Throwing a Halloween bash? You can do a lot better than black-and-orange crepe paper and a measly bowl of candy corn. Instead, follow these tips from the experts to create a party perfect for either grown-ups or children this haunted holiday. Twist things around with a mad scientist’s laboratory setup for the over-21 crowd, amuse the kids with “Beetlejuice” flair or stay traditional with a creepy cute shindig. Whatever your pick, our experts have got you covered!
WITCH’S BREW (for grown-ups)
With their own NYC event-planning company, Host Committee, Yvonne Najor and Carli Roth are scary busy this time of year putting together Halloween bashes at clubs and rental spaces around town — nearly 40 this month. In planning affordable, trendy parties with themes such as “Ghouls Just Wanna Have Fun” and “Sinners & Saints,” the Nolita flatmates, both 27, are certainly experienced in scaring up some fun. Here are their ghoul-iscious tips…
- When guests arrive, hand them a Champagne glass filled with candy instead of a cocktail. “It’s a fun way to start off the night,” says Najor. Plus, if everyone’s already eating, no one has to feel guilty about heading to the snack table.
- For a scene-stealing moment, bring out your inner witch by filling a cauldron with dry ice. Just pour hot water over the ice for a fog effect guaranteed to make guests’ jaws drop. (The effect only lasts about a minute, so keep plenty of replacement water in a bucket nearby. Your awkward friend can be on refill duty!) “It’s a really inexpensive way to liven up the room,” says Najor. “Just don’t drink it,” she adds with a laugh.
- To create a sinfully sweet atmosphere around your snacks, (such as Halloween-themed Rice Krispies treats, available at Treat House on the Upper West Side), fill a candle holder with candy corn before sticking the candle down the middle. Place them throughout the room to maximize the ambience factor. Use thick candles to prevent the candy from burning.
- Want to brighten up the evening? Mix your own creepy cocktails. For a Vampire’s Kiss with a great green hue, try a Midori melon liqueur and mix it with SKYY Infusions Blood Orange vodka (Get it? Blood!) and grenadine. Since the vodka is clear, the result is a spooky green color. “It’s like a witches’ brew!” says Najor.
- Just like in fashion, decorating a chic party is all about mixing the high and the low. The Host Committee gals suggest interspersing Halloween knick-knacks from the dollar store (think little plastic spiders) with more luxe elements, such as fresh cut orange flowers — or an attention-grabbing Michael Aram skeleton chair (yours for only $795!). “It’s just like mixing H&M with a high-end designer,” says Roth. “They complement each other really well.”
MAD SCIENTIST’S LA-BAR-ATORY (for grown-ups)
New York design and entertaining guru Mark Addison stresses that you don’t need to splurge at Party City for the maximum fear factor. Here are his monsteriffic home-grown ideas that will have ghoulish grown-ups buzzing.
- Fill Mason jars with colored water (using food dye) for “potions” to decorate your bar. Take it one step beyond by adding foods into the jars that will look like body parts (a cauliflower makes a nice brain). Templates for the labels
You won’t have to think too hard about creating an extra brain. You’ll just need a gelatin mold and gummy worms. Addison uses (such as “Mind Eraser,” “Infatuation” and “Caution”), which you can print at home, are available on his Web site, markaddison.com.
- A “toxic” punch is convenient — you can make a large amount at one time that will please a large group — and looks cool. “I put it in a decanter instead of a punch bowl so that it looked more laboratory-like,” says Addison. In the bottom part, usually filled with ice, add colored water and spaghetti to look like intestines.
- Make your own realistic brain — a surefire conversation starter — using a gelatin mold, available for $1.29 on amazon.com. “To give it the creepy consistency, sub the water in the Jell-O recipe for milk,” says Addison. Adorn with gummy worms.
- Syringes (like you’d use for medicine for a baby), available at CVS for $3.19, make for a scary fun addition to your bar setup. Fill them with different flavors of liqueur (like Midori’s bright green melon flavor) and go wild.
- Garnish your martini glasses with orange or black crystal sugar, which you’ll find in the cake decorating section at the grocery store. For a bloody good look, mix red food coloring with corn syrup into which you dip the glass rim.
- Skin grapes and put one each in the bottom of cocktail glasses — they’ll look like eyeballs! Skinning can be tedious, so to help, quickly drop the grape in hot water, then pull it out right away. Cut a criss-cross into the top, and peel off, just as you would a tomato. “They just look and feel like something spooky and creepy,” says Addison.
BEETLEJUICE-MANIA (for kids)
Mark Addison, 45, has been hosting dinner parties for his siblings and friends since he was 13. So it’s a no-brainer to consult him when it comes to setting up a sweet and spooky Halloween get-together that’s fun for the whole family. Addison suggests a ghoulish gathering that incorporates elements of Tim Burton’s classic film “Beetlejuice” that will leave the little ones screaming — with delight.
- For your table, create a Beetlejuice-inspired backdrop by placing black duct tape stripes across an old white tablecloth. “Use a partner to extend the tape all the way out before placing it on the cloth,” says Addison. “That helps you have more control over creating a nice, straight line.”
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Fill glass skull jars with caramel popcorn and candy. Whip up an edible graveyard centerpiece for a sight that’s as creepy as it is delicious. Start with a deep cookie pan, and line it with an unused (clean!) black garbage bag. Place some bowls under the cookie pan to elevate it, and drape the bag over the sides of the pan to create your base. Fill the inside with chocolate pudding, top with cookie crumble (made from mashing up cookies in a Ziploc bag) to make a dirt texture, and then place brownie chunks and chocolate Rice Krispies treats throughout for tombstones. You can personalize the tombstones with your own haunted messages, using melted chocolate in a piping bag. Finally, create the perfect decrepit fence with varied sizes of Tootsie Rolls around the perimeter. “It’s something that’s fun that the family can make together,” says Addison. “And it’s a great centerpiece that turns into a dessert you can attack with a bunch of spoons.”
- Put a fresh spin on caramel corn by chopping up Halloween candy (such as Snickers bars and Reese’s cups) and microwaving it in 30-second intervals until it’s melted, but not scalding hot. Then toss it over plain popcorn and let cool. “It creates a candy coating around the popcorn, and you can combine different candy flavors for whatever you like,” says Addison.
- Whip up kid-friendly “mocktails” by blending chocolate milk, chocolate ice cream and cookie crumbles for a chunky “Monster Mudslide.”
To get even more festive with an “Orange Scaresicle,” sub in vanilla ice cream and TruMoo orange-colored, vanilla-flavored milk. Top with whipped cream and Red Hots for “monster eyes.”
- Don’t break the bank buying tacky Halloween-themed glasses for your mocktails. Instead, decorate your glasses with black and orange electrical tape strips, available at your local hardware store.
- Give your pumpkins some pizzazz by spray-painting them white, letting them dry on wax paper, then dipping the bottom halves into black paint for a creepy drizzle.