Spirited approach to conjure up a spook-tacular success

It’s that time of year – when we brace ourselves for young trick or treaters at the door, rummage in the attic for a witch’s hat that’s seen better days and ponder whether we’re getting too mature for apple bobbing games.

Yes, of course, it’s Halloween. A time of ghoulish merrymaking with so many permutations that it’s certainly not just for children. After all, why should they have all the fun?

Halloween can be a versatile theme to add extra sparkle to an event, be it a corporate team-building day, product launch or trade show exhibition.

Such a seasonal twist can bring a sense of fun and generate excitement before the event while creating atmosphere, promoting engagement and providing great photo opportunities on the day.

But, ironically, have no fear – Halloween doesn’t have to be tacky, unless you want it to be. It is possible to celebrate All Hallows’ Eve in a way that is quirky and fun, yet elegant and classy.

Here are a few ideas to get your creativity sparking.

Location – There’s nothing like a slightly sinister, spooky (ideally haunted) venue to set the tone for guests at a Halloween-themed event. How about a remote old mill, a factory warehouse or imposing manor house?
Decorations – Try mini pumpkin lanterns as centrepieces on tables, upright coffin cloakrooms for attendees to hang their coats in, skeleton mannequins holding trays of drinks to welcome people in, bats hanging from the ceiling and giant spiders dotted around the room.
Lighting – Create a deliciously creepy ambience with candelabra draped in cobwebs, orange uplighting and even some projected ghosts and broomsticks drifting across the walls.
Drinks – You can certainly have plenty of fun here with blood red cocktails, slime green smoothies or mulled cider to be ladled from a cauldron into gothic goblets.
Food – Your imagination is the only limit when it comes to catering for such an occasion. Spider-shaped canapes, ghoul-emblazoned cupcakes, witches’ hat cookies and spiced pumpkin soup, perhaps presented by zombie-costumed serving staff.
Spooky signage – Weave fiction into reality by using rustic-style signposts to, for instance, Sleepy Hollow break-out areas, Ghost Town restrooms, the Salem conference suite, Castle Dracula reception, Elm Street corridor and Bates Motel restaurant.
Printed material – Instead of traditional notepaper, hand out gravestone-shaped notepads, leaflets or event programmes complete with images of skulls, bats and spiders adorning the edges of the pages.
Dress code – Halloween outfits can be as simple or extravagant as the wearer feels comfortable with (we all know an old bedsheet transforms anyone into a ghost). So invite attendees to dress up for your event, with everyone voting for the best costume of the day.
Photography – Encourage participants to take some snaps, pose for selfies, stick their heads through a themed cut-out board and maybe (budget allowing) provide a photo booth to entertain your guests while boosting social media picture sharing opportunities.
Games – Organise appropriately pitched hands-on activities to involve and engage, whether to promote creative thinking, encourage problem solving, build team spirit or just enjoy a bit of light relief. It won’t break the bank to host a pumpkin carving workshop, murder mystery case, ghost hunt, scary story-crafting contest or a Halloween quiz.
Sounds – Moody background music might be suitable to increase the chill factor throughout the course of the event, whether ghostly classical pieces or snippets of horror movie soundtracks.

Whatever you have planned, there’s lots of scope to have some fun and unleash your imagination at a time of year when, as traditional folklore has it, long-departed spirits join us to mingle with the living.