Scary Halloween Dinner Party Ideas

Hosting a scary Halloween dinner party is a fun twist on this typically child friendly holiday. I love Halloween and thought this year I would like to have a small dinner party instead of a full-blown party with countless guests. I decided to make some conversation starters and Halloween inspired dishes that would set the tone for a fun and relaxed in evening in my home. Although I am planning on an adult scary Halloween dinner party, you could use all of these ideas at a children's Halloween party as well.

Shrunken Head Hosts

My scary Halloween dinner party was going to be for six people, but I decided to set the table for eight. I am made shrunken head hosts to occupy the two extra seats at my scary Halloween dinner party. To make the shrunken head for the hosts you will need 2 apples and a sharp knife. You need to start this project one to two days before your planned dinner party. Cut the outer layer of skin off of your apple. Then start carving it to look like a skeleton face. You don't have to be too artistically inclined for this project because you are going to let the apples dry and whither into a small scary brown head. Everyone has seen this craft project for kids somewhere. Set the apples out to dry for a day or two. Next, you need to make the body of your hosts for the apples to sit on. I am using some old clothes from my closet. I sewed the shirt and the pants together and stuffed them with cotton batting. As I got closer to the edge I started using hay that I bought at the hardware store. Insert a small dowel (or even a wooden spoon) into the next of the body. Attach your shrunken head to the body by pushing it onto the dowel. On one of the scary Halloween dinner hosts I sewed a pair of gloves to the sleeves so that their hand could be resting on the dinner table. You can get creative with the bodies of your scary dinner hosts and use what you have around the house. If you already have some life size skeleton decorations from previous Halloweens incorporate them. You could dress the skeleton in clothing and place them at the head of the table. You guest are sure to have more than one conversation about your scary dinner hosts.

Poison Jars

For some added scary décor to the Halloween dinner table find some plain glass bottles and make your own poison labels for them. I printed mine on the computer on oversized labels and stuck them on my glass jars. Before I attached them to the jar I crumpled them up to make them look old and lightly rubbed some tea on them. Instant age for your Halloween décor. Inside the jars I put condiments like mustard and mayonnaise that would go well with my dinner. For the salad dressing I started trying to think of more unique labels. The Thousand Island dressing became albino witch blood and the Italian dressing was labeled poison pumpkin juice.

Grave Yard Cup Cakes

To finish off the Halloween evening dinner party you have to include a scary dessert. Grave yard cup cakes are easy to make and can be prepared up to a day ahead of time, which will free up a lot of your time. Make your favorite cupcakes. Top off with chocolate icing. Insert small plastic skeletons legs first in the cup cakes. I found mine at Michael's Arts and Craft store. Try to make them look like they are coming up out of the ground. For the Halloween head stone on your scary cupcakes you will need graham crackers, white icing, and black food coloring. Make your white icing cement gray with the white icing and black food coloring. Take one graham cracker cookie and heat it up in the microwave for about 20 second. It should be soft enough to cut out a scary head stone shape. Dip the headstone in the gray icing. Allow it to dry and then insert it in the "ground" behind the skeleton. For added interest if you have time you could use one of those ready made black icing tubes meant for writing and write R.I.P. on the Halloween head stone. If there is room you could also use this as a place to write you guests names and use these as place cards. Set each individual cupcake on a small plate or in a cup saucer. Sprinkle with ground up Oreo cookies to create the effect of dirt. Place small candy corn pumpkins around the cupcake to finish. These are a great addition to any scary Halloween dinner party.

Sound Effects

Don't let your scary Halloween dinner party stop at the table. Buy some sound tracks with fun themed songs or even scary sound effects. It will set the tone for a fun and scary evening.