When you think of a good college party, drinking, dancing, and laughing probably come to mind. While parties are fun on their own already, throwing costumes and Halloween music into the mix makes for an especially spooktacular time.
But when everyone’s throwing the same kind of party and you want to make yours stand out, it can be hard to figure out just how you should go about hosting your party. Here are five alternatives to the traditional college Halloween party.
- Murder mystery dinner
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Last October, I stumbled upon a board game called “Murder Mystery on the Night Train,” and playing it was the most fun I’ve had in a long time! The game had instructions on how to host the perfect murder mystery dinner party. With a cast of unique characters to be assigned to every person attending, nametags, and clues to be hidden and found around the house, guests had a blast interrogating each other to discover the real killer. There were three rounds where players acted out fun challenges and tried to piece together the threads connecting each clue, and the whereabouts of each character on the night the murder was discovered. In the end, the killer was revealed. Prizes for the best detective, best costume, and best acting were handed out, and everyone took a break for dinner and drinks.
If you’d like to come up with your own characters and theme for a murder mystery, try writing an original script. You can come up with unique quirks for each character like accents, fun tells (sneeze every time you lie, for example), and specific occupations to dress up as (ballerina or surgeon, anyone?) Bonus points can be awarded for having someone pretend to be the ghost of the murdered character!
You can also create your own murder setting like a movie theater, circus, or ball, and have guests act out scenes for the occasion. With an endless amount of options and a fancy assortment of dishes and drinks, your friends will love this interactive spin on a traditional Halloween party.
- spooky paint & sip
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Guests that love embracing their artistic side would love to attend a “spooky” paint and sip. Like the name implies, all you’ll need are canvases, mason jars filled with water, paintbrushes, acrylics, and your favorite themed mocktail/cocktail recipes. Everyone can sip Bloody Marys or Black Magic Margaritas while they paint their favorite Halloween characters!
- HORROR MOVIE NIGHT
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Grab fuzzy blankets, bowls of popcorn, and steaming cups of hot cocoa for your own horror movie night. Huddle around the couch in front of the T.V, or, if you’re feeling especially adventurous, set up a blanket in front of a projector in your backyard. Feel free to decorate your space by hanging up string lights, LED’s or cute fall décor!
If you’re having trouble choosing something for everyone to watch, you can look through Letterboxd for your friends’ favorite horror movies, narrow down your selections, and vote on the choices with everyone attending. My personal movie suggestions? For something lighthearted, Halloweentown or Hocus Pocus can’t be beaten, but if you’re looking for seriously scary flicks, try a classic horror movie marathon of Halloween (1978), Friday the 13th, and A Nightmare on Elm Street. For a more modern twist to the classics of the 70s and 80s, watch all three Fear Street movies on Netflix.
- halloween potluck
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A good potluck introduces everyone to new dishes while simultaneously lessening the amount of food the host must cook to feed everyone at the party. By bringing in Halloween-themed appetizers like mummy dogs, desserts like ghost brownies or worms in dirt pudding, and main dishes like pumpkin gnocchi, all guests can have a great time trying spooky, delicious bites. There’s no end to the creativity that’ll be displayed around your kitchen table.
- pumpkin carving contest
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If you love pumpkins as much as I do, you probably make pumpkin carving a must every fall, so what better to get everyone in the Halloween spirit than to carve pumpkins with friends? Invite everyone over for a pumpkin carving contest and put together money for a prize. At the end of the night, all guests take turns voting, and the pumpkin with the most votes wins.
Make the event themed if you’d like by having everyone specifically carve Harry Potter things or cartoon characters, for example. If you do it BYOP (bring your own pumpkin) all you’d really need to provide are knives and cutters (and candles if you want to turn your creations into jack-o’-lanterns)!
Halloween parties don’t have to be traditional and they can be modified to fit all kinds of interests, budgets, and guest-list sizes. I hope this list inspires you to try something new on Halloween this year. Enjoy, and have a happy Halloween!