It’s the season for all things spooky: ghosts, ghouls, vampires—OH MY! But one thing that shouldn’t be frightening is planning your Halloween event. While it’s no different from any other event-planning adventure, it’s also completely different, especially if you’re planning a corporate Halloween event. These differences are what make seasonal event planning so rewarding.
If you’re going to create a spooktacular event, you’ll have to approach the traditional event planning tasks from a different perspective—a spooky perspective. Fortunately, we’ve compiled a guide to Halloween event planning. It includes haunting tips and undead tricks for crafting an engaging event experience for all ages. Halloween presents unique opportunities to flex your creativity, from ghost-filled venues to themed catering.
So, get your face paint and fake blood ready because it’s time to dive into the fun and frightening territory of Halloween event planning!
Set the tone
As with any event, a solid and clear foundation will set you up for success with your corporate Halloween event. Any kind of event can become a seasonal event simply by scheduling it in a month like October (or December, but we’ll get there in a few months). If you’re planning a conference, trade show, or small corporate Halloween party, start by considering your audience—and where their “scare threshold” is.
Decide whether this is an adults-only gathering or if attendees/workers will be encouraged to bring their children. If the latter, it’s essential to ensure that none of the imagery or activities will be too frightening for younger attendees. You may also want to include child-friendly activities and catering stations with childhood favorites, like candy corn!
While general Halloween parties are still fun, having a specific theme can elevate the event experience and better guide your planning decisions, from event catering to decor. Halloween provides many opportunities for unique themes to break attendees out of their everyday routines and immerse them in a new world.
Halloween event themes
- Undead masquerade ball
- Classic slashers
- Historical/true crime
- Monster bash
- Werewolves & vampires
- Stephen King Universe
Whatever your theme, make sure it is evident in every aspect of the event experience, from invites to the follow-up email. Attendees love a cohesive theme that elevates the event storytelling and makes engaging with and celebrating the season easy. Speaking of invitations, this is the first opportunity to generate hype and set the tone for the Halloween event. Use fonts, color schemes, and imagery to evoke spine-tingly enthusiasm for the upcoming experience and drive early registrations if it’s a ticketed event.
Venue Selection
Halloween presents a tantalizing opportunity to select an unconventional—dare we say, haunted—location for your event experience. There’s no shortage of spooky locations for hosting events of all sizes and even a few with ghostly attendees year-round. While you can select a traditional venue and dress it up with seasonal decor, choosing a historic hotel or abandoned warehouse will make your Halloween event more impactful and memorable!
Halloween venue ideas
- Old hotels with Gothic architecture
- Abandoned warehouses
- Industrial facilities
- Large barns & farmhouses
- Historic manors
- Old ships/boats
- Underground vaults
Depending on your budget, you may want to host your Halloween event at a historic (and notorious) hotel, like the Stanley in Colorado—famed for inspiring The Shining—or the Millennium Biltmore, supposedly haunted by the Black Dahlia. These spaces attract attendees with ghoulish fascinations and provide an instantly memorable experience, setting you apart from the competition. They also happen to be beautiful event destinations in their own right, perfect for attracting those who simply want to enjoy a luxury space!
While the weather (in many regions) is getting cooler in the fall, this offers event planners an opportunity to create cozy outdoor spaces. Choose a venue with outdoor patios or surrounded by green areas that you can transform with tents, umbrella tables, and heaters. Use orange string lights and jack-o-lanterns to give these outdoor spaces a crisp and cozy feel. If you opt to include large outdoor areas, keep in mind the contingency plans you’ll need to have to prevent stress on the day.
Create a spooky mood
Whether you choose the real-life Overlook Hotel or opt for your company’s office, decor can help bring the ghosts out of the walls. If you have a limited budget, it may be wiser to distribute it more evenly, opting for a simple location that you can transform with strategic decor and A/V choices—and we’re not just talking about plastic skeletons and cobwebs.
With Halloween decor, there’s no risk of overdoing it, so let your creativity run wild. Start with your theme and use decor to bring that event narrative to life. For example, if your theme is Monster Bash, you could use mini tombstones as centerpieces, create a “mad scientists” set up around the buffet, and—if you have the budget—include lifesize monsters in the room.
You don’t have to spend a lot of money to create an eerie atmosphere. You’re likely already paying for lighting, audio and visuals, so use these elements strategically to immerse attendees in a frightening environment. Lowlighting, especially mimicking candlelight, is a great way to create a “haunted house” aesthetic, especially if you’ve decorated with cobwebs and faded black-and-white photos. For a general Halloween atmosphere, use orange and purple lights throughout the venue or the halls as “transition” lighting between themed setups.
Projection mapping is the latest in event tech and can be used to haunting effect in Halloween events. Use it to create spooky shadows that creep along the walls, creating an instantly eerie atmosphere, like a haunted forest. You can also project storms, lighting, and even—if you have an audience of horror buffs—dripping blood down the walls.
Audio is another component of crafting a hauntingly memorable atmosphere. You can opt for a playful tone with classic Halloween songs like “Thriller” and “Monster Mash” or create a spooky ambiance with storm sound effects playing as attendees arrive. Lighting and audio are more affordable options, great for low-budget event planning.
Activities and entertainment
There are so many options for unique, seasonal activities with Halloween. You could go all-out and design a “haunted house” that attendees can explore, maybe even as they enter the space—talk about immersive event planning! However, there are many more affordable activities you can plan to charm attendees between keynotes and product demos.
Pumpkin carving
This classic Halloween activity is fun for all ages! You can provide jack-o-lantern templates or encourage attendees to embrace their creativity and invent their own designs. You can also provide pumpkin painting, a slightly safer option that is just as fun. Pumpkin carving can be used as a seasonal networking activity.
Costume contest
Once you’ve set your theme, you can host an event-wide costume contest and give a prize to the winner at the end of the experience. Announce the contest in your invites and send reminders to encourage attendees to get into the spirit of the season. You don’t have to do a themed contest, either. Whether you have set a theme for the event or not, a general costume contest is a great way to increase attendee engagement.
Live performers
If you have the budget, hiring I’ve performers to dress up and wander the space, interacting with attendees in character, is a thrilling way to add extra fights to your Halloween event. You could hire circus performers or hire actors to play classic movie monsters. This heightens the immersion your attendees will experience.
Seasonal concert
There are several live entertainment acts that are “Halloween-themed,” such as Monte Revolta, who can bring undead flair to your event experience. You can also hire a DJ to play classic Halloween tunes throughout the event or in a dedicated “dance room,” where attendees can get their “freak” on and connect through music. Whether planning a corporate Halloween party or a seasonal conference, this is a great way to encourage attendee bonding.
The benefits of a Halloween event experience
While events are often multi-purpose experiences, from introducing new products to helping attendees develop new skills, they’re also about fostering community. One of the best ways to bring people together is seasonal traditions. People enjoy coming together around these yearly traditions, such as dressing up and enjoying a good scare! They remind us that we’re all in this together and provide unique opportunities to bond outside the corporate world.
By planning a Halloween event, you’ll provide a memorable, immersive experience where attendees can laugh, scream, and grow closer together. Since Halloween falls near the beginning of the new fiscal year, this is a great way to start the “new year” on an energized note! Regardless of your event’s scale or theme, your attendees will cherish the memories they made with each other over a bowl of punch and a latex werewolf mask.
Planning a Halloween event is no different than other events. It comes with all the same questions and challenges—venue, decor, registrations (if necessary), catering, etc. However, Halloween gives event planners a unique opportunity to flex their creativity. Get into the spirit of the season to create an event experience that attendees will never forget!