Halloween. Dick Durland

OCD. My wife says I suffer from it. Knowing that if you leave me alone at my work desk long enough the items that appear there will eventually, mysteriously form right angles with each other is proof enough for me, but I believe “suffer” is not the proper term as I hardly ever realize I am doing “it.” Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. Sounds like a deficiency, but I can’t say that I fully agree because when properly channeled, this same “disorder” can be of great value. Because of it, whenever I apply myself to any given task and before my name officially goes on it, somewhat lofty expectations must be met. All right, obsessive compulsive…THAT much I agree with.

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One day, my wife suggests we attempt throwing a Halloween party. I’m all in…perhaps to a fault. And that’s the point. She knows once I’ve accepted a challenge, it’s like leaving me alone with an untidy desktop. I may not consciously be aware of it, but I immediately go about the business of obsessing until I’m either satisfied enough for my stamp of approval to officially go on it, or I run out of time. As it turns out (at least where our Halloween party is concerned), I run out of time…every year. But by starting over again right where I left off year after year, I’ve continued to channel my “disorder” into creating the consummate Halloween event, making it ever more deserving of “my name.”

And so it goes. I admit that it’s overkill, still two things remain true. We show our invited guests the best possible time we can, and along the way, I’ve discovered a lot about the inner workings of throwing as authentic a Halloween party as you’re ever going to come across. On top of identifying the major components such as backdrop, props, sound effects, games, music, etc. through trial and error, I’ve developed the detail, special effects, illusions, and assorted minutia (some store bought, some homemade) that best compliment a living, breathing, state-of-the-art Halloween costume party.

For your amusement, contained in the following pages is the culmination of all my time-tested ideas, discoveries, and creations toward perfecting the ultimate Halloween bash. Collectively, they comprise…the life of the party!

Making Halloween an Event

We do not stop playing because we are old. We grow old because we stop playing.

—Benjamin Franklin

We’ve held our Halloween party six out of the last seven years…watching it become ever more elaborate with each iteration by continually adding detail into every production. It’s more a labor of love than anything else as everyone who attends “forces” us to throw the party over and over. The resulting transformation of our home occurs over a several day period with the first number of hours being spent on the wallpaper alone as the entire first floor becomes completely “dungeon-ized,” flame pots, and all. Two sound systems play simultaneously, one banging out the best of eighties hard rock, the other an uninterrupted thunder/lightning storm. I include the “lightning” part since we cleverly conceal a foot pedal under a love seat by the back door that runs outside to a series of floodlights mounted on posts strategically placed around the back of the house to create the actual “lightning.” But I digress. Before I get ahead of myself, let me take a deep breath and start at the beginning.

Our philosophy: Create the proper environment, and THEY’LL bring the party! And when it comes to throwing a Halloween party, props and decor play a big role toward upping the entertainment value. So it’s particularly important to make the most of your available space in order to produce the kind of setting that will increase the likelihood your costumed crowd will really “let their hair down,” creating the sort of get-togethers that only occur on rare occasion. Accordingly, with a focus on minimizing their intrusion into usable party space, let’s take a look at some of the more significant props we’ve incorporated into our own annual “All Hallows’ Eve” gatherings.

Frankenstein’s Castle

The Grounds

Halloween time prompts the average residence to display appropriate decoration, mostly in the form of scarecrows, skeletons, pumpkins, and the like. While our house may be a little more elaborately adorned, it still blends in quite well with all the others in the neighborhood…at least from the outside. Thus, we feel the need to draw added attention to it for the sake of the party, so we position our official “Greeter” down at the end of the driveway assuring our guests they’ve indeed arrived at the right address.

With glowing lantern swinging to and fro, our interactive street-side cloaked friend is sure to stand out, gaining the attention of both our anticipated costumed companions, as well as any passing motorists who happen down the road on this spookiest of nights.

Nothing like whetting our partygoers’ appetites for a hauntingly good time by tingling the right nerve endings even before they officially arrive. We begin the night’s journey by leading our select visitors through a landscape of surreal sights as they make their way toward the front entrance…such as this poor lost soul, hanging from the cherry tree in our front yard surrounded by numerous assorted oversized cocoons no doubt housing some delicacy to be consumed at a later time by their rightful owner.

Meanwhile, with lantern in hand to better view his most recent work, our resident Gravedigger ensures that our masquerading masses are getting off on the right foot…strategically placed directly off to one side of the front entrance.

While the items you see here work in concert to create the perfect graveyard scene, they become all the more enhanced when just the right amount of light is cast outward from above the front entranceway. When properly accomplished, appropriate spacing of the headstones gives the illusion of a cemetery with no end.

With our “Greeter” flagging down invited guests at the end of the driveway and a walk up to the front door that runs past a creepy enough graveyard to warrant a second look, the stage has been well-set for things to come on this most special of nights. One thing’s for sure, if you’ve arrived not quite sure if you were in the mood for a Halloween costume party, all doubt is about to be removed!

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