20 Creative College Halloween Party Ideas

College Halloween Party Ideas

Gearing up for Halloween is one of the best parts of fall. If you’ve let the part planning slide a bit, don’t worry. We’ve rounded up twenty tips that will let you piece together the perfect party complete with decorations, costume ideas and even help with the nibbles.

Set the Scene

creepy halloween table

1. Have a classic horror movie playing in the background. If you’re going for a classic Halloween party vibe, choose a series of scary movies to have playing in the background. Running every installment of ‘Friday the 13th’ or ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’ is a great way to get people talking and provide the perfect backdrop for Halloween. Keep the volume low and limit it to one TV set – be sure you have music playing elsewhere.

2. A great play list is a work of art. Don’t leave setting your music until the last minute. This isn’t the time to throw your MP3 collection on shuffle and hope for the best. Comb through your collection and ask friends to chip in as well. Include every Halloween reference you can by including tunes from modern artists like Rob Zombie and the classic rock group the Zombies.

3. Set the table. If you’re using one large table for food, cover the top with a black sheet and put striped socks on each leg. Finish the look with old shoes at the bottom of each leg – instant witch’s table!

4. Get every room. Make sure every room guests will be in is decorated – including the bathroom. Rolls of crime scene tape, “bloody” hand prints made with dyed corn syrup and plastic bugs and snakes can all give a room an instantly creepy feel.

Costume Themes

scary party halloween costumes

5. The Time Travelers – Everyone has to come dressed up as themselves from the last year in junior high.

6. 8-Bit Party – Have your guests dress as their favorite 8-bit character. Extra points for guests who can imitate their character’s signature sounds like being able to talk in Q-Bert or beat their chest like Donkey Kong.

7. Still a Better Love Story than Twilight – Have guests come as any two-some they want. Meanwhile team up with a fellow party host (or hosts) to dress as the main characters from Twilight.

8. Rick Astley, LOLCatz and More Cowbell – Guests can dress as their favorite internet meme.

9. Saturday Morning Cartoons – Guests dress up as their favorite character from Saturday Morning cartoons, past or present. Offer special prizes for the oldest character.

10. Fast Forward – Pick your favorite reality show personality and then dress as them 30 years in the future. What will a 40 year old Honey Boo Boo look like? How about a 60 year old Snooki?

Take a look at our blog on Halloween costume ideas if you need more ideas!

Decorations

scary pumpkin halloween decoration

11. Hit the local thrift shops. Thrift stores may have some Halloween items, but you’re really looking for creepy dolls, half broken toys and clothes that would make a zombie turn around and walk the other way. Remember – one man’s trash is another man’s nightmare.

12. Fill clear latex gloves with candy and tie the wrists with ribbon. Spread them around the party as ‘handy candy’ for people to take away with them.

13. Get back in touch with your childhood cutting skills. Take a garbage bag, fold it into a triangle, then again. Cut away panels and then open it – instant (and huge) spider web.

14. Make a massive spider for your new web. Get a foam ball core or just crunch up tin foil. Use foil covered pipe cleaners for the legs.

15. Make glow in the dark balloons. Pick up plain white balloons from a dollar store and put a glow stick inside before you blow them up. Do them right before guests start to arrive so the sticks stay bright throughout the party.

Food Ideas

scary fingers halloween dish

16. Hands in the Punchbowl. Get two rubber gloves and wash the inside really well to get out any powder. Fill with water, freeze then pop out two perfect disembodied hands to keep your punchbowl chilly.

17. Recruit the help of chemistry students. Have your friends bring in beakers and flasks and serve drinks in them instead of glasses or cups.

18. Make Brain cupcakes. Get a frosting bag with a thin tip or just grab an empty ketchup or mustard squeeze bottle. Make cupcakes per normal but ice them with white frosting in thin lines to replicate the look of brains.

19. Fossil Cookies. Make sugar cookies per normal. Press plastic bugs into the top of each cookie, remove then freeze until set (about 30 minutes) Bake as usual and serve.

20. Bleeding Heart Cake. Fill a heart shaped cake tin with opaque pink Jello and let it set. Then fill a plastic bag with corn syrup and red food coloring, strawberry jam or blended berries. Set the bag in the middle of the set cake and fill the tin with another batch of solid pink Jello. Let the whole thing set overnight and then serve. Use a Psycho knife to cut and be sure to remove any bits of the plastic bag before serving it to your guests.

Have you thrown an epic Halloween party? Share your own tips for a historic Halloween below. If you are too tired to throw a party on your own, you can visit one of scariest Halloween hapennings. Happy Halloween!

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