31 Wicked Awesome Halloween Party Themes!
Home » HOLIDAYS » HALLOWEEN »Thinking of throwing a Halloween Party but want to have a theme that is a little bit different? Well, I’ve got you covered with these 31 Halloween Party Themes that are wicked awesome!
Sit yourself down with a Halloween cocktail and peruse this list of ideas to plan your spooky soiree!
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Halloween Party Themes
When it comes to parties, I generally like to have a theme to follow – whether that be as simple as a colour theme (like the Orange & Yellow theme at my friend’s 40th birthday) or a full-blown everything is themed to the nth degree (like my 1950s At The Hop birthday party for my 30th).
It makes planning the food, decor, music, and other bits and bobs so much easier, as you can really have a lot of fun creating and sourcing things to go with the theme!
That said, for Halloween, I have always been quite generic – with guests in fancy dress, food and drink with a spooky twist, decor being “standard” Halloween stuff, and, of course, carved pumpkins!
And there is nothing wrong with that! I think because it comes once a year, it’s just easier for me to put my decades’ worth of Halloween decorations out and stick to my tried and trusted Halloween Recipes.
It’s probably the same for many of you out there – the kids want a Halloween party so you throw up some spider webs, carve out a pumpkin, and buy some snacks from the supermarket and the job is done!
But there are so many ways you could theme a Halloween party, so I’ve come up with 31 Halloween party ideas that you could use for your Halloween shindigs this year or in the future!
There is a mix of themes for adults only and for kids/families too. I do actually plan to elaborate on each of these themes, full of ideas, in their own separate post, but for now, it’s a list with a brief description to get things going!
The Nightmare Before Christmas Party
Love Jack, Sally, Oogie Boogie, and the gang from Halloween Town? Well, we’ve not only got a whole set of party printables for this theme but also fun Nightmare Before Christmas Halloween Party Ideas to get your party started!
Ghost Town – give your Halloween party a Wild West twist! Dress up in cowboy hats and bandannas, and paint your face white with sunken black eyes and lots of contouring! Old dusty bottles, dripping candles, animal skulls, and skeletons would complete the look.
Harry Potter – you could base the party around the whole Harry Potter world in general, or maybe on one of the specific stories – Prisoner of Azkaban would be a great one: you could make Dementors out of black trash bags and hang them from the ceiling!
Monster Mash – this could be monsters of your own creation, or you could go the B Movie route with famous monsters from pop culture and mythology like Frankenstein’s Monster, Dracula, Medusa, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, King Kong, etc. You could also use an Escape Room Kit from Lock Paper Scissors. The Lost Mummy is perfect! Get ready to unearth Egypt’s ancient secrets as your crew investigates the mystery of the Lost Mummy.
Black and White – I mentioned colour as a simple theme, and black and white is so elegant and spooky too.
Purple and orange – Two classics (in my eyes) Halloween colours!
Red and Black – A creepy combo – red for blood, and black for the souls of demons – bwahahahaha!
Witches Tea Party – Like afternoon tea, but spooky! And if you live in a part of the world where it is just too cold to do this outdoors, it would work just as well inside, too!
Scary Carnival – I guess Halloween party themes 9, 10, and 11 could all be rolled into one. You could make them creepy, spooky, or as cute and not-so-scary as you like – it depends on your guests!
Spooky Circus – clowns are scary at the best of times – but at Halloween?!
Freak Show – be inspired by American Horror Story. Ask guests to dress in the ugliest, creepiest, or oddest costumes!
Mad Scientist – this is a party theme I have wanted to do for years! You can buy jars and test tubes online to go with this theme – you need white coats, crazy wigs, and big, thick-rimmed glasses for a costume!
Wicked Witches – The Sanderson Sisters (Hocus Pocus), the Halliwell Sisters (Charmed), Ursula the Sea Witch (The Little Mermaid), the Wicked Witch of the West (The Wizard of Oz), Sabrina Spellman (Sabrina the Teenage Witch)… and many more besides! Whoever is your favourite witch, set up the party around them.
Hocus Pocus Party
If you love the Sanderson Sisters, we have all the best Hocus Pocus Party Ideas for you! From decor and party food to party games and costumes!
Wicked Web Halloween Party – Arachnophobes beware! Lots of spooky spiders and webs in this party set up from Michelle’s Party Plan-It. I love the pops of red against the black and white. The candelabra in the center of the table is everything!
Murder Mystery – This one does require forward thinking and planning. But Lock Paper Scissors makes it really easy with their Escape Room Kits! Envy Murder Mystery – A 1920’s Gatsby-style murder mystery game of debaucherous luxury and deadly feuds. Get ready for a night of velvet gloves, blood-stained. Ask guests to dress up to really get into the spirit! This would be a great Halloween dinner party option.
Rocky Horror Picture Show – Definitely adults only for this theme! If you love the film, then throwing a party around it will be easy! Check out the Rocky Horror cake I made many years ago for a friend’s son’s birthday – what a centerpiece it makes at a party!
Pirates – As a famous pirate once said: “You best start believing in ghost stories, Miss Turner… you’re in one!” (Captain Barbossa). I love pirate-themed anything, but at Halloween, it’s even more awesome. If you’re plus size, you can check out my review of a pirate costume.
