Halloween is lurking around the corner, and it’s time to think about making your event stand out in this season of chills and thrills. Plenty of people will be setting up events where the only theme is “Halloween,” but you understand you’ll need something more interesting to make yours a can’t-miss.
By having a more specific theme that guides what attendees can expect, you can make your event more cohesive, distinctive, and attractive to the right audience. If you’re trying to create a memorable and spooky event, you can find your inspiration here.
From eerie Victorian carnivals to the zombie apocalypse, we’ve compiled a list of Halloween theme ideas that will spark your creativity and leave your guests with an unforgettable experience. Get ready to take your Halloween party planning to the next level!
Haunting Halloween themes
Family-friendly Halloween event themes
Corporate Halloween theme ideas
How to make your Halloween event stand out
How we rated our Halloween theme ideas
To make this guide even more useful, we rated each of these ideas on their difficulty, cost, and family-friendliness. Those are three of the most important factors for event creators to consider before they start putting an event together.
Difficulty: We judged difficulty on factors like how far ahead you’d need to plan the event and how many different vendors and third parties might be involved. One 👻 means the event would be easy to throw together in a matter of days, whereas five means that you might need months.
Cost: Event costs can be tricky to estimate, but we did our best to consider both your own labor costs and the cost of hiring third parties to do some of the work for you. One 💸 means you might be able to create the event with what you have on hand or a quick shopping trip, and five means it could reach into the thousands of dollars.
Family-friendliness: This can vary widely, but some Halloween events tend to be more or less family-friendly while others have factors (like scares!) that make them better suited for adult audiences. One 👧 means it’s more geared towards a grown-up crowd and five means it’s fun for the whole family.
Spooky Halloween event themes
Halloween lets us unlock the fun in fear, freeing us to get a little scary once a year.
These spooky themes keep the spirit of Halloween alive, creating a unique and memorable experience for your guests.
1. Carnival of horrors
Difficulty: 👻👻👻👻
Cost: 💸💸💸
Family Friendly: 👧👧
Circus tents, spooky clowns, and carnival workers with unnatural abilities make a carnival of horrors a superb fright fest. This is a great opportunity to include carnival games with a creepy ambiance and reward your attendees with fun prizes.
To really leave an impression, take a note from Third Eye Productions and include some real-life paranormal experts in your carnival. Psychics, paranormal investigators, and anyone else with a job that puts them in contact with the unexplained are all ideal guests.
2. Vampire ball
Difficulty: 👻👻👻
Cost: 💸💸
Family Friendly: 👧
Event creators like Endless Night Productions throw vampire balls as a way to bring an upscale air while keeping the party theme spooky. A vampire ball is a gothic event with dark décor and vampire-themed food. Endless Night even worked with a professional fang maker to make their event stand out!
Make the type of vampire theme clear to your guests, whether you’re thinking of modern vampires (with sparkles!) or Bram Stoker’s. Don’t forget spooky music and bloody decorations to match.
Even if you don’t have a professional fang maker on hand, you can still add to the theme with fake blood punch, gothic party decor, or even a vampire hunter there to catch the creatures of the night.
3. Classic horror movies
Difficulty: 👻👻
Cost: 💸
Family Friendly: 👧👧
Whether it’s Nosferatu, Frankenstein, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, or another cult classic, old scary movies make a fantastic event theme. Those movies are all public domain, so you don’t need a license to screen them at your event.
You can make the movie the main event like The Virginia did at their screening, or you can create a broader event with one or all of those films as part of the theme. Encourage guests to dress as their favorite characters and serve them themed refreshments.
4. Victorian ghosts
Difficulty: 👻👻
Cost: 💸💸
Family Friendly: 👧👧👧
Want to dress up in the formal, elaborate aesthetic of the Victorian era but with the added twist of 19th-century horror? A Victorian ghost-themed event can be an elaborate but fun way to put a unique twist on your Halloween celebrations.
You can set up activities like a Ouija board, a séance, or even a game of charades with your guests dressed in their ghoulish best. You could also tour local buildings built in the Victorian era like the Historic Downtown Plattsmouth Association did.
5. Twisted fairy tales
Difficulty: 👻👻
Cost: 💸
Family Friendly: 👧👧👧
Take the familiar stories your attendees grew up hearing and give them a twist of horror! Plenty of the original stories are darker than their modern versions, so you can theme your event based on those.
Alternatively, you can keep your event more family-friendly and skip the Brothers Grimm original versions. That’s the track that Torrington Library took with their fairy tale-themed haunted house.
Family-friendly Halloween event themes
In a holiday all about fright, it can be tricky to make sure your events are as family-friendly as possible. But kids love it — over 42 million Americans go trick-or-treating! That’s why we’ve rounded up five themes that make it easy to keep the scares to a minimum while still creating a festive Halloween atmosphere.
