Dozens of ideas for celebrating the spookiest day of the year.

While the pandemic means Halloween 2020 will be different from years past, there are still lots of ways to share spooky fun and gruesome but yummy treats. Check out these ideas for a delightfully haunted holiday.

Tell ghost stories

Dim the lights and gather all the ghouls and goblins around for an epic ghost story. Get Glynn Washington’s 11 tips for telling a perfectly horrifying ghost story. (It might surprise you to know that describing gore will only decrease the fear factor. Let your audience picture the scene for themselves.)

For ready-made stories, read up on these 10 ghost stories that won’t keep the kids up all night from Country Living.

Make a haunted cookie house

If you like making gingerbread houses at Christmastime, try your hand at a spooky cookie house. Better Homes & Gardens features kits that include everything you need for a haunted house, graveyard or cookie crypt. If you prefer to DIY, check out this how-to from Allrecipes.

Get creative with face masks

Turn the masks that protect against the COVID-19 virus into one that also scares off the bogeyman. A plain white mask can easily be transformed into a skeleton face. Strips of gauze makes a perfect mummy mask. Google more mask ideas and find DIY Halloween mask directions from Lars here. 

Eat, drink and scream

• Creepy Crawler Punch garnished with gummy worms is perfect for kids of all ages.
• For the adults, serve cocktails like Black-Eyed Margaritas, Devil’s Brew and Poison Potion. Get 10 Halloween Cocktail recipes from Woman’s World.
• Skull Cucumber Pickles, Pumpkin Cheese Balls, Crispy Pita Cats are just three of 21 shareable Halloween recipes from Real Simple.
• Spooky Guacamole Cups look like witches with their blue corn chip hats and gherkin noses. We dare you to risk a curse and it eat!

The states’ favorite candies

Does a state’s favorite candy say something about the people who live there? We don’t know, but the answers could provide the basis for fun debates, either around the campfire or the next time you get on a Zoom call with friends and family from out of state. Discover the favorite Halloween candy in each state.

Decorate a Halloween tree

If you have an artificial Christmas tree stashed in the basement or in a closet, pull it out and decorate it for Halloween. Deck your tree with orange lights, construction paper chains, pumpkin and ghost ornaments and cobwebs instead of tinsel.

Carve a turnip? Yes!

Pumpkins are the traditional produce for carving but if you want a truly terrifying jack-o-lantern, start with a turnip. Fatherly provides the inspiration you need for a sinister creation.

Have a safe and happy Halloween!

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