How to Decorate for a Halloween Party for Adults

Tips on Decorating the House for Halloween Parties for Grown-Ups

Aug 15, 2009

Use Jack-o-Lanterns to Light the Halloween Party, Juliet James Photo

Transform your home into a haunted house with Halloween decorations and other items that will create a spooky atmosphere for a Halloween costume party for adults.

Halloween is a favorite holiday for many, and it's a popular time of year when it comes to holding costume parties. When planning a Halloween party, decorations can make all the difference, creating a fun but spooky, haunted house atmosphere for the gathering. Great Halloween decorations can mean the difference between a good party and a great party that's talked about for weeks after the event.

Decorating for a Halloween party for adults can be both fun and challenging. When all of the invited party guests are adults (and there's fewer safety concerns, compared to a Halloween party for children), the party host can use some really elaborate and unique Halloween decorations to create a spooky ambiance for the event.

Lighting and Special Effects for a Halloween Party

The right lighting can create a spooky atmosphere for an adult-only Halloween party. The key is to keep the lighting dim and eerie by using the following techniques Halloween party lighting.

Turn off all "normal" lights in the home.
Use Halloween Christmas lights (these are usually all orange lights, or clear Christmas lights with plastic covers shaped like pumpkins, ghosts, spooky eyes, etc.) to illuminate hallways, plants, the bathroom and other areas of the home.
Use candles to cast a soft, flickering light over the party. For those who don't want to use real candles, visit the party store and purchase flameless candles or flicker lights - light bulbs that flicker like a flame.
Carve Jack-o-Lanterns and place them throughout the home. Use illuminated Jack-o-Lanterns to light the porch or deck, or as centerpieces on the coffee table or on the table of Halloween party food.

In addition to using dim, flickering lighting for the Halloween party, a smoke machine is a great way to create ambiance during the gathering. Rent a smoke machine from a party store and position the smoke machine in the main party area to create an eerie mist on the floor. Prior to the party, be sure to remove all items from the floor that could serve as a trip hazard when the floor is covered in a mist.

Home Decorations for a Halloween Party for Adults

Some Halloween decorations are designed to create an autumn-like feel to the home. Others are intended to create the atmosphere that one might find at a haunted house; think old, run-down, and overrun with spooky creatures like bats, ghosts and spiders.

Try the following decorating tips for that upcoming costume party:

Use spiderweb fiber to create an eerie atmosphere. Cobwebs and spiderwebs can be placed on shrubbery, doors, pictures and paintings on the wall, on hanging light fixtures (that won't be illuminated during the party), on banisters and in corners of the room near the ceiling. Another benefit is that this Halloween decoration is very inexpensive. One or two bags of spiderweb fiber will be enough for the entire house.
Hang ghosts (make your own ghost decorations out of plastic bags), spiders and other spooky creatures from the ceiling and chandeliers.
Decorate the outside of the house for Halloween with scarecrows, Jack-o-Lanterns, witches, ghosts and gravestones.
Create Halloween party food for the event and it will serve as decor for the event! Think along the lines of "blood" in the punch bowl, edible eyeballs and intestines, a gravestone cake or a disgusting kitty litter box cake!

The adult-only Halloween party can also feature Halloween-themed music and or CDs of Halloween sounds like howling wolves, creaking, cackling, whistling wind, faint screams and spooky organ music. CDs of Halloween music or sound effects can be found at most larger party stores or even downloaded online.

Planning a Halloween party for adults can be a fun project that enables the party host to use his or her creative side. To complete the spooky Halloween atmosphere, be sure to note that costumes are mandatory for all guests!