Scare your friends with these Halloween cocktail ideas

You can make Halloween anything you want it to be. It can be scary, corny, dark or light-filled. In other words, it’s the perfect holiday to show your creativity.

You handle the costume, decorations and pumpkin carving. We will help with this list of (mostly) spooky cocktails that will turn any party into a Boo-tiful experience.

Let’s start with terrifying.

Dark and stormy death punch

This is not a quick-and-easy, chardonnay-and-chips kind of option. The recipe from Food and Wine magazine recommends setting aside 4½ hours for preparation. However, the eyeball ice cubes are eerily realistic. You can take our word for it: The rum goes down smoother when the drink is looking back at you.

Haunting Halloween

We didn’t know that Halloween is celebrated in England. But why not pretend you are the queen and mix up this black vodka and pomegranate juice drink from the British Broadcasting Corp? (Drinking Divas have a glass for that costume, too.)

You can turn any bottle of vodka as black as Halloween at midnight by adding 10 drops of blue food coloring, 10 drops of red, and 8 drops of green. Shake well. It’s not really appropriate for other holidays, so if you don’t use it all this year, it will save until next Halloween.

The Jack-O-Lantern

A Halloween party is not the place for expensive champagne and formal gowns (unless you are dressing as Morticia). The Jack-O-Lantern cocktail from The Spruce/Eats is campy and also negates the need for carving. Once you add the garnish to this drink, everyone can have their own pumpkin. And then another.

Halloween shots

At first blush, grape, peach, and melon don’t sound like Halloween flavors or colors. But add Jello and vodka, and anything seems possible. They take 40 minutes, according to Delish, which supplied the recipe, and they will convince your guests you have magical powers.

Slow-cooker Hot Cider with Brandy

It’s not just Halloween, it’s also fall, which evokes cool days of apple picking and leaf peeping. Some of the friends you invite to your party will appreciate a traditional autumnal drink. Hot cider works with both Halloween and childhood memories. This recipe is easy to make and serve.