The Art of Halloween

Party planning, yard haunts, cocktails, costumes and the effects that sell a haunted house, for adults who take October seriously.

Plan a Party Decorate the House

Fresh for October

New Guides

All party guides All decor guides

Wisps of orange and red flame curling upward against a black background

Decor

Fake Fire Effects: Silk Flames, Flame Bulbs, LED Candles and Fire on Fabric

How silk-flame lights, flame bulbs, moving-wick LED candles and projected fire work, what their makers' manuals say about heat, clearance and outdoor use, and how to make fabric look like fire without making it a fire risk.

A pile of fun-size Halloween candy on a black table, including Kit Kats, Whoppers, Reese's ghosts and tubes of Sixlets

Party Planning

Leftover Halloween Candy: How Long It Keeps, Where to Store It, What to Toss

How long chocolate, hard candy, gummies and candy corn keep, what the date on the wrapper means, storing and freezing the bowl remainder, baking it into cookies, keeping it from the dog, and what goes in the trash.

A teal classic sedan parked under trees with its trunk open, the lid hung with paper sugar skulls and the trunk filled with skeletons, skull figures and a sugar-skull banner hanging over the bumper

Decor

Trunk-or-Treat Decorating Guide: Power, Paint and What Not to Do at the Car

Decorating a car for a trunk-or-treat: why the engine stays off with the hatch open, what a car battery and a power station will actually run, magnets and the liftgate, no flames or fog at the trunk, and treats parents will keep.

A large group of adults on old stone steps beside a yellow-trimmed building, some in a witch hat, black dresses, clown makeup and a pumpkin-head mask, others in jeans and T-shirts holding cameras and pumpkin props

Party Planning

Adult Halloween Costume Ideas That Aren't "Sexy ___"

Twenty-two adult costumes from Universal monsters, folklore, puns, 2025-26 films and your own closet, each with the pieces you need and whether you can sit, eat, drink and use the bathroom in it.

A black vinyl record with a plain white label spinning on a turntable in low light, the tonearm resting in the groove

Party Planning

Essential Halloween Vinyl: 15 Records and Which Pressing to Buy

Fifteen Halloween records from Monster Mash to Suspiria, with the original label and catalog number, what each reissue actually contains, and the re-recordings, wrong-film scores and unofficial pressings to avoid.

Two tall pointed windows side by side in a dark stone wall, clear leaded panes edged with a thin border of blue and amber glass, the rest of the room in shadow

Decor

Faux Stained Glass Windows for a Haunted Mansion

How to design fake stained glass that reads as a real Gothic or Victorian window, four ways to make it (liquid leading, static cling, tissue and cardstock, painted acrylic), what each maker says about your glass, and how to light it for the street.

Browse by project

Find Your Project

Throwing a Party

Hosting & Trick-or-Treat
Invitations, budgets, safety, dinner parties, and how much candy the doorbell crowd will actually eat.
All 5 guides
Food & Drinks
Party menus, charcuterie, cocktails and mocktails, jello shots, and a punch that fogs without dry ice in the cup.
All 6 guides
Games & Activities
Grown-up party games, murder mysteries, scavenger hunts, and a photo booth guests will actually use.
All 5 guides
Costumes & Makeup
Adult costume ideas, safe makeup and fake blood, and running a costume contest people don’t argue about.
All 4 guides
Music & Movie Nights
Party playlists, the Halloween records worth owning, and hosting a horror movie night.
All 3 guides

Decorating the House

Yard Haunts, Porches & Pumpkins
Graveyards, posed skeletons, porches, jack-o’-lanterns, and keeping it all standing through October weather.
All 10 guides
Lighting, Fog & Effects
Colored light, blacklight, fog, lightning, and projection: the effects that make a house read as haunted.
All 10 guides
Props & Animatronics
Store animatronics worth buying, fixing the ones that quit, and DIY props and displays you build yourself.
All 6 guides
Indoor Rooms & Tablescapes
Room-by-room ideas for the inside of the house, from the front hallway to the bathroom and the dinner table.
All 4 guides

47 Free Printables · No Email Required

Print & Party

Invitations, bingo cards, potion labels, recipe cards, séance scripts, tombstones — every template is dark-mode by default with an ink-saving light variant for the home printer.