How to Celebrate Halloween as a Teenager

Co-authored by Amy Guerrero

Last Updated: March 20, 2023 References

Once you are a teenager, Halloween might seem like a holiday for little children. But even if you feel too old to go trick-or-treating, there are still plenty of ways to have fun on Halloween. In fact, Halloween gets even more fun when you get older.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Throwing a Party

1
Come up with a theme. Do you have a favorite scary movie, or a favorite spooky character? Do you like zombies, or ghosts, or ghouls? Create a theme around that!
- Your theme can dictate the kinds of costumes your guests wear. For example, you might host a Dead Rock Star party, where everyone must come dressed as their favorite dead rock star.^{[1]
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- You can also theme your games and activities at your party. One idea is to have a pumpkin-themed party—have your guests compete to carve the best pumpkin, and then serve as judges for the finished products.^{[2]
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2
Make Halloween-inspired snacks and drinks to serve. There are countless fun recipes for Halloween treats that you can try out and serve at your party.
- Try making some "Witches Fingers" by dyeing some honey with red food coloring, dipping pretzel rods in it, and rolling the honey-dipped pretzels in crushed peanuts.^{[3]
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- Craft special Halloween-themed drinks for your party guests. You could try the “Pugsley Adams Punch” which calls for equal parts orange juice, white grape juice, cranberry juice, pineapple juice, apple juice, and lemon-lime soda, then garnish the glasses with a gummy worm.
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3
Put together a haunted house. Set aside a room in your house, or use your garage or backyard, and create a walk-through haunted house to scare your party guests with.
- Use spooky sound effects and music to make the house even scarier. You can buy Halloween sound effects CDs or download them to play at the party.
- Use red and black lights to create a spooky ambiance in your haunted house and at your party.^{[4]
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- Have friends volunteer to hide in the haunted house and jump out to scare other guests as they walk through.
4
Plan some Halloween games to play during the party. These can range from costume charades where your guests have to guess each other's costumes, to playing hide-and-seek in the backyard once it gets dark.
- One fun game to create for your guests is a DIY costume table. Use some leftover materials from school projects or crafts and allow your guests to make their own masks when they arrive.^{[5]
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- Another activity to try is to have your guests "guess the body part" in covered boxes. Use things like cooked noodles to feel like intestines, peeled grapes to feel like eyes, and a chunk of jello to feel like a liver. Challenge your guests to guess which body part they've felt!^{[6]
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5
Buy or make a cool costume. Decide if you want to go more on the scary side, or if you want to dress up as something more subtle. If you themed your party, you can make a costume that matches that theme.
- Many teenagers like to dress up as their favorite celebrities for Halloween. To do this, try to include things in your costume that make it more obvious who you are dressed up as. For example, if you are dressing up like Taylor Swift, you might draw a number 12 on your hand and carry around a fake Grammy award.^{[7]
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- Zombies are a popular costume idea with many people in the last few years. Use Halloween make-up, fake blood, and special effects to make yourself look like the undead.^{[8]
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Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Hanging Out With Friends

1
Go trick-or-treating. You might feel like you are too old to go, but if you throw on a cool costume and wear a mask, your neighbors will never know! You're never too old for free candy.
- If you have a younger sibling or a neighbor who is younger, you could even volunteer to take them trick-or-treating and be their chaperone. That way, you will have a younger kid with you when you go.
2
Check out haunted places in your city. Do a quick internet or library search to find out what places near you have a haunted history, and check them out with your friends on Halloween.
- Many cities have historical landmarks that are run as museums, many with haunted histories. Check your community calendar to see if there are any haunted tours of these locations on Halloween.
- Make sure you have permission to enter any place you choose to go explore. Don't trespass!
3
Have a spooky slumber party. Decorate just like you would for a big party, but keep it small and fun! Just invite a few friends over and pile up the sleeping bags on the floor in one room.
- Tell some scary stories once it gets dark. Keep the lights low and challenge each other to see who can tell the scariest story.
- Play some pranks on your friends and try to scare them every chance you get!
- Take turns playing “Bloody Mary” in the bathroom: go in one at a time, shut the lights off, and repeat “Bloody Mary” three times in the mirror. Try not to get too scared!
4
Play hide and seek in a spooky place. Find a dark, creepy place and play hide and seek once it gets dark. Use flashlights and take turns being the seeker. You can do it in your own backyard, or around your neighborhood.
- Try using flashlights with different colored bulbs. This will make it even spookier when searching for players in the dark.
- Play in teams or pairs. This way, one person won't be left out in the dark when everyone else has already been found.
- Make sure you have permission to enter any place you want to play at, and make sure you aren't disturbing anyone when you play.