6. Everything pumpkins!
Difficulty: 👻
Cost: 💸
Family Friendly: 👧👧👧👧👧
Pumpkin-themed events are a fantastic way to create a family-friendly Halloween atmosphere. From pumpkin-carving contests to orange pumpkin-decorated spaces, this theme can be both festive and fun for all ages. Kids will love participating in pumpkin painting activities or scavenger hunts for hidden pumpkin treasures.
You can also set up a DIY Pumpkin Spice station for adults, offering them the chance to prepare their own pumpkin spice latte. Teaching a class on how to make pumpkin treats like they did at Shelburne Farms is another great way to keep both parents and kids engaged. Of course, it helps if you have a local pumpkin patch nearby you can partner with.
7. Fantastic creatures
Difficulty: 👻👻
Cost: 💸
Family Friendly: 👧👧👧👧👧
While Halloween is typically associated with ghosts and ghouls, a fantastic creatures-themed event offers a more whimsical and imaginative approach that is perfect for families. The theme can revolve around magical beings from folklore, mythology, or popular children’s literature, such as unicorns, dragons, fairies, and mermaids.
For example, when A Faery Hunt wants to create a memorable event for their young attendees, they go all-out with fairy-themed costumes and fun games for everyone to enjoy. Dancing, storytelling, and other activities all follow the fantastic theme, and the Halloween season gives everyone a reason to come in costume.
8. DIY Halloween
Difficulty: 👻
Cost: 💸
Family Friendly: 👧👧👧👧👧
Do-it-yourself (DIY) culture has never been more popular, with the DIY industry valued at over $773.90 billion in 2023. That makes a DIY theme a great way to incorporate fun projects and crafts for kids (and parents), all while saving everyone some money. It’s amazing what you can put together with some toilet paper and googly eyes!
The DIY possibilities are endless, with food, decorations, and costumes among the most popular things to make yourself. Who knows, maybe it’s even possible to make candy bars, gummy worms, or candy corn from scratch!
Feel free to get creative, like the Halloween Emporium and Haunted Tea Room did with their class on making your own Hocus Pocus bath fizzes. This is a low-key but fun activity that anyone can do, and it fits perfectly with the season’s themes.
9. Real-life creepy creatures
Difficulty: 👻👻👻
Cost: 💸💸💸
Family Friendly: 👧👧👧👧👧
Why keep the scares to ghosts and creatures of fantasy? Bats and spiders are standard Halloween decorations, and this can be a great opportunity to educate your guests about what makes those animals amazing.
Consider partnering with an organization that does similar events, like the Lancaster Public Library did with their Critter Connections animal education events. Then, you can add your Halloween theme to make it even more fun for everyone!
10. Friendly ghost gathering
Difficulty: 👻👻
Cost: 💸💸
Family Friendly: 👧👧👧👧👧
Ghosts don’t have to be scary — there are plenty of friendly ones too! This theme is ideal for a low-key Halloween celebration and can fit with a wide variety of different events.
You’ll need to walk a very careful line between an exciting event and something too scary for younger attendees, so it’s important to be cautious. It could be helpful if you work with people who are experienced in creating kid-friendly spooky activities, like when the Marshall’s Governor’s Mansion worked with local ghost hunters for their paranormal activity for kids.
Get the word out with Eventbrite’s marketing tools!
Exciting Halloween themes
These themes take traditional Halloween events up a notch, offering attendees an experience they won’t find anywhere else. Try one of these exciting themes for those who want to break away from the norm and experience something truly unique.
11. Haunted prom
Difficulty: 👻👻
Cost: 💸💸
Family Friendly: 👧👧👧
Bring a medley of Halloween costumes and characters for an exciting, haunted dance. Dress up in your best prom attire and prepare to scare up some wicked fun.
To make it a night to remember, partner with musicians like the Roots Music Project did for their Motown Haunted Prom. You can elect a prom king and queen or even include a Carrie-themed surprise for one (informed) guest!
12. Witch’s coven
Difficulty: 👻👻👻
Cost: 💸💸
Family Friendly: 👧
A witch’s coven, or a group of witches, is a perfect theme for accessing the more magical side of Halloween. Encourage guests to come dressed as witches or warlocks, and you can even set up activities like rituals or spell-casting classes.
If you don’t have the expertise yourself, there are practicing witches holding events in many cities. You can bring groups like The Witches’ Conclave to teach classes, perform rituals, or read tarot for your attendees.
13. Zombie apocalypse
Difficulty: 👻👻👻👻
Cost: 💸💸
Family Friendly: 👧👧
Want to get everyone on their feet with a common goal? All it takes is an apocalypse.
