Halloween: 5 tips for the scariest parties!

The time for pumpkin lanterns and witchy parties is here again! If you also enjoy brightening up the increasingly dark days with small or large Halloween gatherings, we have a few ideas for making them even more memorable.

Halloween originally developed from the expression “All Hallows’ Eve,” meaning the eve of All Saints’ Day. It originated with the ancient Celts, who believed that on the night of October 31, the order of the world was disrupted, the boundaries between the afterlife and their world became blurred, and the dead and other supernatural beings could roam freely. People tried to keep these spirits away from their homes through countless rituals, which later became intertwined with Roman Catholic holidays, such as All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day.

In North America, Welsh, Scottish, and Irish immigrants also introduced these traditions. They began carving jack-o’-lanterns—originally from rutabagas, in fact!—and frightening costumes appeared, intended to scare away the spirits roaming freely that night. These customs are still observed today, and Halloween has become a particular favorite among children. Dressed up in costumes, they go from house to house, collecting a large portion of their annual candy supply by calling out, “Trick or treat!”

For a few years now, hosting Halloween parties has also become increasingly popular here, with more and more people taking every opportunity to dress up and have a great time with their friends. Stores are happy to help, too: since roughly the end of summer, they have been filled with spider-themed chocolates, blood-red cups, and glowing pumpkins.

Here, not everyone observes Halloween strictly on October 31; some people celebrate only in early November, and that is perfectly fine too. If the goal is having fun together and enjoying ourselves, rather than scaring away spirits, then it ultimately makes little difference whether we celebrate a week earlier or later. Besides—and this is no small consideration, especially these days—around the end of October we can already buy ghostly garlands, witch costumes, vampire fangs, and similar items at much more favorable prices…

5 useful essentials for Halloween parties:

1. The pumpkin lantern. If you have neither the time nor the inclination to start carving, stick a face onto it using stickers! It will not light up, but during the day it will look just as good in front of the door—perhaps even better. If you would not want to skip the carving, go ahead and give it a try; it seems more difficult than it actually is!
2. Scary food. We do not mean milk that expired a few weeks ago but is still sitting in the fridge, or a forgotten piece of bread—although there are few things scarier than discovering a hidden bread roll weeks later… Not that anything like that has ever happened at our place; we just know someone who told us about it. The only limit to Halloween treats is your imagination. Did your brownie collapse? No problem—turn it into a grave mound with marzipan crosses! Do the children at a party eat nothing but sausages? Wrap them in ready-made puff pastry, leaving only the tops exposed, and you have a mummy. Mozzarella eyeballs are sure to be a hit, too.

3. Plastic spiders on the food. If you do not have time to fuss over the frightening treats mentioned above, get a small box of toy spiders, wash them thoroughly, and simply place them on the table—or even on top of the food. Finding them in the bowl while looking for snacks will be great fun!

4. A skeleton at the door. You can already buy them in several stores, but you can also make life-sized paper skeletons yourselves. Stick one to the entrance door so that it is the first thing guests see when they come in. For the full effect, dim lighting is best—at least until they notice it…

Costumes. You can get yourselves into the mood weeks before the party by planning your costumes! It will be especially exciting for children to decide what frightening creature they would like to dress up as—at least for those who want to be frightening. We have heard several people say that they will be “a vampire’s parrot,” meaning an ordinary parrot that is technically a vampire’s, or “a princess who used to be a monster but is beautiful again now.” Dress up with the children, smear fake blood on your faces, put in vampire fangs, and you will see how much fun you can have laughing at one another—and at yourselves!