How to Have a Scary Halloween Sleepover

Co-authored by Amy Guerrero and Jessica Gibson

Last Updated: March 20, 2023 References

Halloween parties can be so much fun that you never want them to stop. Fortunately, if you plan a Halloween sleepover, it doesn't have to end! Have a blast decorating your sleepover space and coming up with tricks or treats to serve. Plan lots of spooky activities and games so your guests experience thrills and chills all night long.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Games and Activities

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Carve frightening jack-o-lanterns for a classic Halloween activity. Sleepovers last a long time, so it's good to have projects for your guests to do. Set out small pumpkins and pumpkin carving kits for a classic Halloween activity. Then, set out the pumpkins and use them to light your sleepover space.^{[1]
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- Want some easy project ideas that don't take a lot of supplies? Set out craft items like pipe cleaners and pompoms so your friends can make spiders.
2
Do a scary makeup contest. Set out lots of makeup or Halloween makeup kits and give your guests about 30 minutes to come up with their own scary or monstrous look. They can work in teams or on their own. For example, divide people into teams of 2 and give everyone the same scary makeup kit. Once the time is up, have someone judge the looks and choose a winner!^{[2]
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- For a fun challenge, have your friends watch Halloween makeup tutorials online and try to recreate the looks.
- Want something less competitive? Set out nail polish in Halloween colors and let everyone decorate their nails.
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Set out supplies to make Halloween slime. For a gross, sensory activity, put out the ingredients to make a glow in the dark or Halloween-colored slime. Your guests can take home their custom slime as a party favor.^{[3]
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- Don't forget to put out googly eyes or tiny plastic bugs that people can mix into their creepy slime.
4
Play truth or dare with extra spooky challenges. Before you start, ask your guests to write down dares on slips of thick paper. Stick them inside the guts of a pumpkin. Then, when you play, make a person reach into the guts to grab a dare if they don't choose to answer a question truthfully.^{[4]
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- Make the game even creepier by playing in the dark.
- For a dare example, you might write "Close your eyes and eat whatever food is put into your hands," or "Howl at the moon in a public place." For truth ideas, you could use "What's the worst nightmare you've ever had?" or "What would you take with you if you had to spend the night in a haunted house?"
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Sit around a bonfire and tell scary stories or urban legends. Gather around and ask everyone to tell their own frightening tale or a legend that they've heard. If anyone's having a hard time coming up with stories, have a few spooky books nearby or print stories off of scary story websites so they can read one to the group.^{[5]
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- Can't build a bonfire? That's totally fine! Have your guests get into their sleeping bags and turn off the lights. Give everyone a flashlight so you can see each other.
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Choose scary movies for a Halloween movie marathon. Do your research ahead of time and find movies that you can watch all night long. Turn off the lights to make it even scarier and have flashlights and candy close by! To get you started, here are a few ideas:^{[6]
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- Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark
- Poltergeist
- Halloween
- Scream
- Paranormal Activity
- Carrie
- Us
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Play a classic scary sleepover game like Bloody Mary. Lots of cultures have their own games that are meant to frighten people. Bloody Mary is a popular one where you try to summon a spirit in a dark room using a mirror. You might also be familiar with cat scratch or the fortune game.^{[7]
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- Ask your friends if they want to do scary games. If someone doesn't want to, don't force them to! Remember, you want your guests to have fun.
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Set up a Ouija board and try to contact a spirit. For a truly freaky activity, get a Ouija board and gather your guests around it. Dim the lights and choose a person to be the medium who talks with the spirits. Then, have everyone put a finger on the pointer and hold it over the board. Direct the medium to call a spirit and ask it questions about its life or your home. Read out the spirit's responses as the pointer moves around the board.^{[8]
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Method 2

