The number of people who cite Halloween as their favorite holiday is staggering. Halloween is often people's favorite time to throw parties as the theme is conveniently built-in: a costume party! That said, coming up with different and original Halloween party ideas can be quite a challenge. Here are a few hints to help you plan this year's Halloween party. For the purposes of this article, the author assumes the reader is planning a Halloween party for adults.

Advanced Themes

Everyone knows that a Halloween party is most likely going to be a costume party, but why not ask that the costumes stick to a theme? Some great themes are: superheroes, historical figures, celebrities, monsters, storybook characters and inanimate objects. When you narrow down your theme from a general "Halloween" theme, you give yourself more room to be creative with your Halloween party ideas. This might seem counter intuitive, but it's true. When you have a party with a general Halloween theme, what do you do, foods decorated with ghosts and witches? When you narrow the theme to, say, storybook characters, you are forced to think of things that fit both that theme and the "spooky" theme of Halloween!

Decorations

Depending on the "secondary" theme of your evening, your decorations can range quite a bit! When looking for decoration ideas, consider looking for what "normal" parties would do with your secondary theme and then turning those party ideas on their ears. The looking glass from Through the Looking glass (for a storybook characters theme), for example, lends itself nicely to a Halloween party. Consider having a haunted house in part of your home—a haunted house that has to be entered through Alice's looking glass! Another good decoration idea, if you are looking for Halloween party ideas, is to decorate with the through the looking glass versions of storybook characters. Hang portraits of Little Bo Peep but make her sheep scarier creatures like werewolves and dress her as a ghoul or a witch!

Food

Candy and sweets are obviously staples of any Halloween party. In current times, however, the handmade treats we enjoyed as youths have been given a bad reputation thanks to a number of urban legends. Why not bring them back for your party? Caramel apples, popcorn balls, homemade sweets. The caramel apples, for example, can be a reference to snow white. Popcorn balls lend themselves nicely to the glitter disco balls of the seventies if you are having a disco party. Have fun with it!

Many people love Halloween parties because the theme for these parties is inherently built in: costumes and general spookiness. The point of All Hollow's Eve, after all, is to confuse the ghouls who haunt the earth for that night (according to legend). Halloween parties are a great way to celebrate the holiday safely with friends and family. When you are looking for Halloween party ideas, however, it is fun to get creative! Who says that a Halloween party should only be spooky? Have fun with it!