Blueprint: How to throw a killer Halloween party

Read time 5 Mins

Posted 30 Oct 2025

By
Alexandra Whiting

People with a table of Halloween-themed snacks and drinks

How to be the host with the most this October 31.

Good food, good drink, good friends – at its essence, a party is a timeless combination of elements brought to life by the individual touch that hosts and guests contribute to the occasion. To help you pull off your best and most fun-filled gathering yet, our Dan’s Daily Blueprints tell you everything you need to host whatever event is next on your hit list.

Of all the holidays, Halloween might be the most fun to host. It’s all lollies, chocolate and those fake spiders suspended in red jelly. No real ‘food’ is required, and not cleaning your house only adds to the haunted effect. Halloween parties also comes with fewer expectations in Australia, where we didn’t grow up with parents going OTT on costumes.

It’s also a dress-up party that works two-fold for a host. Firstly, your mates are more focused on their lewks and less on your efforts; and secondly, costume parties are just more fun. Something about wearing a little bit of faux animal fur or false teeth makes people loosen up, go with the flow and want to have a good time. No one’s worried about their tax return when they’re dressed as a werewolf, you know? And now, you have our Halloween party blueprint. You’re going to smash this event out of the park.

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Dress code

It is important – perhaps most important – that your costume slays. As the host, your duty is to set the tone (and standard) for your guests. The best costumes are culturally relevant, clever and a little bit scary. Couples everywhere will fight to be the best Barbie and Ken. Wednesday Addams or M3GAN are great choices if you fancy a doll aesthetic. England’s Lionesses, Hailey Bieber in her “Nepo Baby” tee or Kylie Jenner’s Schiaparelli Haute Couture Show look (you know, the one with the real-size lion head on her shoulder?) are all costumes that will get chuckles, but whatever you choose, lean right into it and spread the word to your guests. Because there’s nothing that dulls a dress-up party more than people not in dress-up. This party has a strict “no costume, no entry” policy.

Bowls of lollies and wine at a Halloween party

What to eat

You may have aged out of Trick or Treating, but lollies or “candy” (it is a largely American holiday, after all) should feature largely. Halloween is also one of the only events you can host as an adult where bowls of Cheezels, Burger Rings and pretzels are not only expected, but respected. What you also want is finger food – because no one wants a sit-down dinner while they’re covered in face paint.

With that rule firmly in place, make the food part of the fun. You could dot dark chocolate eyes on white chocolate-covered strawberries to make them juicy little ghosts, add some fake eyeballs to your popcorn bowl… Honestly, once you get started, there isn’t much you can’t make look a bit creepy. A quick dive down the Pinterest rabbit hole and you’ll be left wondering why all the crudites look like human fingers.

What to drink

1. A baddie beer

Pirates are classic bad guys and an OG Halloween costume. You can go all out à la Jack Sparrow or tie on a bandana, liquid eye-liner, some stubble, add a striped tee and be done with it. The Pirate Life South Coast Pale Ale might be named for seafaring villains, but it more resembles the treasure they hunt. This beer has a golden tropical flavour and a perfectly balanced bitter-to-sweet ratio. Plus, you can say you have an “esky full of pirates” to your guests.

Man drinking Pirate Life South Coast Pale Ale with snacks

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Can of Four Pillars Bloody Shiraz Gin & Tonic on table with Halloween-themed snacks

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2. A bloody good G&T

A blood-red Gin & Tonic could not be more suited to a Halloween bash, so you can’t go past the Four Pillars Bloody Shiraz as your base spirit in this easy mixer. The Victorian distillery also makes a canned version, if you can track it down to go the easy route, but mix this complex cult-favourite gin, which is distilled with Yarra Valley shiraz, with a quality tonic, and you have an excellent on-theme drink to hand out to everyone on arrival. You could pop a plastic spider in each glass for good measure.

3. A ghostly (but great) white

From Tassie’s Cradle Coast, the Ghost Rock Cradle Pinot Gris sounds like it could inspire a sequel to Picnic at Hanging Rock. The grapes it’s made from are harvested precisely at the end of April and soaked on skins for a brief and exact amount of time before a pristine fermentation. These BTS workings may not be what you’re thinking about while you’re sipping along to Lady Gaga’s ‘Monster’, but you will clock that it’s sell-your-soul delicious.

Bottle of Ghost Rock Cradle Pinot Gris on table surrounded by Halloween-themed pie and snacks

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The Side Eye vodka Halloween-themed cocktail on a table

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4. A shady cocktail with a creepy prop

With its marbled crimson base, oozy foam top and recommended garnish of lychee and blueberries (which, when skewered a certain way, look creepily like eyeballs), the Side Eye cocktail couldn’t be more on theme. Even the name is nicely evil, in a Bravo-verse kinda way. Making it with Crystal Head Vodka will deliver a silky, clean drink, plus, the bottle doubles as spooky decor. The taste? Decidedly less evil. It’s low-key spring in a glass: tropical, tart, refreshing. And given October in Australia is sunshine time, this is the ultimate Halloween cocktail for our shores.

How to decorate

Dead plants, a layer of dust on the shelves, bathroom with mould? Good news, your sharehouse is already decorated. Bad news – after October 31, you really need to clean. Jokes aside, things can be a little grimy for a Halloween party. All you really need are some black table cloths, low lighting and space for a dance floor. But, as the TikTokers who whittle and handcraft their own Harry Potter wands from sticks collected at the park can attest, if you want to go to a lot of effort, you absolutely can. The limit to Halloween DIY decoration does not exist.

Playlist

If you’re going hardcore with your haunted mansion vibe, you would just play creepy organ music. But it’s a bit of a buzz kill. Pop music loves a spooky tune, so there is more to a Halloween playlist than Monster Mash, though it is a banger and should be played at least twice. From Rick James’ Super Freak to Rihanna’s Disturbia you can curate a perfectly punny playlist full of actually good music. Or you can whack on one already made for you.

Don’t forget

Keep a bowl of lollies aside, by the door, for Trick or Treaters only. This will save you from awkward encounters with the neighbourhood kids and ward off noise complaints later in the night – something for them, something for you.