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Staying in For the Night

1
Watch scary movies. Many TV stations run Halloween movie marathons, so settle in, watch a few horror flicks, and take it easy. You could also rent your favorites and watch them.
- Many online movie streaming services bulk up their Halloween offerings around the month of October, so you should have plenty of movies to pick from.
- There are a lot of new television series that have a scary twist to them, like American Horror Story and Supernatural. Try watching one of those if you can't find a movie you like.
2
Help hand out candy to the trick-or-treaters. More than likely, your doorbell will be constantly ringing on Halloween night. Help your parents out by handing out candy to the kids who stop by.
- Many people play pranks on the trick-or-treaters by spooking them when they come up to the door. You could try this—just try not to scare any kids who are too little!
- Make sure you have plenty of candy to hand out so that you don't run out before the night ends. Plus, you will want some leftover candy for yourself!
3
Carve pumpkins. Many families wait until Halloween day to carve their pumpkins, so you could spend your evening carving them and setting them out with candles in time for the trick-or-treaters to see.
- You can buy pumpkin carving kits from your local store. Many kits even come with stencils so that you can carve anything from spooky scenes to the characters from your favorite movies.
- If you have younger siblings, you could help them carve their pumpkins and keep them safe when using the carving knife.
- Don't feel the pressure to carve it if you just want to decorate it. If you have a design or aesthetic in mind, there are a lot of great templates available that you can print out and just pin them on your pumpkin.
4
Read scary stories. There are many collections of short scary stories available, and you can find many of them at your local library, or online. Spend some time reading scary stories to give yourself a good scare without leaving the house.
- There are also a good amount of podcasts you could listen to that tell scary stories. This could be especially fun to do in the dark with your headphones on.
- Some popular collections of scary stories include the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark series.

Community Q&A

Question

Can I still trick or treat if I'm a teenager? How do I do it?

Community Answer

You can still trick or treat as a teenager, but people can also refuse to give you candy if you look too old. I wouldn't worry about that, though. The best way to do it in my opinion would be to take a group of friends or a younger sibling/cousin.
Question

How do I celebrate Halloween as teenager without friends?

Community Answer

Just treat yourself to a scary movie or watch a scary show. If you have siblings, you could do something together like carving a pumpkin or baking and decorating a spooky cake. (You could do those things alone as well.) You could also check your local events calendar for teen Halloween activities in your area.
Question

Could I trick or treat first and then have a party at around 9:30 pm?

Community Answer

Definitely! As long as you it's okay with your parents and your guests don't have early curfews, that's perfectly fine.

Warnings

Be especially careful crossing streets. Many people are out on Halloween.

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Always go in pairs or a group and stick together. Let an adult know how long you'll be gone.

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Be aware that little kids can get scared easily, so use your best judgment if you plan a haunted house or scary costume.

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Let neighbors know ahead of time about your party and/or invite your neighbors over.

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It's best to have a source of light with you during the night. Also, light your walkway with footlights, jack-o-lanterns or luminaries, or glowsticks.

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Always obey local laws. Don't vandalize or trespass on any property.

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Don't serve alcohol if you are under 21 or if your guests are under 21.

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