Quick and Easy Halloween Party Ideas to Try

The spookiest day of the year is upon us all. For fun-loving people, this only means one thing: an all-out Halloween bash over the long weekend!

If you’re artsy, it’s the perfect opportunity to show off your skills with handcrafted spiderwebs, bloody costumes, and jack-o-lanterns. Budding cooks will also enjoy applying season-appropriate aesthetics to snacks and treats.

Spare yourself from the horror of a poorly planned Halloween party. If you don’t know where to start, you’ve come to the right place. We’ve got a handful of Halloween party ideas both kids and kids at heart will love.

And don’t worry—these spooky suggestions won’t scare your wallet.

Easy-to-Make Halloween Party Decoration Ideas

What’s a Halloween party without the decorations? While it’s always advisable to prepare for a party with plenty of time to spare, a lot of us can spare only a few days to prepare. Take inspiration from these super cute and easy Halloween party decoration ideas.

🎃 Spooky Candle Holders

You probably have a bunch of used old peanut butter jars or mayonnaise glass jars lying around the kitchen. Clean them up and wrap some gauze around them. Splatter on some fake blood, put a tealight candle in it, and you’ve got a cool little candle holder that looks like a mummy!

You can also wrap the jars with a thin sheet of orange paper with hand-drawn pumpkin faces. These spooky candle holders make great table centerpieces.

🎃 Giant Spider Web

It’s easy to make a giant spider web using a long piece of rope. You can make a huge one to cover a big wall. Instructables author BowMaster has a simple guide on making a giant spider web using just yarn and scissors.^[1]

🎃 Print Out Spooky Family Pictures

Print out scary or macabre family pictures from the Internet and replace your family pictures with them. This is a quick way to decorate your house if you’re pressed for time. While you’re at it, add some cobwebs to achieve that haunted house atmosphere.

🎃 Cut-Out Bat Ceiling Hangers

All you’ll need are strings and black poster paper. Cut out several bats and use strings to hang them on your ceiling. You can also use the cutouts to decorate your walls!

🎃 Head in a Jar

Give off some seriously creepy vibes with glass jars that contain heads—not real ones, of course! You just need a picture of your face and a big glass jar. Just insert your rolled picture into the jar and voila–you have a pickled decapitated head!

Go the extra mile by laminating your picture, putting it into the jar, and pouring in some colored water (green or red will do). Put these jars in unexpected places, such as your fridge, to spook your guests.

🎃 Creepy Pumpkins

Most Halloween party ideas involve pumpkins, so make sure you’ve got some lying around the house. Spruce them up for extra heebie-jeebies. Get a real or plastic pumpkin and embellish it with small plastic spiders using a glue gun. The more spiders, the creepier it gets.

Affordable Halloween Party Food Ideas

Hold a memorable Halloween party by serving Halloween-themed food. You don’t have to go beyond ordinary party fare. With a few twists, you can transform any ordinary treat to suit a variety of Halloween party themes.

🎃 Ghost Lollipops

Candy and Halloween go together, especially if you’re expecting kids to come knocking on your door or office cubicle for trick or treat. Wrap white tissue paper around a lollipop and tie it with a short string. Draw spooky ghost faces on the tissue with a marker. And just like that, you’ve got cute ghost lollipops kids and kids at heart will enjoy!

🎃 Pizza Fingers

When you order pizza for the party, ask the restaurant to deliver it unsliced. Once you get the pizza, slice it in half and cut little finger-sized bars. Add the fingernails by putting triangle-shaped bell pepper cuts on the ends of these pizza bars.

Now, you have creepy fingers to serve your guests! This gives a whole new meaning to finger food.

🎃 Spooky Halloween Drink

Check out arts and crafts expert A Girl and a Glue Gun’s tutorial for a quick Halloween party drink to serve your guests.^[2] You just need Sprite, Nerds candies, and ice. Put some green Nerds into a cup and add Sprite to make the drink turn green.

You could also add candy eyeballs to the mix to make the concoction creepier.

🎃 Monster Cupcakes

To add to your list of Halloween party ideas, dress up your cupcakes for the occasion. Using colored icing and candy eyeballs, you can create delectable monsters such as mummies and vampires. For less scary options, go for jack-o-lanterns, bunnies, black cats, and spiders.

Either way, these Halloween-themed cakes will be a hit!