A zombie apocalypse is a great theme for any event you want to spice up with some excitement. For example, you could take a regular charity walk and give it a sense of excitement and urgency by adding zombies, as Robot Pumpkin did with their zombie walk event.
You can bring in local makeup artists and encourage people to bring old, dirty, and torn clothes to give your zombie volunteers realistic costumes. Consider offering some “brains” as snacks for everyone, or even some “finger” foods!
14. Phobias
Difficulty: 👻👻👻
Cost: 💸💸
Family Friendly: 👧
What could be more on-theme with Halloween than fear itself? Whether it’s arachnophobia, claustrophobia, or even phobophobia (the fear of being afraid!), you can create booths or challenges for people to face their fears.
You can provide food, games, or make costumes themed to different fears and give your attendees a chance to face them. Set the mood with a fog machine, and make sure to provide a space for people to take a break from the fun.
Professional Halloween theme ideas
Make your corporate Halloween event stand out this year with a creative and unique event theme. These ideas will give your guests something to talk about long after the event ends and make sure they leave feeling entertained, spooked, or inspired — depending on which one you choose.
15. Murder mystery
Difficulty: 👻👻👻👻
Cost: 💸
Family Friendly: 👧👧👧
Bring some excitement to your professional event with a murder mystery theme party! It’s the perfect ice-breaker for a team building event. A mystery makes sure everyone has something fun and unexpected to do. You can provide guests with creative costumes, clues, and suspects before they work together in teams to solve the case.
If you’re having trouble creating the crime scene and mystery yourself, you can work with murder mystery specialists like The Dinner Detective to customize a fun story for your group. Just make sure you let them access the party snacks too!
16. Spooky speakeasy
Difficulty: 👻👻👻
Cost: 💸💸💸
Family Friendly: 👧
Combine the allure of a hidden bar from the roaring ’20s with the chills and thrills of Halloween at your haunted speakeasy-themed event. This theme offers an air of mystery and class, creating an environment where guests can enjoy the elegance of a bygone era peppered with spooky elements.
You can encourage attendees to dress in vintage attire, adding a layer of authenticity to the event, like Haunted Speakeasy does with their events.
Take the decorations to the next level by incorporating antique furniture, dim lighting, and vintage cocktail menus. Ghostly flappers and phantom jazz musicians can add to the haunted vibe. You could even consider including password-protected entrances or secret rooms to make your event interactive, echoing the clandestine nature of real speakeasies during the Prohibition era.
This theme is excellent for creating a unique, immersive experience that your guests won’t soon forget.
17. Masquerade ball
Difficulty: 👻👻👻
Cost: 💸💸
Family Friendly: 👧👧
A masquerade ball offers an alluring atmosphere perfect for adults to celebrate Halloween. A masquerade ball encourages guests to dress up in imaginative costumes, generally from the Victorian or Renaissance period, adding a touch of class and mystery while allowing attendees to come in costume.
You can host activities like dance lessons, tarot card readings, and more to make your event even more interactive. Add props like masks, feather boas, and veils to enhance the masquerade vibe. You can even have a costume contest to encourage commitment to the theme like Tiffany Brown did at her masquerade.
18. Monsters Inc.
Difficulty: 👻👻👻👻
Cost: 💸💸
Family Friendly: 👧👧👧
What better theme for a Halloween networking party than a room full of executive monsters?
Let your attendees’ imaginations run wild with a Halloween-themed event. Attendees with different types of jobs or from different industries can come themed with different monsters — are salespeople charming vampires? Have engineers built themselves into Frankenstein’s monsters? The ideas are limitless.
Just make sure to make your expectations clear and have everyone onboard with costumes and decorations. You’ll also want to ensure everyone knows if there are any guidelines for appropriate clothing.
How to make your Halloween event stand out
Throwing a Halloween party is an excellent way to get into the spooky spirit. With some creativity and effort invested in your decorations, costumes, and activities, you can make your Halloween event stand out from the rest.
But to make sure as many people come to your next Halloween event as possible, you’ll need the right tools at your fingertips. To easily put your event on the world’s most popular events search engine and advertise it to your target audience, try using Eventbrite Ads.
On every chilly Halloween,
When the old clock tower rings,
Ghosts and ghouls gather great groups,
Werewolves and vampires with fearsome fangs.
But how do they discern their destined path?
What summons them from their lair?
A whisper on the wind foretells of the night
That clouds of bats will fill the air.
Only one page calls them out,
The creatures that spook and fright.
It tells them what to do and where to go,
Its name, of course: Eventbrite.
Ready to spread the word about your Halloween event?