Steampunk – If you are a fan of the Steampunk style, then this theme is for you. Think Gothic Victorian, with elements of steam-powered machinery. Clocks, metal, keys, doilies, cogs, and dials are all great decorative items – use them in pumpkin decorating too!
Edgar Allen Poe – Poe wrote tales and poems of horror and suspense almost two hundred years ago and they still stop our hearts today. Everything needs to be dark – from the decor to the food! Decorate with ravens, rats, and other spooky animals; with cobwebs and candles (but stay safe with that, combo mentioned for alliteration only); and with skulls and spiders.
Horror Movie Party – pick your favourite horror movie and theme it all around that! So simple!
Vampires – Lots of black, white, and red decor, food, and drink. A bowl of blood-red punch would go down really well, and if you can get some dry ice to create a smoky effect – awesome!
Boo To You – A spooky ghost-themed party—or a Disney Halloween party, depending on what you think about when you read that Halloween party theme idea! You see, Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party at Walt Disney World has a parade called Boo To You—and it’s such a cool name for a party theme! As a Disney nut, you knew I’d have to get a Disney theme in here!
Dinner Party – Don’t want to throw a full-on party but still want to celebrate? Why not throw a Halloween dinner party? I did this a few years back and it was a great success! Decorating the table was my favourite part!
Zombies – whether you are a fan of The Walking Dead, Z-Nation, or zombie movies, these undead creatures are ingrained in popular culture. Set up the party space as a post-apocalyptic zone with boarded-up windows (use lengths of cardboard to create planks of wood) and bloody handprints on old fabric strewn about. As for the food – brains, of course! Why not make your signature cocktail a Zombie Apocalypse Cocktail. Yet another Escape Room Kit goes with this theme: Escape Room Z – Your living room’s about to be invaded by the living dead. What do they want? Your pizza, of course…
Spells & Potions – set the backdrop to the party as a creepy apothecary – old bottles with peeling labels describing the horrors inside! So many amazing printables on Pinterest, or you can make your own bottles full of potions. Have a bar set up with a Potions menu – cocktails for the adults and mocktails for the kids.
Medical/Hospital – could easily tie in with a zombie theme! Bloodied nurses or surgeons in their scrubs for outfits, and gross food like dismembered fingers (hotdogs) or test tube shots of bloody Mary.
Haunted House – set up a graveyard in your front garden – you can buy foam tombstones or make your own from thick cardboard or plywood. This setup of mine below is clearly inside – that’s because I don’t seem to have a photo of my outside setup! You could make some “dead guests” stuffing old clothes, effigy style. Play eerie sounds as background noise and lots and lots of cobwebs!
Cute Halloween – I have always loved anything cute, so I designed a set of cute characters for Halloween and used them in a set of Halloween party printables in 2017. Use them as the basis for your cute Halloween party for kids!
Pumpkin – Pumpkins, pumpkins everywhere – even in a drink! I wasn’t going to let a list of Halloween party themes go by without a pumpkin theme, was I? Have a pumpkin decorating contest (or carving for older kids/adults), cook with pumpkins, decorate with pumpkins, and even dress up as a pumpkin!
Dead Hollywood – full of glitz, glam, and lots of bling – but also some macabre by having guests dress as deceased Hollywood celebs.
Disney Villains – I’ve got some free printables for this theme as well! Guests come dressed as their favourite Disney Villain – I would be Maleficent! And if you need some sweet treat inspo, check out these yummy desserts from Disney’s Club Villain!
To help you countdown to the big day, make sure you download this Halloween Countdown Calendar from Festive Lights. They’re also sharing DIY décor ideas, creative costume tips, and pumpkin carving plans for Halloween on their Facebook page.
I worked with Festive Lights a few years back with some Halloween Party Ideas for Grown-Ups, so I’m delighted to be working with them again!
I hope my list of Halloween Party Themes has given you some inspiration for your Halloween party!
I could have added several more, and if you think I’ve left out something glaringly obvious for a Halloween party theme, let me know in the comments below!
Printable Halloween Escape Rooms
Escape Rooms have exploded in popularity over the past few years, but why not bring the experience to your home this Halloween with a printable Escape Room? The games can be printed and set up in just 20 minutes, so you can enjoy the fun.
Halloween Party Game Ideas!
We love the kits from Lock Paper Scissors, and with their Spooktacular Big Escape Room Halloween Box, which contains 4 different bone-chilling kits, you can save BIG!
In fact, at just $49, you save 60% – that’s a discount of $76, to be precise. Amazing value!
The four kits included in the box are (which you can buy individually if you prefer):
- Envy Murder Mystery: A 1920’s Gatsby-style murder mystery game of debaucherous luxury and deadly feuds.
- Lost Mummy: Get ready to unearth Egypt’s ancient secrets as your crew investigates the mystery of the Lost Mummy.
- Rebel Revolt Spy Mission: Your crew of specialists must be vigilant if they hope to break into the evil government’s W.A.R. facility.
- Escape Room Z: The living dead are about to invade your living room. What do they want? Your pizza, of course!
The post is part of the Crafty October series on The Purple Pumpkin Blog. Check out Crafty October from 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, and 2012 for awesome Halloween ideas and inspiration; including recipes, printables, crafts, and more!