If you’re searching for Halloween party ideas, I have a few for you. I love Halloween, and we’ve hosted numerous Halloween parties. Some were for kids, some were for families, and some were for adults only. No matter which type of spooky party we had, we always included decorations, activities, entertainment, and great southern food. For the adult parties, there were mixed drinks, wine, and beer, too.

How scary do you want your party to be? It should definitely be age appropriate. Real horror and gore are fine when only adults will be in attendance, but you want to tone it down some for kids – especially for younger kids. With kids, “spooky” is better than real horror. For adults, however, the scarier the better!

Entertainment for your Halloween party might include magic acts, dance contests, pumpkin carving contests, live music, and/or hay rides. And don’t think a hay ride can’t be scary. At a couple of our Halloween parties, we included a “hay ride of horror.” The guests on the hay ride figured they were just taking a nice, relaxing ride, but we had a big surprise for them. We used a large livestock trailer for the ride. The trialer had tall slotted sides and was filled with hay. Near the end of the course of the ride, we planted a pal who was dressed in a Halloween costume. For the adult hay ride, the guy was dressed up as Jason from the Halloween movie, and he was weilding a “bloody” knife. He jumped up on the side of the trailer, climbed in, and proceeded to “attack” one of the guests. The attackee was in on the plot, and he was equipped with some fake blood. As Jason attacked and stabbed the guest, he “bled” everywhere, on cue. Of course, the two tricksters had practiced the scenario several times, so it looked very realistic.