Halloween Party Idea - Monster Ball

I had my first Halloween Costume party in 2005. My friend Cindy and I had been talking about a “Lord of the Rings” party since the year before so we decided to do it. It was majorly addictive and so here is our 2006 2nd Annual Halloween Party story. I plan to update this as we go along. I hope you find some Halloween party ideas you can use. Updated 10/27/06

THE PLAN

We’ve decided on a Monster Ball which will be in our shop/RV garage this year. The building is a pretty good size at 24’x40’. It will have a castle theme to take advantage of the castle stuff we used last year. I’ve named the castle “PineStone Castle” because we have a very wooded lot.

We’ve turned the back end of the building which is the workshop area into a small haunted Labyrinth. The Labyrinth has a scary doll corner, a rats attacking a cat scene, a “Corner Coven” of 3 witches and the finale is a Spider den with a huge drop down attack spider. A spider victim has been attached to the wall. He's covered in gauze and webbing. 

The main part of the shop, “The Great Hall”, is the party area with a buffet table set up in a cubby hole, long tables for eating/sitting, a portable fireplace and a table for my Halloween Clue game. This will leave a large area for dancing. I’ll talk about games in a minute. It also includes our own ghoul gallery (see picture bar). I’ve taken photos of a few friends and, using Paint Shop Pro, ghouled them up. I used Poster7 and made 16x20 inch posters which used 9 sheets of photo paper each. The seams hardly show up in our low light hall.  One of the wall decorations is a classic Ouija board that I bought on eBay and which Cindy won’t touch. Go figure. Cindy has a sword collection so two of them adorn our walls.

Other highlights are an animated butler to greet our guests, a guillotine at the top of the stairs to the loft area with a basket and head strategically placed on the stairs, really cool lightning effects using Perfect Storm from Spooky F/X and, of  course, a graveyard which is set up just outside the "castle". Due to budget restraints we only ended up with tombstones, a Grossferatu & a ghost but pointing a green light at the scene really made it creepy and extra decorations weren't really necessary.

The games: We’ll have a “Guess the Monster” game. 12 movie monster pictures will be taped to the inside of the entry door and he/she who guesses the most correct wins. Prize will be a picture frame. We’ll definitely have a best costume contest with a trophy. There will be a "guess the number of eyeballs" contest. The winner will get a calculator. My Halloween Clue game is somewhat elaborate but I think I can pull it off. Here it is:

The scene: There will be a table with 6 weapons and the dead body of a trusted man-servant. The table will be covered up until the appropriate time. Above the portable fireplace I mentioned earlier is Buck, the talking deer. Cindy’s husband, Kelly will record a message about the task our guests will be charged with which is, using clues that we’ll set about the castle, determine who killed the servant, what weapon was used to kill him and in which part of the castle was the ghastly deed done. The message will be burned to a CD. Buck includes a cord to connect him to a CD player- so Buck will come to life and will deliver the message. Pretty cool huh? I’ve tested this and it works! He/She who figures it out first wins a choul clock.

THE ACTIVITIES (Note: these purchases and work began in November 2005.)

The Graveyard

• We’ve purchased 6 tombstones

• We’ve used Cindy’s discarded garden fencing for the surround.

• We’ve purchased a Grossferatu prop to hide among the tombstones.

• Cindy just got a gauzy ghost from Lillian Vernon that is now in the tree. (see pic bar)

• We've gathered leaves and placed a thick layer all over the graveyard area.

• A green bulb in a sensor light set to always-on really adds a great effect.

The Labyrinth

• The Labyrinth frame has been built using 1" pvc pipes and connectors. The walls are just black plastic rolls that come in 100' rolls that are 4' wide. LOTS of duck tape keeps it together.

• We’ve purchased a fogging skull for the entry to the Labyrinth.

• We have a small electric water fountain which will hide behind the walls to simulate the sound of running gutter water.

• We’ve purchased a doll at a thrift shop. We still need to ugly her up. Her name is Margaretha. She got her name because Cindy had not seen the movie musical “Meet me in St. Louis”. Tootie’s doll in the movie, Margaretha, had 4 fatal diseases and wasn’t expected to live through the night. We have on old small rocking chair for her.

• We’ve built one witch using the base of a broken upright fan, some sticks and wire hangers. The 2nd witch, due to time restraints was quickly built with leftover pvc from the the labyrinth frame. We’ve purchased 2 great witch masks for the heads. We’ve bought creepy dresses for 2 witches from a thrift store and used some other stuff we had around our houses. We've purchased the 3rd witch from Lillian Vernon (see picture bar).

• We've purchased a large drop down spider which will be the treat for the exit. (pics to come)

The Buffet Table

• We already have tables that we use for other get-togethers

• Last year Cindy and I bought a bunch of plastic skull goblets in a post-Halloween sale. We had lots of paper plates etc. leftover from 2005. We chose silver colored plates to simulate pewter which will work great for our castle theme. Most of the stuff from last year will be re-used again

• We found a 38” silver candelabra at a great price in a local antiques store. We added webbing to it and placed in the corner of buffet table.

• We’ve purchased a candy dish with a motion-activated raven. Very cute (See product review).

The Great Hall

• We have a portable fireplace already.

• We have Buck the talking deer already for Halloween Clue (see The Plan).

• We’ve purchased creepy castley votive holders from the dollar store to decorate the dining tables. They’re perfect.

• The walls are covered with stone look scene setter rolls that we used last year but we did need to purchase a couple more rolls.

• This may be the coolest part of our castle. We purchased battery operated candles at a discount and hung them from the ceiling. To do this, my husband built a wooden frame about 12'x12' using 2"x2" pieces. We attached a 3/4" plastic mesh that came in rolls to the frame with staples. We bought the rolls at Lowe's. The candles were hung using fishing line that we looped over the mesh and taped to the candle tops. After several trial and error attempts and a broken bulb or two, we found that we had to tie knots at the ends of the line just below the tape because without them, the candles would eventually slip out of the tape. This has turned out exactly as we hoped. Very Harry Potterish. (see picture bar)

• We’ve purchased an animated butler to greet our guests. We love him. He talks and turns his head.

• The ghoul portraits have been printed and framed & are hanging behind the dining tables.

The Torture Tower

• This is the loft area that will be closed off but it is where the Lightning effects will take place. We’ve purchased the unit already. It very effective. It’s actually a toss-up which will be cooler; this or the candles.

• My husband has built the guillotine - it just needs painting (see picture bar). We've also purchased a basket & severed head. We spent a little more on the head than we wanted but it's pretty realistic. Plastic rats "nibbling" on his neck are a nice touch.

Submitted by Billie C., Snohomish WA

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PICTURE BAR

Graveyard

Graveyard Ghost

Guillotine (needs paint)

The Great Hall (with our Harry Potter candles)

Another view of The Great Hall

Buck

The Corner Coven

Rat Attack

Labyrinth Construction

Making the Spider's Den

Ghoul Gallery

Eyes of Halloween - Halloween Party Ideas