Ideas for Halloween and Costume Party Themes
These ideas for Halloween and costume party themes will kick your Halloween party up a notch — they’re from a professional event planner!
Before the party tips, here’s a quip for your Halloween invitation:
”Calling all Goblins, Ghosts,
and Freaks of the night!!!
Creep, float or crawl over to our
Halloween Costume Party.”
- CardShoppe.com
For more ideas for Halloween and costume party themes, click on Making a Monstrous Halloween: Themed Parties, Activities and Events by Chris Kullstroem. And, read on for eight tips for Halloween theme parties from Stephanie Hansen of Starfish Creative Events.
Ideas for Halloween and Costume Party Themes
For decorating ideas, read Creative Halloween Decorations for Parties for October 31.
Monster Mash Bash - Guests come dressed as their all-time favorite monster to this ghoulishly fabulous Halloween theme party. Ideas include Frankenstein, Dracula, Witches, Godzilla, Bigfoot, etc. Play spooky music (including the theme song at least once an hour), and turn the venue into a real “haunted” space – with spider webs, creaky doors, dark lighting and scary surprises throughout the night. It will be a graveyard smash!
Famous Couples Party - for this Halloween or costume party theme idea, couples dress up as famous duos – real or fictional. Some examples are Marilyn Monroe & Fred Astaire, Brad & Angelina, Bonnie & Clyde, Al & Peggy Bundy, and more. This Halloween theme party is lively and fun, especially if you have guests make others guess who they are throughout the night. Hold an anonymous vote for the best-dressed couple and award them with a prize at the end of the night, so attendees have something to fight for! For ideas for couples costumes, read 30 Easy Homemade Halloween Costumes for Couples.
Era Ball - Pick a highly-celebrated era or decade, such as the 1920’s, the 50’s or the 80’s, and theme your gala after it. Have guests arrive costumed in appropriate attire for the era, and play a fun soundtrack from the time period. Decorate accordingly and even adopt the language of the time (in the 1950’s, you might have called your party a “Sock Hop” or this bash would be “totally radical” in the 80’s). This Halloween theme party can even include themed entertainment, like organizing a choreographed Flapper dance or playing an old silent film for your guests.
Film Fiesta - At this Halloween costume theme party, attendees get to dress as their favorite movie character. You can go further and make it a horror film, action heroes or comedy superstar theme. Costume ideas for this Halloween theme party include Bernie from Weekend at Bernie’s, Frank the Tank from Old School, Barf from Spaceballs or any character from Super Troopers. As décor, hang movie posters on the walls, or make it interactive by holding a movie quote or trivia game.
Carnivale Festival - This Halloween theme party is great if kids will be attending, or if your guests are simply kids at heart. Hold an afternoon party with lots of different games and activities. Think bobbing for apples, bean bag tosses, pumpkin carving, a moonbounce and anything else you can imagine. Have face painters, clowns and even a magician come and perform for guests. Serve hot apple cider, pumpkin pie, chicken corn chowder and other comfort foods. This Halloween theme party is also a great idea for a block party if the whole neighborhood wants to get involved!
If you have any thoughts or questions, please comment below. And if you’re looking for decorating ideas, read Scary Halloween Decorations for Parties.
For more info on event planning, visit Stephanie Hansen at Starfish Creative Events.
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Comment by Spock on 28 July 2009:
Fantastic Ideas. I like the way you presented the different types of Halloween gatherings you can have. I love the film fiesta and the famous couples party. Both present a wide variety of choices in the range of movie costumes and couple costumes. This article really gives me an idea of what type of party I will be throwing this Halloween.
Comment by Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen on 29 August 2009:
Great, Spock. I’m glad the article was helpful — and if you want to share your Halloween party ideas, please feel free!