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Spooky Food and Treats

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Set out a cupcake or cookie bar with decorating supplies. Give your friends a fun way to personalize their own treats— put out cupcakes or baked sugar cookies in lots of spooky shapes. Then, set out frosting, sprinkles, eyes, and food coloring gel so they can make monstrous-looking cupcakes or cookies.
- Guests can squeeze white frosting back and forth to make a mummy treat or drizzle a little red food gel on top to look like blood.
- For an extra-special treat, make caramel apples. You can even dye the caramel black to make the apples look poisoned.
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Put out lots of candy for friends to grab. If you're not trick-or-treating during the sleepover, it's a good idea to offer lots of candy. Set out bowls so your guests can munch on it whenever they like, or have them do a scavenger hunt to find candy.
- Make it extra challenging by waiting until it's dark to look for the candy. Then, give your guests flashlights and let the hunt begin.
3
Fill a cauldron with punch so your guests can serve themselves. Punch is a super customizable drink to serve at your sleepover. For a bright orange Halloween punch, mix 1 US quart (0.95 L) of orange sherbet with a 12 fl oz (350 ml) can of orange juice concentrate, 1 litre (4.2 c) of club soda, and 1 litre (4.2 c) of ginger ale. You could also serve a deep red fruit punch if it matches your party colors better.^{[9]
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- For a creepy punch display, fill a clean latex glove with water and tie it shut. Freeze the glove until the water turns to ice and cut away the glove. Float the hand in your punch bowl and watch your guest's reactions!
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Set out savory snacks like chips and dip for people who don't want sweets. Put out lots of options like party dips with veggies, crackers, and cheese. Have fun with the way you display the food! Spread guacamole in a long, shallow dish and stick crackers in it to look like gravestones, for example. You could also roll a cheeseball in finely minced green herbs so they look moldy.^{[10]
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- Want to serve a scary dinner? Boil black pasta and toss it with an orange or red pasta sauce before you serve it. While the sauce won't be bright, it will make the pasta look slimy.

Method 3

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Decorations and Party Tips

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Decorate with black and orange for a classic Halloween look. Didn't pick a theme? It's totally fine to stick to iconic black and orange decorations. Blow up balloons and scatter them around your sleeping space or hang them in clusters from the ceiling. You can also drape streamers from the ceiling or let streamers hang down between entryways.^{[11]
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- Set out orange and black LED candles to give your space some spooky low lighting.
- Don't forget that pumpkins are decorations too! Set out jack-o-lanterns or display knotty, green, or white varieties of pumpkins to switch things up.
- You don't have to carve pumpkins if that's too cumbersome or takes too long. You can print out some designs and pin them on your pumpkins, or even use decoupage techniques to apply a design onto the pumpkin surface.
2
Choose a theme for your Halloween sleepover to make it more creative. Although you don't have to have a theme— you could stick to black and orange-colored decorations— a theme can help you decorate, decide on music, and pick food that ties it all together. Plus, it's easy to choose a theme based on the age group you're having at the party. Here are a few great Halloween sleepover themes:^{[12]
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- Monster theme or spooky forest theme
- Horror movie theme
- Haunted house theme
- Glow or dance party theme
- Mad scientist theme
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Use your theme as a guide to decorate your sleeping space and eating area. You don't have to decorate your entire home, but focus on the areas your guests will be spending time in and try to match your theme. If you're going for a mad scientist theme, serve treats in beakers and test tubes and set out a fog machine, for instance. Want a simpler theme? Pick a Halloween creature and display it around your space. For example, hang bats from the ceiling, stick cut-out bats on the walls, and stick them on mirrors.^{[13]
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- Other simple Halloween creatures include ghosts, witches, skulls, skeletons, spiders, and black cats.
4
Play music to set the mood. Going for a spooky sleepover? Pick a CD or streaming playlist that has ambient or background Halloween sounds. These might have slamming doors, eerie laughing, or bubbling sounds, for example. Do you want more of a party vibe? No problem! Pick fun Halloween songs like "Monster Mash," "The Dr. Who Theme," or "Ghostbusters."^{[14]
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- You can always switch up the music throughout the night. Start with fun party music and change it to scary background music when you do party games.
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Ask your guests to come in costume. It's not Halloween without costumes and candy! When you invite your guests, tell them to come in their choice of costume or according to your sleepover theme. For extra fun, hold a costume contest and have someone judge the outfits once everyone shows up.^{[15]
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- If you have a lot of guests, have prizes for different costume categories. Try the best scary costume, best silly costume, or best movie character costume, for instance.

Community Q&A

Question

What are some food options for a Halloween sleepover?

Community Answer

You could get some Halloween candy and make fun Halloween-themed treats! For example, you could make cake pops that look like eyeballs, or cookies that look like spiders. There are lots of recipes online for Halloween-inspired meals and snacks.
Question

What about scary games?

Community Answer

You could play Blue Baby, Bloody Mary, Dead Man, or Scream.
Question

What are good decorations to use for a rather small sleeping place? Also, how should I organize the sleeping space?

Ok key

Community Answer

For decorations in a small space, you can put the decorations on furniture, shelves, hang up on the ceiling or put a creepy smile in black background under the bed to make it look like there is a monster. For the sleeping space, depending on how many guests you have, you can put the mattresses on the floor and all pillows on one side, if you're watching a scary movie. If you plan on telling horror stories and eating snacks, place matresses in a circle and snacks in the middle. You can also try to place all mattresses on the floor and a bunch of pillows and blankets on top, this can work if you're having more guests than you have mattresses.