🎃 Meringue Bones

Meringues, or what Filipinos call merengge, also make delicious Halloween treats. Using white meringues, create crunchy bones. Combine egg whites, cream of tartar, sugar, and vanilla extract to make these airy and scary treats. Check out this guide from Epicurious.^[3]

Halloween Party Games

Liven up the scene with Halloween party activities! They’re easy to mount and don’t cost a lot of money.

🎃 Halloween Picture Scavenger Hunt

Your guests will most likely bring their own camera or smartphone. They can use this for a scavenger hunt where they’ll have to take a picture of the items on your list. Create a list of 10 things they need to take a picture of, like a Halloween Witch or a Pumpkin.

The first one to take pictures of everything on the list wins a special prize!

🎃 Guess What’s In the Box

Here’s a simple game to freak your guests out! Get three to five boxes. At the top of the box, cut a hole big enough for a hand. Put “scary” things like a fake snake, fake rat, or a toy spider into the box and have your players guess the item.

🎃 Halloween Charades

When it comes to games, derive your Halloween party ideas from existing ones.

For instance, traditional charades can be injected with spooky elements. Use famous horror movies as your theme (have them guess "Patayin sa Sindak si Barbara" and enjoy the hilarity that ensues). If you want it to be quick and easy, simple clues such as pumpkin, vampire, and cobwebs will do the trick.

🎃 Spooky Balloon Dart Game

Get a large wooden board and attach lots of balloons onto it. Make sure each balloon contains either treats or spooky items, such as bloody doll heads, toy spiders, and trash can slime. Each participant will then pop the balloon with a dart and get whatever is inside it.

Bonus Tip: Attend Some Parties

Let’s face it. Not all of us have the luxury of time to think of exciting Halloween party ideas and organize a spooktacular bash. But you can always attend a party organized by others!

Get into the spirit with these Halloween events around the metro:

🎃 Spook Street

Date: October 29, 2022
Venue: One Bonifacio High Street, 5^th Avenue, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City

You’re in for a fun trick-and-treat with the Spook Street party at Bonifacio Global City, where lots of Halloween kiddie loot bags will be given away.

You can participate in the event if you present ₱3,000 worth of single or accumulated purchases (up to three receipts only) from these outlets: Bonifacio High Street, Bonifacio High Street East, Bonifacio High Street Central, High Street South, One Bonifacio High Street, and One and Two Parkade. Purchases must be made during weekdays starting October 1.

🎃 Happy Howl-o-ween

Date: October 29, 2022
Venue: Taal Vista Hotel, Tagaytay City

Chill this Halloween by heading to Tagaytay. Have some fun at the Happy Howl-o-Ween party at Taal Vista. Note that there’s an entrance fee, which is ₱1,550 for adults and ₱950 for kids ages three to 12 years old.

This is one of the best Halloween party ideas for kids this year. You and your children can enjoy games, mini rides, photo booths, and snacks galore! Loot bags also await all attendees.

🎃 Awesome Halloween Adventures

Date: October 28-November 1, 2022
Venue: Okada Manila, Entertainment City, Parañaque City

If you’re looking for posh Halloween party ideas, Okada’s Awesome Halloween Adventures is perfect for you. On October 29, take your kids to PLAY’s Trick-or-Treat Fair, where you can wear a Halloween party costume. One of the event’s highlights is the Human Claw Machine where participants can win epic prizes.

Want to stay the night? Take advantage of the two-for-one staycation deal until October 20, 2022. You can score up to 55% discount on Deluxe and Suite rooms for two consecutive nights.^[4]

🎃 Ozine Fest Halloween Special

Date: October 29-30, 2022
Venue: Upper Box Events Space, Greenhills Promenade, San Juan City

Anime and Halloween come together at Ozine Fest Halloween Special at Greenhills. This is one of the most engaging Halloween party ideas for anime lovers and otakus this year. Win prizes by participating in cosplay competitions or simply jam to the performances by guest acoustic bands. Entrance is free!

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Final Thoughts

Halloween is not just a celebration of all things spooky. It’s also the perfect time to enjoy the company of your family or friends. From delicious snacks to fun games, you and your loved ones can make new precious memories. Get into the spirit of the occasion and impress your guests with these budget-friendly Halloween party ideas.

Sources:

^[1] Halloween Spiderweb
^[2] Easy Halloween Drinks with Peep Straws
^[3] Meringue Recipe
^[4] Okada Manila’s Awesome Halloween Adventures (Business World, 2022)

It’s a Hallo-WIN! Halloween Party Ideas Kids and Adults Will Love

Jay Pagkatotohan