Cheap Halloween Party Ideas
 Get the kids a babysitter, send them out for ice cream or a movie, put on your best costumes and get ready fun the adult fun to begin. This article contains many different ideas for decorating, menus and games for an adult Halloween Party, so make sure to read through and find everything that appeals to you the most. You will want to start off though by sending out spooktacular invitations with cobwebs and witch silhouettes printed on them. Tell the guests when and where the party is going to be held and if they should come in costume or not.
Creative Halloween Decorations
After the invitations have been sent out you can start planning the decorations and activities. You can choose a theme if you want to stick to specific decorations, or you can decorate with regular Halloween decorations and transform the venue into a haunted mansion. If you are decorating on a budget, check out the Decorate for Halloween, Cheap! article filled with creative DIY decorations. The front entrance should set the theme so that when the guests arrive they will be completely captivated by the haunting feeling of your venue. Make sure that most surfaces are covered in spider webs and spiders so that it looks like no one has been there for years. The hanging animated Halloween decorations would also be a great touch to put right by the door or in a nearby corner to spook the guests. A fun touch would be to add Caution Haunted Party Tape, which will add to the torn down look of the venue, but will also put a smile to some guests’ faces. Place the Witch’s Brew Door Cover on the main entrance door so it will look as though they are about to enter a witch’s home.
 In addition to these decorations you can have many more so that the inside of your venue is just as spooky as the outside. To create an eerie feeling inside, cover the walls with the Halloween Insta Theme which pictures a spooky graveyard, haunted mansion, bats and spirits flying through the night sky. You can add whichever props you think the guests will be creeped out by the most. If you are transforming your home into a truly haunted mansion, try putting up the Bloody Wall Backdrop to really scare the guests. It works great for a room acting as a deadly surgery room or a haunted hospital. If you have less wall space to cover try a smaller scene like the Halloween Horror, Zombie Attack and Open Grave Insta Views. All of these will add a whole new feeling to the room, some threatening while others more haunting. The Open Grave would be especially unique if placed on the ceiling of the guest bath so that when the guests go to the bathroom they will have a surprise waiting for them. Another fun touch to the bathroom would be to place the Skeleton Restroom Door Cover or the Witch Restroom Door Cover on the outside of the bathroom door.
 To add more dimension to the room, hang Tissue Bats and Tissue Spiders from the ceiling with fishing line so that the bats will appear as if they are flying and the spiders hanging from a web. Drape more spider webs throughout the inside of the venue and make sure to place the small plastic spiders in the web so that they look more realistic. Place either Tissue Candles or real candles in a Halloween Tea Light Holder on the window sills, dependent on whether you want to have a real flame or not. Fanci Fetti Spiders around the base of any candle, or place them so that they appear as if they are crawling into the venue. Another way to add the appearance of fire without actually lighting logs would be to place the Scary Fireplace Stand-Up.
If you did not decorate with the Insta Theme or any of the Insta Views, then you will still want to add a touch of Halloween in other creative ways. One very simple and decoration is a white sheet. This is great for placing over all of your furniture so that the house will look like it has not been inhabited for years. Your guests will notice this touch once they enter the venue. Hang up a Happy Halloween Streamer right inside the entrance and then line the main hallway with Scary J-O-L Cutouts and Halloween Silhouettes. Another way to decorate the entrance would be to create a graveyard by placing the Black Picket Fence Cutouts along the base of the wall with the Tombstone Cutouts placed behind. Also, if you have the wall space add the Jointed Scary Tree to bring the outdoors inside. Or, you could take some fallen down branches from outside and place them in a pot with some soil and drape small cob webs in between the smaller branches. This would also make a great centerpiece if small branches are used.
Halloween Table Decorations
Speaking of centerpieces, table decorations can really help the ambiance of the party. Place an inexpensive lace table cloth on top of the table, and if you don’t mind rip some holes throughout so it looks old and worn. Place the Spider Web Table Runner down the center of the table. There are many different centerpieces you could use for decorating the table. The tea light holders from the window sill could also be used to decorate the table, or you could find an old candelabra. Spray paint it a dull black or dark gray and place white candles in it. Light the candles and over a safe surface, melt red crayons over the flames so that the candles appear as if they are dripping with blood. You could also take a vase, spray paint it black and fill it either with dead flowers or a fresh bouquet. Then, place plastic creepy crawlers on top of the flowers and even glue some onto the vase. If the guests have strong stomachs, decorate the table with the specimen jars from the Creepy Window Sill Decorations section of the Cheap Halloween Decoration article. Serve the food on old silver platters that are tarnished and mark what each plate is with the gravestones from the Tabletop Graveyard set.
Spooky Halloween Menu
The menu will vary dependent on whether you want your friends laughing or to truly feel as though they have walked into a haunted house. Stick to certain colors when it comes to the food: orange, red, yellow, black or brown and even green. Pick and choose from these delicious recipes, which vary from finger foods to sit down meals, but don’t forget to place bowls of pimento stuffed olives and have basics like spaghetti and meatballs as well as chili laid out for guests to eat.
