October marks the start of spooky season, and what better way to celebrate than by hosting a spooktacular Halloween party!? We’re not talking about just any party, though, but a creepy cocktail party!

Throwing a creepy cocktail party is the best way to kick off the frightening festivities. You can have your friends and family over for a night of eerie entertainment. Plus, it provides the perfect excuse for playing dress up as an adult. Hosting a cocktail party requires a lot of planning and preparation, from decorations to drinks. Luckily, planning a Halloween shindig is also a lot of fun, so you can really tap into your creative side and let your imagination run wild.

If you’re planning to host a party for the upcoming Halloween holiday, here are a few ideas to help you get started:

Set the Scene with Creepy Decor

You can’t have a Halloween party without proper decor. Scary decor helps usher in the spooky vibes you need to get your Halloween party started on the right foot. So try incorporating a few ghoulish decorations such as fake cobwebs, paper bats, or skeleton string lights to creep your guests out in style.

Use Lights To Create an Eerie Ambiance

Another way to create an eerie ambiance is by incorporating hair-raising lighting to your party. Try dimming your lights to create a dark and unsettling glow about the room. Or, arrange black or skull-shaped candles on a mantel or shelf to add a flickering, sinister vibe. And if you’re feeling particularly devious, you can use a light projector to cast ghostly shadows on the walls for a horrifying look and feel.

Build a Truly Terrifying Tablescape

A Halloween party isn’t a Halloween party without wicked good food and a terrifying tablescape to match. Whether you’re serving snacks and small bites or an entire meal, having a festive menu and tablescape is a great way to drive home your creepy Halloween motif.

For a blood-curdling tablescape, try smearing fake blood onto white butcher paper to decorate buffet tables. Or, scattering plastic spiders, bats, and mini rats on the table can provide an equally disturbing feel.

You can also decorate your tables using caution tape to place your guests at the scene of the crime. And for a scary centerpiece, add several fake eyeballs to a clear vase to create a freakish focal point.

Craft Killer Cocktails

No creepy cocktail party is complete without the star of the show — the cocktails, of course. But if mixology isn’t in your wheelhouse, don’t worry! We’ve compiled a few festive cocktail ideas that even a beginner can do. Take a look!

• Witch’s Brew: vodka, lime juice, and cranberry liqueuer complete with a sweet and tangy purple sugar rim
• Poison Apple Martini: apple cider, cranberry juice, fireball, and grenadine with an edible glitter swirl
• Eye-See-You Martini: vodka or gin, dry Vermouth, and an edible eyeball garnish made from blueberries, lychees, spicy pickled peppers, and green olives

Now that you’ve got your recipes down, you’ll need to add a few ghoulish touches to before serving. To take your killer cocktail party to the next level, serve your beverages in goblets or fake potion bottles for a mystical vibe. You can also amp up the creep factor by finishing your cocktails with a few spooky garnishes. For example, try dropping a couple of fake insects such as spiders, cockroaches, or gummy worms into your drink to make your guests do a double-take.

For extra flare,  consider also adding fake body parts — i.e. eyeballs, fingers, and toes — to your punchbowl to create a dark, macabre vibe your guests will never forget. And if you’re handing out shots, rim your shot glasses with coarse sugar in festive colors such as orange, purple, or black.