Halloween Haunt

Halloween Haunt

Ages:

Teen to Adult

Invitations:

Purchase mini pumpkins and write the party details in Sharpie on the pumpkin and hand deliver.

Mail or hand deliver masks made from poster board. Glue or tape a craft stick to the back of the mask. Include the party details on a small tag attached to the mask. Have the guests decorate their masks and bring them to the party for a mask contest.

Have a psychic message and print out on Halloween stationary:

This is a psychic message

A spirit seeks your presence at a séance

Materialize at the haunted house on (date, address, time of party)

Contact the “Medium” at (phone #)

Tell ‘em (child’s name or adult) sent you.

If having a themed party make sure you state that in the invitations. Some examples of

themed parties can be found at www.about.com.

Decorations:

Use black, orange and dark purple as your theme colors. Purchase paper products and utensils to match. Use coordinating streamers and balloons.

Bobbing Ghosts: purchase white balloons filled with helium. Draw ghost faces on the balloons

with a black Sharpie.

Use cobwebs and black lights for the entry way. Cover the tables with plastic tablecloths and add spiders to the tables.

You can place black and orange tapered candles on a mantel or a table as a centerpiece. Cut a hole at the top of mini pumpkins and place tapered candles inside for a festive look.

Activities:

Purchase a Halloween effects cd and play it as the gusts arrive.

Have balloons filled with a dollar in each of them. Before guests leave tell them of the riches that hide inside. This can replace any goody bag!

Guess Who Game: as each guest arrives, tape a piece of paper on their back with a

Halloween character on it. Have each guest figure out who they are by asking other guests yes or

no questions about the picture on their back. Once they have figured it out, they can take the

picture off their back.

Halloween Word Scramble: write a long Halloween related word at the top of a sheet of

paper for each guest. Such as, Halloween, scarecrow, Frankenstein, graveyard, tombstone and skeleton. Set a time limit 1-3 minutes and see how many words can be made using the chosen word.

Candy Corn Guessing Game: Fill a jar with candy corn or other Halloween candy. Have

guests guess how much candy is in the jar. The person closest to the exact number wins the jar of

candy.

Have a costume contest. Give out prizes for cutest costume, ugliest costume, scariest

costume, most original, gutsiest and best overall.

Murder Wink Game: Have guests make a circle. One person is chosen to be “it” by having everyone close their eyes and a person not playing the game taps someone on the shoulder to be chosen. Whoever is “it” winks at another person without making it obvious. That person falls and pretends to die and is out of the game. The person who is “it” continues to wink at as many people as he/she can. If a player thinks they can identify the person who is “it” then he/she points and says, “I accuse you!” If the person is wrong then both players are out of the game and a new game starts. The “killer” tries to go the whole game without being caught.

Pass The Pumpkin: Have a large circle of friends. One person is given a pumpkin.

He/she places it under their chin and tries to pass it to the next person without using their

hands. If the pumpkin drops both players are out of the game. This continues until there are only

two players left. When the pumpkin drops between those players a vote is taken to determine the

winner or have both of them win.

Pass The Pretzel: Gather Q-tips and small curly pretzels. Divide the guests into 2 teams and have them line up. Ask guests to put one end of the Q-tip in their mouth and put their hands behind their backs. On the count of three put a pretzel on the Q-tip of the first player in each team and have them pass it to the next player without using their hands. The first team that passes their pretzel down the line wins. If the pretzel drops the person who dropped it must place it back on their Q-tip and continue playing.

Costume Relay Race: You need two teams and a box of costumes containing the same number of clothing. For example, shirts, pants, shoes, mask, wig. Each person runs to the box to put on the costume, takes it off and runs to the next person in line who then repeats the process. The team who finishes first, wins!

Dr. Gross’s Lab: Decorate a variety of shoe boxes and cut a hole in the box large enough for a hand to fit through. Mark the boxes with what is inside. Eyeballs –peeled grapes, Guts – oiled spaghetti, skin – oiled flour tortilla, teeth – unpopped popcorn. Go to www.about.com for more eerie box fillers. Place these boxes around the house for some Halloween fun.

Ghost Story: Dim the lights and have the guests sit in a circle. Hold up a flashlight to illuminate the ghost teller’s face. There are several ghost stories you can find online. Start out with a sentence and have each guest continue the story with a sentence of their own.

Towards the end of the party, you can play a Halloween movie. It’s tradition in my home

to play The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow. Other good Halloween movies are Casper, The Lost Boys, The Addams Family, Ghostbusters, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Monster House, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Michael Jackson’s Thriller, Phantom of the Opera, Halloween and Friday the 13^th. Some movies may not be suitable for younger teens.

Creepy Quotes: Read allowed quotes from horror movies and have guests write down the name of

the movie. 1 point for each one correct. The person with the most points wins. Here are some

examples: “It’s Alive!” (Frankenstein),“You’ll just be staying the one night.” (Psycho), “They’re

heeere…” (Poltergeist), “Wake up! They get you when you sleep. They grow out of those pods.”

(Invasion of the Body Snatchers), “Michael, did you here your father? Out of the water, now!”

(Jaws).

Write scary movie titles on small pieces of paper. Have each guest choose a piece of paper and act out a scene from the movie on their paper. Some examples are: Psycho, Halloween, Friday the 13^th, Jaws, Nightmare on Elm Street and Frankenstein.

Play some Halloween music throughout the party. Some great Halloween music can

Include: Elvira, I Want Candy, Dead Man’s Party, The Freaks Come Out At Night,

People Are Strange, Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me, Thriller, The Time Warp, Somebody’s Watching Me, Monster Mash, Ghostbusters, Witch Doctor and many more.

Go to www.amazon.com or your local party supply store for some great Halloween cd’s

Food:

Go to the recipe page for some Halloween food ideas.

Prizes/goody bags:

Prizes for games should be small. Small toys or candy will do.

For some goody bag ideas you can check out the Halloween party for ages 5-12. You can also create stickers to place on candy bars thanking your guests for coming. Have everyone take home a mini pumpkin they can set out at their home. Fill plastic Halloween cups with some goodies.

You can also collect baby food jars and fill them with candy, tie raffia around the bottom of the lid. You can put stickers or rub on stencils on the jar to make it look festive.

Purchase 8” tulle circles in black or another color. Fill the tulle with candy and tie the top with festive ribbon or black pipe cleaner. Make swirls in the pipe cleaner with a pencil to look like a spider.

Thank You Cards:

Take pictures of your guests during the party. Have a Halloween prop set out for your guests. Send them a copy of their picture and include a thank you card.