Adult PartiesNo. 4254 · The 2026 edition
The Martha Stewart Guide to Hosting Halloween
Transform your Halloween into a Martha-worthy bash with décor, costumes, and treats that impress.
Our own summary of the original — the full post and photos live at marthastewart.com.
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Get ready to host a Halloween party that Martha would approve of, from spooky porch and outdoor decorations to expertly carved pumpkins and creative costumes. This guide covers family-friendly games, DIY crafts, stunning table centerpieces, and a spread of frightfully good party snacks—everything you need for a memorable celebration.
About this
A roundup hub collecting Martha Stewart's Halloween hosting playbook, spanning porch and outdoor décor, pumpkin carving, costumes for adults and kids, family games, fabric pumpkins, centerpieces, indoor crafts, party snacks, and a shrunken-heads-in-cider drink project. Each section previews a fuller how-to and points readers toward themed ideas for throwing a spirited Halloween soirée. The tone is imaginative, stylish, and slightly macabre.
The plan
- Style the front porch first—it sets the tone for the home and becomes the stage for trick-or-treating.
- Give the porch a haunting twist rather than keeping it only warm and inviting.
- Extend decorations off the porch to the lawn and garden so trick-or-treaters stay spellbound.
- Keep a few items from your closet or around the house on hand in case Halloween sneaks up on you.
- Plan with a little prep, a few supplies, and a dash of ingenuity—no candy corn required.
- Go all out with the centerpiece; a Halloween gathering is no time to play it safe.
- Shop your craft stash for ghoulish indoor décor that is surreal and theatrical rather than jump-scare scary.
Decoration ideas
- Dangling faux bats across the front porch
- Glowing autumn luminaries
- DIY porch details that make your home the neighborhood's standout spooky stop
- A snake-infested pumpkin patch on the lawn
- Transforming a play-yard into a graveyard
- Outdoor décor for the porch, lawn, and garden
- Pumpkin carving stencils and decorating designs ranging from delightfully magical to downright scary
- Fabric pumpkins—plush, luxe gourds that last year after year and add color and texture to a fall display
- Centerpieces ranging from autumn chic to skeleton florals to a haunted punch bowl
- Floral elements in indoor Halloween crafts
- Furniture you can temporarily modify for ghoulish décor
Food & drink
- Prosciutto-wrapped fig skewers
- Fun finger foods for a Halloween spread
- Delicious dips
- Dastardly desserts
- Shrunken heads in cider—small bobbing baked apples you ladle cider over
- A haunted punch bowl as a table centerpiece
Activities
- Pumpkin piñatas
- Ghost puzzles
- Spooky storytelling
- A family game line-up that turns the home into a haunted funhouse
