Our Halloween Cupcake Recipes Will Give You Chills

Let your imagination (and fears) run wild this Halloween. We're serving up bewildering and bizarre Halloween cupcake recipes that are perfect for either a kid-friendly party or a grown-up bash. From monsters to creepy crawlers and things that come alive, you can decorate these cupcakes—or creepcakes, as we like to call them—in a way that's totally terrifying. When it comes to our favorite black and orange holiday, we've got more than a few tricks up our sleeves.

If you're throwing a Halloween party for kids, a cupcake decorating station is an activity that will keep them occupied for hours (and give them the jitters, too). Start with a base recipe for your Halloween cupcakes—basic vanilla, chocolate, chocolate chip cookie, and red velvet (just to name a few!). Next, fill the cupcakes with a spooky surprise filling, like orange curd, chocolate mousse, or lighter peanut butter frosting. For an added layer of fun, don't reveal what's on the inside and wait for guests to take a bewitching bite.

Finally, set out bowls with candy galore for decorating. With these frightful cupcakes, you'll need lots of black licorice, green and black food coloring, taffy, jelly beans, gummy rings, marshmallows, and mini chocolate chips. Kids will cackle with delight as they get to create their very own Frankenstein with sugary candy and brightly colored frosting. Things may get messy, but that's half the fun.

Use the recipes in this collection for spooky inspiration and you'll be amazed at the Halloween creations kids will come up with. This is a day no one should skip the treats (though there will certainly be plenty of tricks, too). Be consumed by the eerie and edible, the flavorful and the frightful. Our Halloween cupcake recipes will satisfy everyone's dark side.

An alien arrives by sea, warding off all who come near with his flailing taffy tentacles. Spread our One-Bowl Chocolate Cupcakes with a thin layer of Swiss Meringue Buttercream tinted with a few drops of green food coloring. Cut strips of green taffy and attach around top of cupcake. For its eye, slice a yellow gumdrop in half and press into top of cupcake. A piece of black licorice attached in front of the gumdrop completes the creepy gaze.

Bearing jelly-bean teeth, this sweet skeleton hypnotizes snackers with its all-seeing eye, an upside-down chocolate kiss. Use candy-coated chocolates for its other eye and nose.

Start by tinting our Swiss Meringue Buttercream green, then use yellow licorice candy for this creature's good eye, and fashion a black licorice X to mark the other's absence. Add a snaggletooth smile with a white jelly bean and more licorice.

Doctor our Swiss Meringue Buttercream with black food coloring until it's just the right shade of gray, then finish with marshmallow eyes, licorice pupils, and gummy-candy teeth.

Flashing us a sly wink made with pink licorice candies, this cupcake also boasts a sweet chocolate chip grin.

More cute than scary, this cupcake just needs green-tinted Swiss Meringue Buttercream for its face, and black and white candy-coated chocolates for its features. Use a classic Vanilla Cupcake recipe as the base for this grim-grinning treat.

Halved green gummy rings and black licorice drops give this creature sight, while snips of black licorice lace create an intimidating furrowed brow. Use a full green gummy ring for the mouth.

Slather on a coating of gray Swiss Meringue Buttercream, then make the eyes for this mouthy monster: Push mini chocolate chips, tip down, into marshmallows, make a hole in the other side with a toothpick, and insert black licorice lace. Sandwich mini marshmallows between halved gumdrops for the creature's toothy smile.

To bring this drowsy demon to life, spread cupcake with a thin layer of Swiss Meringue Buttercream tinted with a few drops of green food coloring. For the small eye, attach a mini marshmallow and create a pupil with black candy-coated chocolate. For the large eye, push a black licorice drop into regular-size marshmallow, then cut gummy tape for an eyelid. For teeth, place five mini marshmallows along the bottom of the cupcake.

Chocolates and mini marshmallows form the massive eyes of this mutant, while red licorice is cut into pieces for its nose and grimace.

This alien boasts ten beady eyes, made with candy-coated chocolates painted with melted chocolate, but it doesn't have much to say, thanks to its stitched licorice mouth. Use black food coloring to tint our Swiss Meringue Buttercream gray for the face.