Cheap and Chic Halloween Party

For a fun party that keeps guests enjoying themselves all night long, skip the traditional Halloween soundtracks. Instead, choose moody, haunting rock songs from bands like Muse, Coldplay, Snow Patrol, Kasabian, My Chemical Romance, Radiohead, Franz Ferdinand, The Bravery, The Smashing Pumpkins, and Modest Mouse.

Their songs are great for setting a darker atmosphere befitting All Hallow's Eve, yet give guests better listening options than "The Monster Mash." If you don't already have a selection of songs from these bands, visit Pandora and type in "Muse" as the music you'd like to listen to.

Pandora will create a custom playlist you can stream from your computer throughout the party, without having to buy the songs or spend time organizing the perfect playlist. Easy, time saving, and free.

The first step to cutting down on food costs and keeping guests happy is to bill your Halloween party as a "small bite and cocktail" party. Then, start the party at an hour that gives guests enough time to grab dinner beforehand. Generally, if the party starts at 8 pm guests will plan on eating food before they arrive. This means that you only have to provide appetizer type foods for guests to nibble on as they enjoy their cocktails and mingle.

Cheap, Crowd-Pleasing Halloween Menu

- Blue Tortilla Chips with Dips - orange nacho dip, green guacamole, red salsa
- Pan fried chicken strips - can also pre-buy in bulk and bake
- Thin crust pizza cut into small two-bite squares for easy munching
- French fries
- Celery filled with peanut butter
- Caramel or chocolate covered crab apples
- Mini cotton candy tufts (simply cut up a few large cotton candy pieces into small wads that can be eaten in one bite)
- Assorted Halloween Candy served in bowls - mix fake spiders and bugs in with the candy to up the creep factor

Halloween Cocktails

Since guests are coming for a cocktail party, it's important to provide a few crowd-pleasing alcoholic beverages. Pumpkin beer is a perfectly on-theme choice, and our article on Halloween wines offers many ideal options for spooky vino to serve guests.

To cut down on the cost of stocking a full bar, visit a bulk retailer like Beverages and More, Costco or Sam's Club to buy handles of two or three types of different alcohol. Then, plan the cocktails around these types of liquor and throw in a few standard mixers for people who want to create their own drinks.

For Halloween-worthy cocktail creations, see our article on Haunting Cocktails. In general, supplying standards like vodka, rum and gin along with club soda, juice and tonic will always satisfy a crowd without blowing your party budget.

Create the look and feel of an abandoned old house with spider webs, leaves and white sheets:

1. Cover the sofas, chairs, dining room table and all other large furniture items with old white sheets. This will give your party space an abandoned look.

2. Head to the dollar store and purchase a few bags of fake cobwebs. String them over artwork, tables, over bookshelves and mirrors.

3. Gather fall leaves, tumbleweeds and dead (or dried) flowers from outdoors and place them across tables and buffets. It will look like the windows opened and leaves have blown into the abandoned house from outside.

4. Add candles around the party area to cast an eerie glow throughout the night. If you have an old candelabra, now is the perfect occasion to break it out. String cobwebs across the candelabra arms (not too close to the candles, or the webs can catch fire) and down the base. Add a few fake spiders to the mix and your spooky abandoned house décor is complete.