their smartly designed e-invites to get the word out, fast.

2.       Décor to die for.

Turn the entrance of your “haunted” house into a clever cemetery setting. Install Styrofoam tombstones near the front door—preferably adorned with the names of party guests. Hang a canopy above the entrance for the full affect.

Photo credit: houzz.com

3.       Prepare a frightening feast.

Spooky snacks are a must at any Halloween get together. Think, cupcakes and cookies frosted and shaped to look like pumpkins, apples in a “witch’s cauldron,” or get your hands on a pack of disposable plastic gloves. Put a piece of candy corn at the tip of each finger (“the nail”), fill the rest with popcorn, tie at the end, and add a plastic spider ring on the finger of each “hand.”

4.       Initiate a ghoulish game.

Our favorite? Allowing your guests to get a feel of dead man’s “guts.” Turn off the lights, blindfold your visitors, then begin reciting Charles F. Smith’s circa-1930s “A Hallowe’en Post Mortem,” which he wrote for the Boy Scouts: “The truth it is, and not a myth/That once there lived a man named Smith,/And it became his mournful lot/To murdered be quite near this spot./ We now will pass out his remains,/You first will handle poor Smith’s brains....” At this point, “moist sponges are passed from guest to guest.” The verse continues, taking apart poor Smith bit by bit—his hair (corn silk), his windpipe (a length of uncut boiled macaroni), his hand (a glove stuffed with wet sand)—until there is nothing of him left.

However you choose to celebrate Halloween this year, we want to hear about it. Tell us about your favorite Halloween party ideas on our Facebook page. 

For more Halloween party ideas check out Hillsdale's Halloween Pinterest board at http://pinterest.com/HillsdalePins/