Many people have fantasized about the way Halloween is celebrated in English-speaking countries, especially in the United States. Films, TV series and news reports are very good at portraying the grandiose and spectacular side of this long-awaited moment in the fall. Celebrated to a different extent in Europe, there is no reason why anyone should not take up this pagan holiday, which is appreciated for its spooky atmosphere and amusing rituals. Plus, with November1 being a holiday, it's the perfect time to throw a special party and stay up a little later. Come on, October 31 is just around the corner, so it's time to reveal how to make Halloween night a success with family and friends.
Take care of the house and table decoration
Families who want to celebrate Halloween at all costs must start by taking care of the decoration of the house. We take this opportunity to make DIY decorations with the children. Empty a few pumpkins, carve Jack O'Lantern faces and put candles inside. A pumpkin on the balcony or the terrace, another on the corner of a buffet or the fireplace, a few pumpkins that we will paint and put here and there, it always makes an effect! With colored crepe paper folded in accordion, you can also make beautiful garlands representing ghosts or other bats. Simple and effective. You can also blow up some orange and black balloons and fix them everywhere, spread fake spider webs and fix candles on old candle holders to complete the look.
Halloween is also a good excuse to invite family and friends to share a meal. So let's think about preparing a nice Halloween table. The colorful leaves that fall from the trees in the fall always look good on a white tablecloth. Everyone has Christmas lights, which are often used only for this occasion, we will spread one or two in the middle of the table to create a luminous path. Some candles here and there, some neutral tableware including crystal glasses and that's it!
Prepare a Halloween appetizer and meal
The table decoration is ready, now it's time to think about what you're going to eat on this festive evening. Many recipes are easy to make for a spooky appetizer. We think of mini pizzas and sausages respectively mummified with cheese and dough. Black olive slices are used to make the eyes. We also love the pretzel sticks to stick in the shredded cheese. Or small peppers carved in Jack O'Lantern inside which we will place vegetables (carrots, cucumber, broccoli, cauliflower, etc.) to dip in sauces.
For the drinks, we start by incorporating grapes or black olives in pitted lychees. It is done, we have eyes that we will slip into a glass of grenadine, blood style, or mint for the children.
There is a good chance that children and adults will abuse the pimples a little on Halloween night. For the rest of the meal, you can opt for something light like a delicious pumpkin-mushroom soup. That's right, with the flesh of the pumpkins that you have previously carved for the decoration! A great idea for dessert: a chocolate mousse to be incorporated into emptied oranges and on which we will create scary faces with melted chocolate. Hummmm!!!
Make a Halloween playlist
As we welcome cousins and boy/girlfriends home, there's nothing like a little music to get everyone in a festive mood. Among the titles that appear in the playlist: Thriller by Mickaël Jackson, Sympathy for the Devil by the Rolling Stones, Zombie by The Cranberries, Too late by The Weeknd, Haunted by Beyoncé, Disturbia by Rihanna, and don't forget to take a look at the theme of the series The X-Files, and the movies with the soundtracks of The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Mr. Jack's Strange Christmas
Bring out the costume that will make the whole neighborhood shiver
This is one of the most popular aspects of Halloween, dressing up and finding the perfect outfit to scare everyone. Some people already have a witch, ghost or pirate costume in their closet that they use for the carnival. But you can also easily create your own Halloween costume. For example, you can paint the bones of a skeleton on an old black t-shirt with white paint, or throw red dye on a white t-shirt. Wear old jeans with holes in them, play up the makeup, tousle your hair with a comb and you're ready to terrorize everyone in town or in the village!
Prepare Halloween animations
Don't hesitate to add some fun to the Halloween party so that the kids have a memorable time. Just before the Trick or Treat session that takes place at dusk, around 6-6:30 p.m. at this time of the year, you can make an early appointment with family and friends to participate in an activity or two. Starting with a monster face painting session. There are also fun games to play, such as picking apples with your teeth out of a bowl of water or playing a blindfolded food game. Another option is to pile up plastic cups with ghost faces on them and play a game of chamboule-tout with a foam or plastic ball.
After the Trick or Treat session and the aperitif-meal, what better way to drop the pressure than to watch a good Halloween movie with popcorn. Be careful, we prefer cartoons and animated films that are not too scary for the youngest. Once the kids are in bed, parents can continue with a horror movie or a psychological thriller!
Enjoy the pre and post-Halloween season
As Halloween takes place in the middle of the fall vacations, families can take advantage of the opportunity to check out programs at monuments and cultural sites in their city. Some towns in France organize visits to places known to be haunted. Some castles also offer sumptuous decorations and special animations. It is worth calling the town hall or the tourist office of your city, there are often many things to do before and after the Halloween party.
