20+ Halloween Party Ideas for Adults

A pan of Rice Krispie treats takes 15 minutes, and a pink ghost on top gets them photographed before anyone takes a bite.

Make a standard batch (3 tbsp butter, 10 oz marshmallows, 6 cups cereal) in a 9x13 pan and cut it into squares once it sets.

Pipe a ghost on each square with melted pink candy melts, and add the eyes with a black edible marker after the candy hardens.

A paper straw pushed into the bottom turns them into pops. They keep for two days in an airtight container, so this is a good Thursday-night job.

This is a regular snack spread arranged in the shape of a skull, so it needs no cooking and still gets plenty of compliments.

On a large platter, outline the skull with popcorn and yogurt-covered pretzels. Fill the eye sockets with blackberries ringed with mini powdered donuts, use chocolate-covered almonds for the nose, and line up two rows of teeth with mini marshmallows and chocolate chips.

Build it right before guests arrive so the popcorn stays crisp, and set out small plates so nobody eats straight off the face.

Store-bought Oreos and a skull candy mold make a dessert that looks like it came from a bakery case.

Melt candy melts in two or three colors, fill the mold halfway, tap it on the counter to knock out air bubbles, and chill for 15 minutes.

Dip one side of each Oreo in more melted chocolate, press a skull on top, and add sprinkles before it sets.

Pastel colors lean toward a pink Halloween party, and black and white keeps it classic, so match them to your plates.

White chocolate, red syrup, and a tiny plastic knife produce the most dramatic thing on the dessert table.

Dip completely dry strawberries in melted white chocolate and let them set on parchment.

Stir a few drops of red gel food coloring into a spoonful of light corn syrup, drizzle it from the top so it runs down the sides, and push a candy or plastic knife into each berry.

Make these the day of the party, since strawberries weep in the fridge overnight.

Deviled eggs go fast at any party, and black olives turn them into spiders in about five minutes.

Make your usual deviled eggs (a dozen eggs, ⅓ cup mayo, 2 tsp yellow mustard, salt, pepper, and a dusting of paprika).

For each spider, halve a pitted black olive lengthwise.

One half is the body, and the other half, sliced into thin slivers, becomes eight legs.

Add the spiders just before serving so the olive juice doesn't bleed into the filling.

Whipped cream vodka and orange soda taste like a childhood ice cream truck, and a black sugar rim makes them Halloween.

For six drinks, mix 1½ cups chilled whipped cream vodka with 3 cups orange soda in a pitcher.

Wet the rims of six martini glasses, dip them in black sanding sugar, and let them dry for 20 minutes.

Pour, then stir 1 tbsp heavy cream into each glass for the creamsicle swirl.

Hand each guest a flute of sparkling wine with a syringe of grenadine poking out, and they get to "inject" their own drink.

Fill food-safe plastic syringes with grenadine, pour the flutes three-quarters full, and set one syringe in each glass.

It costs very little, and it's the drink everyone will take pictures of.

A plastic spider frozen into each ice cube does all the decorating.

Freeze one spider per cube the night before, and pick spiders big enough that nobody could swallow one by accident.

For each drink, shake 1½ oz vodka with 3 oz pomegranate juice, pour it over the spider ice, and top it with 6 oz seltzer.

Leave out the vodka and it's a mocktail nobody will question.

Sangria is the easiest party drink to make ahead, and floating "eyeballs" make it unmistakably Halloween.

Stir together a bottle of red wine, 2 cups cherry juice, and ½ cup spiced rum, then chill for at least 2 hours or overnight.

For the eyeballs, spoon about ⅓ tsp cherry preserves into each canned lychee and press a blueberry into the center.

Thread two onto a cocktail pick for each glass.

One punch bowl serves the whole room and keeps you out of bartending duty.

Pour 2 liters of ginger ale and 4 cups of pineapple juice into the bowl, then scoop a pint of lime sherbet on top so it foams green.

For the frozen hand, fill a new, powder-free food-safe glove with water or juice, tie it off, freeze it overnight, and cut the glove away.

Set a bottle of coconut rum next to the bowl so guests can spike their own cup, and one bowl works for drinkers and non-drinkers.

Designated drivers and anyone skipping alcohol deserve something better than a can of soda, and iced spiced cider tastes like October in a cup.

Simmer 4 cups of apple cider with 2 cinnamon sticks, 4 whole cloves, and a strip of orange peel for 10 minutes, then chill it in a pitcher.

Pour it over ice in clear cups and top each with a splash of ginger beer for fizz.

Anyone who wants a cocktail can add a shot of bourbon.

It looks best at a cozy "Falloween" place setting. Layer a Falloween Pumpkin Round Dessert Plate over an orange scalloped plate and a Falloween Plaid Scalloped Square Plate.

Tuck a Falloween Pumpkin Guest Napkin under the fork, and add gold flatware and a small jar of roasted pepitas for snacking.

Black and white looks sharp in photos and works with any costume.

Run the Black and White Boo Paper Table Runner (16" x 120") down the center and stack ghost plates at each seat.

Fold a Spooky Bat Halloween Paper Napkin on top, with its fringe scalloped edge showing.

Because the runner is paper, cleanup means rolling it up with the crumbs inside.

A pink Halloween table is sweet enough for a grown-up party and still unmistakably October.

Start with Pink Cauldron Halloween Plates, whose gold foil bubbles catch the light, and set them on a pink-and-white striped runner.

For the centerpiece, make pink candy apples: push wooden sticks into chilled Granny Smith apples, dip each one in melted pink candy melts, and leave a ring of green showing at the top.

Let them set on parchment for 30 minutes, then stack them on a pink cake stand at the back of the table so they rise over the plates.

A row of putz houses down the center of the table looks like a tiny haunted town and takes about five minutes to set up.

Line up three to five houses on the runner, vary the heights with stacked books or cake stands under a cloth, and slip a battery tea light behind each one.

A swarm of black moths with gold foil wings gives a wall a moody, grown-up look, especially by candlelight.

One pack of Halloween Moth Wall Decorations has 30 double-sided moths in three sizes (3", 5", and 6").

That's enough for one wall above the bar or the mantel. Start with the large moths low and to one side, then let the medium and small ones scatter upward and outward so the swarm looks like it's taking off.

Adhesive isn't included, so use removable mounting putty and the paint stays safe. Finish with a few lit candles on the shelf below to catch the gold, and pair it with Moonlight Moth Paper Cocktail Napkins at the bar.