8 Wicked Cool Themes for Your Halloween Bash

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Halloween is by far the best holiday ever. You don’t have to hang out with your dysfunctional family or tag along on crazy shopping trips. There’s no annoying music or treks to the nearest relative’s house (3 hours away). Best of all, there’s no pressure to have an amazing time or expectations of life-long memories to meet. No pressure = more likelihood that you’re gonna have a great time.

So why not celebrate one of the bet (and spookiest) holidays right in your own home? After all, one of the top benefits of having your own place is that you get to throw great parties without the RA (or campus safety) ruining your fun. There are a wide variety of ways to throw a great Halloween party, but here are a few wicked themes that are sure to have your guests screaming for more!

Bayou Bonfire

Halloween Bonfire

Want to have an outdoor bonfire, while still retaining the Halloween feel? Then the Bloody Bayou theme is perfect for you. Create a swampy, voodoo feel right in your backyard. Before you even think about having a bonfire, make sure you have safe place to do it and that your neighborhood and local laws allow open fires in a residential area. After all, you don’t want the party broken up by the cops!

Party Costumes: Voodoo Prince/Priestess, Voodoo Doll, Southern Plantation Owner, Mardi Gras Costume
Music: Walking Dead Soundtrack, The Black Keys, Alabama 3, Anything Rockabilly or Southern Rock
Food Options: Gumbo, Jambalaya, Cajun-Spiced Mac & Cheese, Muffuletta Sliders
Dessert Options: Voodoo Doll Cookies, Creole Bread Pudding
Drink Options: Spiked Sweet Tea, Moonshine, Classic Southern Cocktails
Decor:

  • Logs or hay bales for sitting around the fire
  • Handmade voodoo dolls & fake Spanish Moss hanging from trees
  • Shrunken heads on sticks stuck in the ground
  • Sticks tied together into stick figures or bird traps
  • Toy alligators at the base of trees or beside fire seating
  • Scarecrow burning in fire (be sure to check what materials are safe to burn before doing this)

For more inspiration, watch: The Skeleton Key, True Detective, The Reaping

The Black Lodge

Twin Peaks – Fire Walk With Me

As some of you may know, David Lynch and Mark Frost recently announced the return of 1990 cult classic Twin Peaks, which will debut in 2016. That makes it the perfect year to throw a Halloween Party based off of this creepy show that charmed audiences with its twisted plots and quirky characters. This theme is a great for a group of cinema students, David Lynch enthusiasts, and people looking for cheap n’ easy costume options.

Party Costumes: Any Twin Peaks Character (hit the nearest Good Will for cheap 90’s sweaters)
Music: Twin Peaks soundtrack, Mount Eerie, anything spooky and instrumental
Food Options: Typical diner food like Grilled Cheese Sandwiches and other Breakfast Foods
Dessert Options: Cherry Pie, Donuts
Drink Options: Irish Coffee
Decor:

  • Red curtains are a must
  • Incorporate black and white chevron into table clothes or napkins
  • Put black slip covers over your sofas and chairs
  • Hang up “Wanted” poster with sketches of Bob on them (easily obtained online)
  • Have a chess board on your coffee or buffet table
  • Place fake owls around the house or on the buffet table
  • If you want to get ambitious, get a cardboard cut out of the Venus-De-Milo to stand up in the living room

For more inspiration, watch: Twin Peaks, Fire Walk With Me

Bloody Prom

Want an excuse to get all dressed up? Well here is your chance! The Bloody Prom theme is fantastic for college students because it is extremely easy (and cheap) to decorate and dress up for. Make your home look like it was plucked right out of  Stephen King’s creepy classic Carrie. The tips below will give you cheesy prom feel, while still having a foreboding sense of impending doom. This is also a great way to get your guests grooving on the dance floor! For a little extra dose of fun, give out little plastic crowns to the man and woman with the best costumes.

Party Costumes: Carrie, Zombie Prom King/Queen, Prom wear covered in blood, ripped apart, or gored-up, Any Stephen King Character
Music: Carrie Soundtrack, 1970’s hits
Food Options: Cheap finger foods, veggies and dip, cheese and crackers, pigs in a blanket
Dessert Options: Dust some cupcakes or cake with edible glitter for that glitzy Carrie prom feel
Drink Options: Blood red spiked punch, Mixed drinks with soda
Decor:

  • Hang up cheap streamers from the ceiling with balloons attached to conjure that prom feel
  • Star cut-outs mounted on the wall will be reminiscent of Carrie’s infamous prom night
  • Serve some blood red punch out of a grungy looking bucket
  • Place some blood spatters all over the buffet table cloth
  • Put up candles everywhere to evoke fire

For inspiration, watch: Carrie, Prom Night, Jennifer’s Body

Fairy Tales Gone Wrong

Let’s be honest here, fairy tales are already pretty creepy, so why not just take it to the next level? This twisted take on children’s favorite stories is sure to please with its originality and nostalgic feel. One of the best parts about this party theme is that it gives you a lot of different inspirations to pull from. It’s also a very friendly theme for being held outdoors, if you want to give the party a more woodsy feel.

