10 Halloween Games to Play for Spooktacular Fun

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These Halloween party games are a perfect way to loosen up your guests before the haunting begins. Now, who's up for a round of "pop goes the pumpkin" or spider toss?

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Pop Goes the Pumpkin

Looking to kick off Halloween with a bang, not a boo? This version of a classic carnival game also makes a festive wall decoration, and bursting the confetti-and-candy-filled balloons in this Halloween party game will make everyone explode with laughter.

Get the "Pop Goes the Pumpkin" Game How-To
Photography: Addie Juell

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Spider Toss Game

Ready to test your kids' spidey senses? This game transforms the floor into a massive cobweb with eight-legged toys as the game pieces.

Get the Spider Toss Game How-To
Photography: Addie Juell

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"Blackout" Ghost Story Prank

No crowd is better primed for a good prank than one listening to a ghost story in the dark. One perfect stunt for storytelling requires hiding a compatriot outside the house; as soon as the tale reaches a crucial, scary section, she clutches at the window panes. For maximum chills, consider adding this trick to the same story session: Candles are placed around the room. As the story nears its climax, they mysteriously go out, one by one, until the room is dark. To achieve the effect, simply cut the candles in two, remove a small piece of the wick from the middle, then join the pieces back together by heating the cut ends. When a candle burns down to the missing section of wick, it gutters and dies.

Get the Haunted Mirror How-To
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Nosey

Halloween games of disguise survive in many old sources, and they don't necessarily involve elaborate costumes. In "Nosey," the party guests are divided into two groups and sent into adjoining rooms. A curtain or heavy sheet with a small slit in it is hung in the doorway. One of the players sticks his or her nose through the slit, making sure nothing else shows. Then the game leader chants, "The witches have stolen somebody's nose. Who does it belong to, do you suppose?" and everyone on the opposing team attempts to guess the owner of the nose. If correct, the guessing team scores a point and the opposing team must present another nose for their regard. If the guess is wrong, then the guessing team must now start offering up noses—which, it should be noted, can be very hard to recognize without any accompanying features.

Get the Witch Silhouette Pumpkin How-To
Photography: John Kernick

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Squash Bowling

Substitute butternut squash for bowling pins in this adorable lawn game that both kids and adults can enjoy. (Want to up the seasonal factor? Swap out the bowling ball for another autumnal variety ripe for harvest: an acorn squash or small sugar pumpkin.)

Learn the Rules of Squash Bowling
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Bat Pinata

This bat pinata, created using the technique of papier-mache, is creepy enough to be the center of your party decorations. Party guests will shriek with delight as they beat this piñata to reveal a shower of sweets. Just be careful after dark; he might swoop down and give you a fright.

Get the Bat Piñata How-To
Photography: John Kernick

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Doughnuts on a String

These yeast doughnuts are a fall favorite and, in this game, they double as the prize. Tie a delicious treat on the string and let players chomp away at it hands-free—ready, set, bite!

Learn the Rules of "Doughnuts on a String"
Photography: John Kernick

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Pin the Face on the Pumpkin

An autumnal twist on a childhood favorite, any kid who has played Pin the Tail on the Donkey will pick up this game quickly. Cut out eyes, noses, and mouths from black construction paper. With blindfolded players starting a few feet away, instruct them to walk toward the pumpkin and create a jack-o'-lantern face—no peeking!

Get the "Pin the Face on the Pumpkin" Printable Template
Photography: John Kernick

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Bobbing for Apples

Odds are, you know this one. Drop a bushel of apples into a tub of water—then watch the bobbing, splashing, and general hilarity commence. But did you know this? It began as a way to predict a player's fortune.

Learn the Rules of Bobbing for Apples
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Dead Man's Guts

Turn to one of the ickiest and coolest of all Halloween storytelling pranks: making your friends feel around in a dead man's "guts." Fill a darkened room with blindfolded guests, then take off on Charles F. Smith's circa-1930s "A Hallowe'en Post Mortem," which he wrote for the Boy Scouts: "The truth it is, and not a myth / That once there lived a man named Smith, / And it became his mournful lot / To murdered be quite near this spot. / We now will pass out his remains, / You first will handle poor Smith's brains...." At this point, "moist sponges are passed from guest to guest." The verse continues, disassembling poor Smith bit by bit—his hair (corn silk), his windpipe (a length of uncut boiled macaroni), his hand (a glove stuffed with wet sand)—until little of him is left to distribute. Never let it be said that Boy Scouts lack a sense of the bizarre.
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