Halloween Parties All Year 'Round
AKA Gothic Catering
Because having a tragic soul doesn't mean having no taste...
Some of these ideas are meant seriously, others are not. So whether ye be perky or mopey or somewhere in between, pop in your favorite Dead Can Dance CD, sit back, and find out how to have Halloween parties all year 'round.
Amaze your friends and terrorize your neighbours!
Spooky music for atmosphere...
A very detailed and well-researched history of Halloween can be found on Halloween: Myths, Monsters, and Devils by W.J. Bethancourt III.
Decorations Indoors and Out
Foods
Imaginative Links and Resources
Decorations Indoors and Out
Tons of excellent decorating ideas can always be found on such pages as Gothic Martha Stewart, GawthKrafte, or the AGF FAQ page. Just take the ideas they have for decorating your room and use them to decorate your living room for the party. Think blacklights and candles...
Light a Samhain fire in a fireplace or make a symbolic one out of red crepe paper and glitter. Play a light over the surface of your creation with a red filter over it to simulate movement. Don't forget a little wicker man to symbolize your human sacrifice. Or you could have a drawing to see how the real sacrifice is.Hand out copies of the medieval Mass for the Dead (Missa Pro Defunctis). You can find copies of this on the web and in libraries that carry music.These can be made in realistic white, gothic black, or anything in between, even glitter for the perkies among us. This will make a web about 10" square, but the sizes can be adjusted, so long as you keep proportions.Squeeze a bit of white glue onto some waxed paper. Draw a 9" piece of twine through the glue to coat the twine, pinching the excess off with your fingers. Lay one end of the glued twine in the center of another piece of waxed paper to form the first spoke of your web. Working outward from center, lay down the twine in a circular pattern to make the skeleton of the web. Lay longer pieces (12") of twine dipped in glue across the top of the web to form the spoke to spoke parts of the web. Pinch into shape. Let dry at least 4 hours. Carefully peel off the waxed paper.
Use these as general decorations, coat with weather-proofing to hang outside, or use them as placemats. You could even lay one over the top of a chocolate cake and cover with powdered sugar. Carefully lift the web off the cake, and you should have a web pattern on top of the cake.
If you have a nice entryway or a hallway leading to the room where the party will actually be held, decorate this area with blacklights and flashing white Christmas lights. Have foil spirals as if the guests were walking through the passage to the afterlife.Draw a large pentagram on the floor of the main party room in colored, glow-in-the-dark chalk (you can usually find this at Wally World or Target). Don't forget the astronomical and alchemical symbols around the edges. Be sure to warn people not to muss the lines *or else.* (NOTE: I actually like to do this in public elevators, too, and warn the other passengers not to step over the lines too much or smudge them...)Get some black and white film a couple of weeks before the party and take a walking tour through the oldest cemetary in your town. Take pictures of some of the nicer tombstones, broken gates, or cemetary angels. Whatever catches your aesthetic interest. After you develop the film, pick your favorite and have it blown up to at least an 8x10. Frame that and use it as a centerpiece on your table. Or, frame several smaller ones as a cluster. These photos will look very nice on the walls, too, especially if touched up in blacklight or silver paint. Remember, it takes extra time for most film developing places to develop black and white film; they usually have to send it off.Drape black fishnetting or tulle over everything, along with grey tarp to mimic shroud material. Some of the shrouds should be muddy and bloody. Flickering candlelight and blacklight look particularly ghoulish over linen.Write the invitations on the back of Halloween/carnival masks or paper mache death masks you've made of yourself and your family members.Make a tombstone for each of your guests. You can make really tiny ones out of wood or plastic to stick in drinks or cakes, or you can make bigger ones and put them in the front yard or around the room. You can get big sheets of foam insulation board from any home decorating store, like Lowe's or Home Depot. Cut it into shape with a knife, paint it black and grey, and you're off. Don't forget to paint the bottoms a mottled green and make the shapes different and interesting, not just the old cliche oval shape.Paper Mache ghosts:Soak strips of newspaper in paper mache. Cover an entire balloon with the strips and allow to dry over night. When dry, attach white streamers to the bottom of the balloon/ghost head. Paint the balloon white and draw on eyes or paint eyes. Attach string to top for hanging.
