Halloween Birthday Ideas & Themes

Fall is here and Halloween is right around the corner. From spooky to fall-themed fun, our list of Halloween birthday party ideas are sure to be a good time. It doesn’t matter if you’re looking for kid friendly or adults only, your guests are in for some spook-tactular fun!

Halloween Birthday Ideas & Themes

Murder Mystery/Who Done It Dinner Party

Who doesn’t want to attend a murder mystery dinner party? Send invitations to a guest list of about 6-10 people with the ominous message, “You are cordially invited to a dinner to DIE for…!” Include a character description of their assigned player and strongly encourage they come dressed to play the part. For the game, make your own Clue-esque kit with faux weapons and clues, or check online for an already assembled option. Serve crab cakes with blood (cocktail sauce) and deviled egg eyeballs (just add olives!) while guests get settled in. Encourage them to stay in character while they mingle! For dinner, serve something you can make ahead, like lasagna, garlic bread, and salad, so you’re free to join in the mystery! Decorate your dinner table with golden candelabras and faux pearl beads. Have everyone dine by candlelight– it’s sure to set the mood! Once your guests have had a chance to eat, have the night begin with the dramatic death of your first victim. From there, the night is sure to take on a life of it’s own! Once your detectives think they’ve solved the case, bring them together for the finale. After the case is closed and your victim is revived, celebrate with a birthday cake that has a fake knife stuck dead center. This birthday party is sure to leave guests screaming!

County Fair Party

Here’s a Halloween party idea that’s sure to please at any age! There’s nothing that reminds of fall quite like your own mini-county fair– set up games and food booths right in your backyard! To keep with the theme, label each of your events and snacks with chalkboard signs. For a cheap alternative to buying, get chalkboard paint from your hardware store and paint frames or slabs you already have- just allow for drying time! Set out wildflowers in mason jars and get a burlap banner decorated with a happy birthday message. Look around town for wooden barrels if you can any, but don’t forget the hay bales! They’ll make a cheap alternative to renting chairs. Set up several bales around a fire pit and serve hot cider when the sun goes down. For games, create your own mini putt putt, ring toss, and balloon dart games. Have your guests compete for tickets and stock your prize table with fun goodies from a discount dollar store. The best part of the fair is the food, so don’t disappoint! Serve corn dogs, corn on the cob, and roasted turkey legs. Instead of a birthday cake, serve mini pies, like blueberry and peach, or funnel cake! For some good old-fashioned fun, have a pie eating contest or have guests eat donuts tied to a string with no hands allowed! Your guests are sure to have a ton of family fun at this fair-themed birthday party. Send them home smiling with one final fair favorite– cotton candy, of course!

It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown! Party

Plan the cutest Halloween birthday celebration with a It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown! themed party. Decorate with a ton of pumpkins, both miniature and huge, and light pumpkin pie candles to get that cozy fall feeling going. Hang up a print out of the original Great Pumpkin poster from 1966, and make a yellow and black streamer wall to resemble Charlie’s famous sweater. Set up snacks in galvanized pails and serving trays. Organize a viewing party for your guests complete with popcorn and warm cider. Make pumpkin shaped rice crispy treats with Hershey Kisses as the stem, or try pumpkin marshmallow pops by dipping them in white chocolate dyed orange with food coloring and then dipped in green sprinkles. For the birthday cake, place a fondant pumpkin on top! If you’re creative, try drawing a few of the characters, like Lucy and Woodstock, on the side, or buy small plastic figurines. Send guests home with their own Snoopy stuffed animal or a copy of the movie.

Kid Friendly Halloween Party

If your kid loves Halloween, have this party any time of year! Have each guest come dressed in costume to make it more fun. From streamers to the table setting, decorate in strictly black, orange, and purple. Set up a pumpkin painting party, but plan the painting for the first activity so all artwork is dry by the time they head home. For a tastier craft, set up a cookie decorating station complete with funky colored frosting, icing for fun details, and plenty of sprinkle options! Serve your Halloween-enthusiasts pumpkin macaroni and cheese cups– just draw a Jack O’ Lantern face on a plastic cup and add a piece of cucumber or zucchini as the stalk! Serve another tasty treat that the kids are sure to love, mummy dogs! Wrap hot dogs in a biscuit rolled into a long ½” tube, but leave a little gap between the rolls at the top for the eyes. Draw on eyes with edible black ink and serve! For dessert, make dirt cups with chocolate pudding, crushed Oreo cookies, and gummy worms. Try brownie cupcakes as another yummy alternative to the birthday cake– put a layer of brownie batter down first, then add a layer of orange colored cake batter, and bake! Top with a vanilla buttercream and decorate with orange and black sprinkles– MMM! Send each guest home with a goodie bag filled with candy, of course!

Slasher Party

Throw the adult in your life that loves Halloween and their birthday a SLASHER themed birthday party! What’s a Halloween birthday party without costumes? Have guests come as Michael, Freddy, Jason, or their victims! Make footsteps leading to your front door with red washable paint and wrap the door in caution tape. (Add a bloody handprint or two for good measure!) Using a door that won’t need to be accessed during the party, place several hands on the floor to mimic victims trying to escape! Behind the snack table, set up a white sheet decorated in splashes of red paint and bloody handprints. Purchase the birthday honoree’s favorite slasher films for a viewing party. Don’t forget classics like Halloween, Nightmare on Elm Street, and Friday the 13th! Make sure you have lots of edible blood on hand for your snack table– it’s sure to thrill! Serve birthday cupcakes adorned with mini-edible meat cleavers made from fondant. Between the slasher movie marathon and the spooky eats, this birthday is sure to knock ‘em dead!

