How To Throw an Awesome High School Halloween Party
21 Jul, 20251-2 minutes
In this blog, you will learn:
- How to throw a fun and inclusive Halloween party for your high school students.
- 8 creative, budget-friendly ideas to bring the Halloween spirit to life in your school.
- Ways to get both staff and students involved in making the day a monster hit.
- Discover more about our education recruitment services.
Halloween is a spooktacular time of year to bring your school community together while giving students the chance to enjoy something a little bit different. Whether you’re planning a classroom activity, a year-group celebration or a whole school event, you can create an enjoyable Halloween experience that everyone will remember. If you're ready to plan an unforgettable Halloween party full of fun and spooky spirit, we’re sharing 8 ways for you to throw an awesome high school Halloween party!
What is Halloween?
Halloween is celebrated every year on October 31st and is all about spooky fun, dressing up, and getting creative. Halloween began thousands of years ago as a Celtic festival called Samhain, when people believed that spirits could cross into our world as the seasons changed.
Over time, Halloween has evolved into the fun, light-hearted celebration we know today consisting of costumes, pumpkins, and all things fang-tastic.
For schools across the UK, it’s a brilliant chance to bring everyone together, get a little imaginative and enjoy something different during the busy autumn term.
How can you celebrate Halloween in schools?
Schools in England and Wales usually have a half-term break around the end of October. In the days before the term ends, students typically enjoy engaging in Halloween themed activities. Some of the most popular ways for schools to celebrate Halloween include fancy dress competitions, terrifyingly tasty treats and spooky films in the classroom!
8 ideas for throwing an awesome high school Halloween party
Our favourite ways to throw a high school Halloween party, include:
- Turn a hallway into a haunted walkthrough.
- Host a Halloween themed fancy dress competition.
- Serve ghoulishly good treats.
- Set up a spooky photo booth.
- Create a spine tingling escape room challenge.
- Host a monster dance off.
- Run a Halloween trivia quiz.
- Transform a classroom into a frightful mini cinema.
Turn a hallway into a haunted walkthrough
Scare attractions are all the rage with teenagers at Halloween, so why not bring the thrill to your own school hallway? Transform an ordinary corridor into a haunted walkthrough that’s equal parts eerie and exciting. With just a few low cost materials such as fake cobwebs, cardboard tombstones, flickering LED candles and creepy background sounds, you can completely change the atmosphere and create an immersive Halloween experience.
If you really want to turn up the terror, why not recruit a few brave Teachers to act as scare characters along the route?
Whether they’re silently lurking in the shadows, popping out from behind tombstones or delivering those famous Halloween jumpscares, it’s a foolproof way to get some laughs and maybe a few screams. Not only does it get staff involved, this experience will also help create a spinetingling experience students won’t forget in a hurry!
Host a Halloween themed fancy dress competition
It wouldn’t be Halloween without some killer costumes. Encourage both students and staff to dress up and join in the spooky fun. While spooky and scary outfits are always a hit, why not mix it up with costumes of historical figures, sports stars, or even role models?
To make it fair and inclusive, you could include different categories such as ‘Most Original’, ‘Funniest’, ‘Best Group Costume’, or even ‘Teacher’s Pick’. A Halloween fancy dress party is a great way to boost confidence and bring some extra seasonal spirit to the day!
Serve ghoulishly good treats
What’s Halloween without some tasty treats? To celebrate the occasion, you could set up a creepy café packed with spooky snacks such as ghost biscuits, spiderweb brownies or fruity pumpkin skewers.
Even better, get your food tech class involved in making it all. A creepy café is a fun way for students to get hands on in the kitchen, try out new recipes and help feed the rest of the school with their creepy creations.
Set up a spooky photo booth
A Halloween photo booth is a fun way to capture all the memories and showcase everyone's costumes. We suggest picking a spot in a classroom or hall and setting it up with a simple backdrop such as black fabric, fake cobwebs or a spooky graveyard scene. You could then add a bunch of props such witch hats, silly glasses, vampire capes or handmade signs and let students snap away!
Photo booths are a big trend with teens right now, so you’ll be tapping into something they already love. It’s a great excuse to show off outfits, strike a spooky pose with friends, have a laugh and remember the day.
Create a Halloween escape room challenge
To add a little mystery and a lot of fun to your Halloween party, why not turn your classroom into a Halloween escape room? Dim the lights, play some eerie background music and set the scene with a story where the students have to find the missing spellbook before midnight to lift a Halloween curse. We suggest using riddles, brain teasers, secret codes or scavenger hunt clues hidden around the room to get your students fully engaged in your spine-tingling activity.
An escape room is a great way to get students working together, thinking creatively and having fun. It’s sure to be a highlight they will remember long after Halloween is done.
Host a monster dance off
Get the party popping with a monster themed dance off. Whether it’s in the haunted hall or the creepy classroom, this activity is a wicked way to get everyone boogying to Halloween hits such as Michael Jackson’s Thriller and Bobby Pickett's Monster Mash.
For extra fun, you could throw in a group challenge and recreate the Time Warp from the Rocky Horror Picture Show. A dance off is the perfect way to send some serious Halloween vibes through the school!
Run a Halloween trivia quiz
Put your students’ Halloween knowledge to the test with a fun and laidback trivia quiz perfect for a party. Questions about spooky movies, Halloween history, creepy creatures and even local legends can be used to give your quiz plenty of variety. You might want to ask everyone to team up, come up with silly team names, and maybe even create Halloween mascots to keep things lively.
You can run your quiz as a chilled way for students to hang out and have some laughs, with bonus rounds such as ‘Name That Creepy Sound’ to keep everyone on their toes. A Halloween trivia quiz is a great way to add some brainy fun to your Halloween night!
Turn a classroom into a mini cinema
If you’re looking for something a little quieter and easy to organise, why not create a cosy corner in your classroom to screen a Halloween film? A mini cinema is a great way to offer a quieter, more relaxed option during the party.
Choose a friendly classic like Hocus Pocus or The Nightmare Before Christmas and set the scene with cushions, blankets, fairy lights and maybe a few Halloween decorations to give it that mini cinema vibe. A mini cinema is an effective way to wind down while still keeping the festive spirit alive.
Check out how we’ve celebrated Halloween at Spencer Clarke Group over the years from our recreation of the iconic Thriller dance to a scarefest to make you wonder, are you afraid of the Clarke?
Recruit teaching, support and facilities staff
As a specialist education recruitment agency, we support mainstream and SEND schools with their recruitment needs.
Whether you’re searching for teaching, support, or facilities staff, we have exclusive access to some of the best educators in the North West.
If you’re struggling to fill a vacancy, why not get in touch with one of our team to see how we can help?
- Primary schools - Jimmy Callagher
- Secondary schools - Liam Jones
- SEND schools - Jamie Heath
- School facilities - Emma Dobson
Teaching, school support staff and school facilities jobs
If you’re searching for a new career opportunity, why not take a look at the latest education jobs, or simply upload your CV to be notified when a relevant job opening becomes available.
Who is Spencer Clarke Group?
Established in 2017, we’re an award winning and progressive recruitment agency based in the heart of the North West. Our reputation is built on trust, expertise and an unwavering commitment to exceed expectations.
In 2024, we were named Recruitment Agency of the Year at the prestigious Recruiter Awards, an accolade we are extremely proud of.
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In eleven specialisms:
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