For a spider:
Cover one blown up balloon with paper mache. Allow to dry overnight. Paint your balloon black and allow paint to dry. Glue 8 strips of construction paper or pipe cleaners to body of spider to form the legs. You could also make paper mache legs by covering hoses or something else with the wet paper mache. Decorate spider as you see fit, with stickers, blood, or painted designs. Surround with webbing. Make small ones to fill with candy.
Make death masks of your loved ones: Cut strips of Plaster of Paris bandages (available at pharmacies) into about 2" lengths. Grease your face or friend's face well with Vaseline (tie hair back). Dip strips into bowl of water, one by one, and squeeze out all water before applying to face. Repeat strip by strip, overlapping by about 1/2 inch. Smooth out the strips as you go. Leave breathing holes and eye openings.The entire process should take 10 to 12 minutes from Vaseline application until peeling off face. The mask will separate from face as it dries. In about 15 to 20 minutes the mask will be ready for painting and decorating as desired, or leave white for the traditional death mask look.
Foods
And don't forget the Pinot Noir...Spider Guts Cake
Wormy Apples
Miscellaneous Food-Related Ideas
Spider Guts Cake- Devil's food cake mix that will make two 9" round cakes
- lime or other green Jell-O
- dark chocolate fudge frosting
- small candies, such as M&Ms or Skittles
- black licorice sticks
When the cakes are cool, cut a strip down the center about 2" wide. Discard this center strip or save for other desserts.
Split the larger of the two cake rounds in half horizontally. Hollow out part of the cake from the center, being careful not to poke through. Spoon the whipped Jell-O into this hollow and put the round back together.
Push the 2 rounds together to make head and body ovals and frost with the black frosting. You should have something that is shaped vaguely like a spider. Attach the licorice to the sides as legs, and use the candies to make red, beady eyes. Add fangs with crystallized sugar, if desired. If you like, use red gel frosting to make an hourglass shape on the spider's back.
The whipped green Jell-O should spill out like spider guts when you cut into it.
Wormy Baked Apples- 6 lg apples
- 1/2 c *each* raisins and chopped walnuts
- 1/2 c packed brown sugar
- 1/4 c water
- 1/4 c (1/2 stick) butter, melted
- 1/2 tsp *each* ground cinnamon and nutmeg
- Gummy Worms
- Whipped cream
Core apples, leaving stem ends intact. Mix raisins and walnuts and stuff into cavities of cored apples. Set apples, stems up in a 7x12" pan.
In a large pan, mix brown sugar, water, butter,cinnamon, and nutmeg; stir over high heat until mixture boils. Pour hot syrup around apples. Bake, uncovered, in 350~ oven, basting occasionally with syrup, until apples are tender when pierced and skin begins to crack, 30 to 35 minutes.
Remove apples from oven; cool in pan at least 10 minutes or let cool to room temperature. Set each apple in a small bowl and spoon syrup around fruit. On the side of each apple, cut a hole large enough for one of the gummy worms and tuck one end into each apple, leaving most of the worm dangling. Offer cream to pour over apples.
Miscellaneous Food Ideas
Get some brain molds from Archie McPhee. The mold includes a recipe for properly brain-colored gelatin. Really. One of these falling out of your desk at work just as your annoying co-workers walk by is also pretty entertaining. This catalog is a creepy caterer's best friend, with their body bags, mutant skulls, and warrior nun action figures...If you have an appropriately spooky drink, such as a lovely green absinthe or chartreuse, plant a white grow-light behind it to make the liquid shine with its own inner fire.
Resources for Further Inspiration
See Bob's Halloween Page for instructions on building real Haunted House special effects.Check out The Halloween-l Archives for further information on all aspects of Halloween, including safety issues.
La Dia de los Muertos has tons of information on the Mexican Day of the Dead, a truly creepy and hauntingly beautiful occasion.
Return to GothniCityReturn to Dindrane's Personal Page.
Return to Main Index.