Party Costumes: Any fairy tale character, regular or “twisted”
Music: Anything you want
Food Options: Salted Pretzel Sticks, Rustic Cheese & Fruit Plate, Chicken Drum Sticks
Dessert Options: Caramel Apples, Chopped Up or Skeleton Gingerbread Men, Basket of Pastries
Drink Options: Punch with floating “poison” apples, Salted Caramel Apple Cocktails, Spiked Hot Cocoa
Decor:

  • Tea set splattered in blood on the buffet table (or broken tea set)
  • Place some skulls wearing plastic crowns around the room
  • Attach “Drink Me” tags on all of the wine and cocktail glasses
  • Put a fake frog sticking out of the punch bowl or in the center of your finger food platters
  • Add lush purple and red fabrics to your chairs to make them look like thrones
  • Mount a fake wolf’s head on the wall

For more inspiration, watch: The Company of Wolves, Pan’s Labyrinth, Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland

Hollywood Undead

Everyone loves dressing up as their favorite celebrities, so why not add a spooky spin to it? Throw a party where all your fav living celebrities have kicked the bucket and all your fav dead ones have risen from the grave. This party theme gives your apartment a haunting feel with a little touch of glam. If you want to add an extra dose of fun, give out little academy awards for best costume categories, but add blood splatters to the iconic statues.

Party Costumes: Zombifed celebrities both alive and dead
Music: Any song mentioning Hollywood, such as “Hollywood Freaks” by Beck or “Say Goodbye to Hollywood” by Billy Joel
Food Options: Spooky Popcorn sprinkled with plastic spiders or covered in fake blood
Dessert Options: Jars filled with movie theater candies, Marshmallow “ghosts” on sticks (draw faces on in black icing)
Drink Options: Rose or Red Champagnes and other Sparkling Beverages
Decor:

  • Recreate the famous Hollywood sign, except covered in fake cobwebs & with some of the letters tipped over
  • Put all of your drinks in plastic champagne glasses
  • Decorate buffet table with the usual film reels and clapboards, but add spiderwebs, spiders, and rats to add that Halloween feel
  • Make an archway or star out of some black and red balloons as a nod to both Halloween and the Oscars
  • Hang up pictures of stars who have died tragically or find online prints of dead celebrities zombified (which is much easier to find than you might think)
  • Place a red carpet in your front walkway or main hallway

For more inspiration, watch: Sunset Boulevard, Dead Becomes Her

Scene of the Crime

Love murder mysteries and whodunits? Then make a crime scene out of your apartment or home. This fun party theme may be a little morbid, but it definitely gets you in the Halloween mood and lets you play with fake blood. What could be better than that? Though this theme is mostly driven by costumes and decor, you can go one step further and provide some entertainment for your guests by transforming it into a spooky murder mystery party.

Party Costumes: Dexter characters, Famous Serial Killers, Murder Victim
Music: Any, but maybe some Jazzy film noir-esque tunes could set the mysterious mood
Food Options: Cheese Fingers, Ham Steak
Dessert Options: Broken Glass Cupcakes, Blood-Coated Cake, Blood Oranges (for the health nuts)
Drink Options: Bloody Marys, Blood Orange Mimosas (in true Dexter fashion)
Decor:

  • Use some fake Crime Scene tape as streamers to hang on the walls and ceiling
  • Put up some blood-spattered white fabric or paper up on the wall and on the floor
  • Stick large kitchen knives in the middle of any foods (safely, of course)
  • Create place some pillows into some body bags
  • If you have a walkway, use masking tape or chalk to outline the shape of a body right before people walk in the door

For more inspiration, watch: Dexter, Psycho, Silence of the Lambs, Seven

Welcome to Hell

The idea of Hell is arguably one of the most powerful and terrifying images that mankind has ever communicated. A fiery place of suffering and endless torment for some of the most horrible souls that ever existed? You don’t really get more into the evil Halloween spirit than that! This straightforward and horrifying Halloween Party theme is fun, easy to pull off, and makes dressing up easy for guests.

Party Costumes: Devils, Demons, Evil Angels
Music: Rob Zombie, Anything black metal
Food Options: Hot Chicken Wings, Deviled Eggs, Anything Spicy
Dessert Options: Devil’s Food Cake, Cupcakes with Chocolate Devil’s Horns, Hot Candies (like Hot Tamales or Warheads)
Drink Options: Black Devil Cocktail, Black Halloween Punch,
Decor:

  • Candles everywhere – preferably in red candle holders – is a must
  • Buy red paper lanterns and red balloons for some moody lighting
  • Hang up plastic demons & skeletons from your local Halloween store
  • Install some plastic or cardboard gravestones around the living room & on the buffet table
  • Place some little pitchforks in your finger foods for a fun touch

For more inspiration, watch: Drag Me To Hell, Hellraiser, Insidious

Still need an apartment to celebrate Halloween in?
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Photo Credit: Ambrosia Baking