The most famous witch-hunt in history happened in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692, where 20 people were executed for being suspected as witches. Definitely not a party for young children, as it may just frighten your guests to death.
Throw a Halloween party with witchy results. Make everyone dress up as puritan era settlers who look like they walked out of the 1692 Salem witch trials. Long tattered and torn cotton night dresses and a bonnet would do.
Decorate your house like an old, abandoned building. Cover the furniture with white sheets and strew fake spider web and straw around the area. Set up one corner of the room where guests can have their pictures taken. Hang portraits with eyes cut out in old antique-looking frames behind seats. People can stand behind the picture and look through the cut out eyes and be the life of the party. If you have a digital camera, you take your guests picture and print it out as a memento of the party.
Put up “keep out” signs all over the front yard, for that ominous warning. Line up several old brooms haphazardly outside your front door, and hang dark colored capes on nails studs beside them. Turn off all electric lights inside your house and use dimly lit candles scattered around the place. Make sure you follow fire safety protocol to prevent serious accidents. Stack old dusty books on tables and line bottles filled with mystery potions beside them.
Have your guests hold séances and conjure up more guests through Ouija boards. Make your games more interactive by tapping into their creativity. You will need to gather props for this, so keep your eyes peeled for things found around the house. One game is to make them make the scariest Halloween with objects found within the area. Make sure you have a designated place where they can build their scene. Set a time limit for them. The team who can put together the most gruesome scene using various props wins!
Don’t be afraid of getting silly with your guests, you could just play a simple game of hide and seek in the dark or make a game out of turning spare rooms into haunted houses. Play witch hunt by asking your guests to look for items you have hidden around the immediate area, vary points according to objects to make the game more interesting. That would surely bring out the child in every adult.
If budget is not a problem, you can even commission spooky ice carving as centerpieces for your table. Your choices are endless. Choose from a cornucopia, dried farm corn, or even mini pumpkins can be used together for an autumn centerpiece. A small water fountain or a smoking cauldron brimming with autumn harvest can be a culinary Halloween feast. Let your imagination be your friend. Pass around bloody popcorn to your guests by mixing red food coloring to the melted butter before you pour it over the popcorn. Serve old fashioned pumpkin pie and caramel apple wedges for that old world taste. Brew your own special witch’s tea using cinnamon sticks, a few cloves and fresh chopped ginger with your usual tea.