Creepy Crawly Party

If your birthday boy or girl loves creepy crawly creatures, this is the Halloween birthday party for them! Send out creepy crawly invites bracing your guests for a screamin’ good time. Embrace all oogly woogly creatures and decorate with a bat wall- trace and cut out a dozen or more bats from black construction paper. Bend the wings slightly to make the bats look as though they’re in flight and then tape to the wall. Decorate your front door with a spider web and place a spider right in the middle– guests will know they’re at the right house with a setup like that! Set out fake spiders, snakes, and other creatures all over the house. Take a spooky spin on an old game and play pin the spider on the web– blindfold guests and hand them a spider that’s a little too realistic for a fun surprise! To really get your guests going, play a food version of Fear Factor. Blindfold guests again and have them face their fears by sticking their hands in unidentified creatures nests (like fake snakes in a vat of jelly!). For creepy treats, serve deviled eggs with olives for the eyes and a spider web cake for dessert! Your guests are sure to leave hollering!

Witches Party

Get your favorite witches together for some potion making and cackling around the ol’ cauldron in your honor! Have everyone come dressed in witchy garb– from Hocus Pocus to the traditional witch, all attire is welcome. Set a sign out by the front door that beckons guests to “Come in, my pretties!” For decorations, go for black and rustic. Use a black flag banner to display a haunting happy birthday message. Create floating witch hats out of black tissue paper, wire, and fishing line. Place potion bottles on tables and place snacks inside of cauldrons and apothecary jars. For one last fitting decoration, paint a sign that says, “If the shoe fits, make sure you get the broom and hat to match!” This party won’t be complete without witches potion– spiked, of course! Get dry ice to create a truly spooky feel. For some tricky treats, place bugles in apothecary jars and label them, “witches fingernails”, or dip marshmallows in chocolate and cover with sprinkles for “witches brooms”. No witch’s party is complete without “poisoned apples” though- just slice and serve with caramel sauce for an easier to enjoy snack. Have your guests swap stories or play with a Ouija board. If you’re inclined to play it safe, set up a witchy movie marathon!

Beetlejuice Themed Dinner Party

What better way to celebrate a Halloween birthday than with a Beetlejuice themed dinner party? Send guests a striped monochrome invite encouraging them to come dressed in character. To really sell the evening, decorate in more white and black, a la Beetlejuice’s infamous suit! For a fun twist, create some Beetlejuice pop art, place in frames, and hang on the walls. You may decide to keep your new decor year round! Create a spooky tablescape with painted black branches and white candelabras. Paint pumpkins with matte black paint and create hanging ghosts with muslin. Serve shrimp, crab cakes, and calamari alongside Beetlejuice cocktails. No Beetlejuice themed dinner party is complete without your own rendition of the famous “Day-O” scene! Set up a camera to record the action– you and your guests will be laughing for years to come. After dinner has been thoroughly enjoyed, head to the couches for a viewing of the movie. Enjoy a death by chocolate flavored cake in the shape of a coffin for a final touch on a creepy good birthday.

Adult Costume Party

Adults love a costume party just as much as kids! Throw this birthday bash to remember with all the spookiest touches. Let your guests know ahead of time that costumes are mandatory and prizes will be awarded for best, worst, and most creative costume! Make your front door the entrance to a haunted house, or place a mini-coffin by the front door with a fake hand sticking out. Set up a spider’s web that guests have to maneuver through as they head to the where the party is happening. Make a bat wall– trace and cut out a dozen or more bats from black construction paper. Bend the wings slightly to make the bats look as though they’re in flight and then tape to the wall! Bring in a fog machine for a truly terrifying scene! Have guests bring the gourd of their choice for some good old fashioned pumpkin carving. Create a spooky soundtrack to play the whole night with jams like “Don’t Fear the Reaper” and “Highway to Hell”. Spike the punch and place in a large black cauldron or create 3-tiered candy corn Jello shots. Make sure the birthday guest of honor feels special with a tasty spin on the birthday cake by serving chocolate whoopie pies filled with orange cream! This grown up spin on the traditional Halloween party is sure to make a perfect birthday.

Monster Mash Party

Throw this Monster Mash birthday bash to celebrate the Halloween birthday in your life! This party is great for kids and adults alike. Have your guests come dressed as their favorite friendly monster (like Sully from Monsters Inc.) or have them go scary (think Frankenstein or Dracula!). Decorate your front door like a giant monster with three eyes and and a few snaggly teeth. Use tissue paper in a variety of funky colors, like neon green, orange, and purple, to create monsters hanging from the ceiling. Just get plenty of googly eyes from the craft store and go to town with the hot glue gun! Set up a monster-themed photo booth to capture your guests in their brutish garb. Serve monster eyeballs (meatballs), monster toes (mini hotdogs wrapped in crescent rolls), and monster body parts (chicken nuggets) for appetizers. For the sweeter fare, make an orange cake with cake pop eyeballs or green Rice Crispy treats with marshmallow eyes! If your party is geared towards kids, watch Monsters Inc or Frankenweenie. If the party is for older kids or adults, play classics like Nosferatu and The Creature from the Black Lagoon!