How to Host a Halloween Movie Night

Halloween is a fun celebration of candy, costumes and spooky cheer that kids and adults alike anticipate every year. It also brings with it the perfect excuse--if you need one--to to gather friends and family for an evening of fun, food and a few fright films. What's more, with some creativity and planning, it is fairly easy to host a Halloween movie night that you and your guest will cherish for quite a while. Read on to learn more about hosting a Halloween movie night.

Instructions

1. Choose a theme. Pick movies that are in keeping with the spooky, suspenseful and scare-filled spirit of Halloween. The Halloween movie genre offers everything from gory horror-fest to chilling psychological thrillers to light comedy. Pick two or three movies that are thematically-related. "Practical Magic," "The Worst Witch," "Halloween," and "Casper" are just some of the hundreds of options out there.

2. Turn your film night into a full-blown Halloween party by having people to come in fancy dress. Choose a film theme for the costumes to make it even more fun. An antebellum thriller can have guests looking like they stepped out of a scene from "Gone with the Wind" to attend your party, but a "A Nightmare Before Christmas" can have everybody looking animated!

3. Get your media set up to enhance the spooky ambiance. Decorations of all kinds are welcome at a Halloween party. Create an eerie, spooky atmosphere by replacing your light bulbs with black or red bulbs. Keep your lighting dim.

4. Make sure everyone has somewhere to sit or lie! Borrow or buy some beanbags if you don't have enough chairs. Hand out some comforters and pillows for those who want something to clutch or huddle behind in the scary parts. Light the path to the bathroom or movie munchies with strings of glowing or flickering Halloween-themed lighting.

5. Spice up your Halloween movie night with some seriously spooky refreshments. See the Resources section for links to Halloween recipes for some gory goodies. Alternatively, order in some pizza or lay out a spread of drinks and chips. Have a pot luck with each guest bringing movie munchies.

6. Purchase or make Halloween-themed invitations. Send out your invitations and get set for a night of spooky fun.

Tips & Warnings

• Schedule your party relatively late in the evening, after dinnertime. It's creepier that way, and you just have to serve finger foods and snacks.

• Don't show extreme gore to kids. Make sure to show an age appropriate movie if a child will be attending the party.

Resources

• Fun Halloween recipe
• More Halloween recipes
• Halloween Backgrounds, Images, Borders and Lines
• More Halloween clip art and graphics