Black Widow Cheese Log
This great appetizer works year round, especially since you can form it into any shape! What you’ll need: 2 tbsp unsalted butter, 2 cups thinly sliced shallots, 10 oz fresh goat cheese, 4 oz cream cheese, 6 oz feta cheese, black sesame seeds, 1 Piquillo pepper, 6 painted twigs for garnish.
Directions: In medium saucepan melt the butter and add shallots, cook over medium heat for about 8 minutes. Scrape shallots into a food processor and let cool. Add goat cheese, cream cheese and feta and puree until smooth. Scrape into a bowl and chill in refrigerator for 30 minutes. Roll 1/3 of cheese into a ball and coat in sesame seeds. Roll the rest of the cheese into a larger ball and coat in seeds. On a serving board press the two balls together to create the spider and attach 6 inch twigs for legs. Cut the pepper into 2 small triangles and decorate the back of the spider. Serve with crackers, flatbread or bread sticks.
Spooky Crisps
These small crackers go great with the Spider Cheese Ball and other fun Halloween dips. What you’ll need: 10 inch flavored or plain tortillas, parmesan cheese, chili powder (optional) and melted butter or margarine.
Directions: Use cookie cutters to cut the tortilla into Halloween shapes. Place the tortilla shapes on nonstick baking sheets. Mix cheese and chili powder. Brush tortillas with butter and sprinkle with cheese mixture. Bake in oven at 350 for 15 minutes until golden brown.
Pumpkin Bites
This is a fun finger food that will add some color to all of your spooky decorations. What you’ll need: 1lb pumpkin piece or squash, German style rye or pumpernickel bread, ¼ cup basil pesto and 24 small sprigs of watercress.
Directions: cut out 24 balls of pumpkin or squash with a melon baller and steam for 8 minutes, then cool. Cut out small rounds from the bread and spread ½ tsp of the pesto on top. Place the pumpkin on top and the watercress into the top of the pumpkin.
Witch’s Brew Soup
Great for a sit down meal, this tasty soup will have all of your guests asking for second. What you’ll need: 1 tbsp salad oil, 2 lbs. raw turkey Italian sausage, 1 onion chopped, 1 red bell pepper (steamed, seeded and chopped), 2 cloves garlic minced, 1 tbsp chili powder, 2 tsp cumin seed, 1 tsp dried oregano leaves, 2 quarts chicken broth, 2 lbs banana squash, 3 cans hominy drained, 1 box frozen peas, salt and pepper to taste.
Directions: Place oil in 8-10 quart pan and heat over medium-high heat. Squeeze sausages from castings into pan and break into bite size chunks; stir occasionally until lightly browned. Add onion, pepper and garlic; stir for 5 minutes. Stir in chili powder, cumin seed and oregano. Add broth, cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Peel squash and cut into ½ inch cubes, add to broth and return to boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until squash is softened. Add hominy and peas; bring to a boil for about 3 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve.
Halloween Desserts
This is one of the best ways to make your party one of a kind and give it that last bit of detail making it an unforgettable night. Have basics like candy corn, cookies and carrot cake, but decorate them with spooky Halloween decorations like Halloween shaped pans and icing in the shape of spider webs.
Ghost Lemon Cake Pops
These creative desserts will please all of your guests and give them a light refreshing taste after the rich foods. What you’ll need: 1 plain pound cake, 4 tbsp unsalted butter, 1 tsp lemon zest, 1 tbsp lemon juice, ½ cup confectioner’s sugar, 18 popsicle sticks, ½ lb white chocolate (chopped) and edible decorating pens.
Directions: Crumble the cake in a food processor and add the butter, lemon zest, lemon juice and sugar; pulse to combine. Move mixture to a bowl and shape into 18 ghosts. Ease each ghost onto a popsicle stick and stand in a piece of Styrofoam. In a large microwaveable safe bowl heat the white chocolate until ¾ melted and stir until the rest melts. Quickly dip the cake ghosts into the white chocolate and let the excess drip back into the bowl. Stand the ghosts upright in the Styrofoam and let settle, then decorate with the pens.
Jack-O-Lantern Tarts
This is perfect for a sit down party or a Halloween cocktail party. What you’ll need: all-purpose flour, tart dough, 15 oz solid packed pumpkin, 1 cup and 2 tbsp heavy whipping cream, ¼ cup packed light brown sugar, 3 large eggs and 1 egg yolk, ½ cup honey, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, ½ tsp ground ginger and ¼ tsp ground cloves.
Directions: place one disk of dough on floured work surface and roll out to 1/8 inch thick. Cut out 6 inch rounds and fit into 3 ¾ inch tart pans with removable bottoms. Trim dough even with the top, refrigerate for 30 minutes on a baking sheet and repeat with a second disk of tart dough. Roll out excess dough to 1/8 inch thick, transfer to parchment lined baking sheet and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 375. Whisk pumpkin, 1 cup of cream, 3 eggs, honey, sugar, salt and spices in large bowl. Divide amongst tarts and bake until edges are golden brown; 30 minutes. Cut out jack-o-lantern faces from chilled dough and transfer to parchment lined baking sheet. Chill in freezer for 15 minutes. Whisk egg yolk and 2 tbsp heavy whipping cream. Brush cutouts with egg wash and bake until golden brown. Arrange cutouts on cooled tarts and serve.
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