How to Plan a Halloween Movie Night

Halloween is the perfect opportunity to get some friends together and watch horror movies. A Halloween movie night can be a great way to share your favorite Halloween films and scare all of your friends. Make the occasion more special than just an evening in watching movies by careful selecting your Halloween movies, providing themed food and drink, and having your friends show up in costume.

Here's how to make your next Halloween movie night one that your friends won't soon forget.

Halloween Movie Night: Selecting Movies

This is probably the trickiest part of planning for a Halloween movie night and, obviously, the most important. It's essential that you know the tastes of your guests before you select your Halloween movies. Nothing ruins a Halloween party faster than half of your guests leaving because they can't stomach the movies you've chosen. Try to choose two or three movies from the same genre of horror movies so that you'll have a theme to tie your Halloween movie night together.

This is simpler when you are throwing a Halloween movie night for close friends. You'll know whether to select campy, over-the-top slasher films, classic black and white horror movies, kid-friendly scary flicks or out and out gore-fests. If you misjudge your audience there can be disaster, so double-check with your guests to determine their tastes and how comfortable they are with scary movies and film violence.

If you are uncertain about the strength of your guests' stomachs, try to keep your movie selections on the safe side. Try for classic scary movies or films that are more suspenseful than violent.

Halloween Movie Night: Snacks

Snacks should always compliment the movies you select. If you will be watching silly, campy horror movies or adolescent favorites, you can't go wrong with fun haunted house-type staples like peeled grapes (eyeballs) and dirt pudding (graveyard mud). Make up small trick-or-treat bags with candy favorites (and maybe an apple or two...). These snacks are full of nostalgia, and are sure to take everyone back to their days of trick-or-treating.

If you will be showing slasher movies, you can't go wrong with simple popcorn. Add soda and beer to the mix for a simple, Halloween movie theme-appropriate snack. If you want a little more sophistication, try experimenting with different popcorn toppings.

For a Halloween movie night marked by horror classics or psychological thrillers, you'll want a classier movie snack. Bring in the flavors of the season by making pumpkin bread and spiced apple cider. If you want something a bit more ghoulish, serve up Bloody Marys and Zombies as your Halloween movie night cocktails.

Halloween Movie Night: Décor

Once again, your décor will depend primarily on your choice of movies. For kid-friendly fare, decorate with spiderwebs, black streamers and jack-o-lanterns.

If your Halloween movie night will feature scarier movies, keep the lights dimmed (or replace them with black or red bulbs) and hand out throw pillows to your guests so that they can hide their eyes when the movies start getting scary. You can also keep a mix of creepy Halloween songs or sound effects to play during intermission.

Here are some great movies to watch during your Halloween movie night:

Ten Black & White Horror Classics

Top Ten Kid-Friendly Halloween Movies

And a soundtrack for intermission:

Ten Creepiest Halloween Songs