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7 Ideas for Your Book-Themed Halloween Party
Here’s my idea of a book-themed party: everybody brings a novel. We read in front of a roaring fire while it’s raining outside. Nobody talks. Nobody dog-ears any pages. There’s food, maybe. What else do people like? Dancing? We can have that, but silently. Everyone’s gone by 9:15. I assume they had a blast.
But since that kind of thing isn’t everyone’s cup of tea (did I forget to mention my party has tea? Because it does. There’s tea for days), here are 7 (actual) Halloween party themes to fulfill your every bookish desire.
The theme: Clue, with a twist.
Ever played Clue? Of course you have. You’re a human being with a childhood. What we’re proposing here is a Clue-themed murder mystery party, but all the suspects are literary villains. It was Voldemort with the Elder Wand in the Shrieking Shack. It was Count Olaf with the harpoon in the Hotel Denouement. It was Mrs. Coulter with the poison in the tent.
Theme: Nearly Headless Nick’s Deathday Party.
Everybody comes dressed as a character who died in the Harry Potter books, which includes (spoiler alert) all manner of Defense Against the Dark Arts professors, childhood pets, and beloved redheaded twins. Do not pity the dead. Pity the living, and, most of all, those who had their favorite character willfully and maliciously killed off by J.K. Rowling. (Dibs on Aragog.)
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Theme: Dystopia.
Dystopias are all the rage, so celebrate humanity’s postapocalyptic woe and let an era of hope dawn anew with an appropriately themed shindig. Include fun activities like bobbing for nightlock, a dance-off to the death, and pin the tail on Big Brother. The refreshments table will be reminiscent of the Choosing Ceremony from Divergent—there’s sugar glass (the Candor faction), punch (Erudite), dirt pudding (Amity), Dove chocolates (Dauntless), and rock candy (Abnegation).
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Theme: Paranormal romance.
Everyone comes dressed as their favorite paranormal romance trope, be it the brooding bad boy, the damsel in distress, the headless (and shirtless) young dreamboat from the book cover, or the love triangle (yes, the whole triangle. Figure it out!).
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Theme: Your favorite fictional characters, zombie-fied.
Bring on the hordes of the undead in all their literary glory. We’re talking zombie Ron Weasley. Zombie Aragorn. Zombie Finnick Odair. (Too soon?) Decorations include caution tape and blood-splattered floors and walls. The menu will consist of eyeball fruit punch and “finger” food, obviously.
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Theme: Misfits, outsiders, and antiheroes.
This is a gathering for your Holden Caulfields, your Luna Lovegoods, your Huck Finns. They don’t fit the mold—they’re round pegs in square holes—and that’s okay. Grab some candy corn and let your freak flag fly.
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The theme: Star-crossed lovers.
This one doubles as a matchmaking party. If you haven’t yet wrangled yourself a significant other, come to the party dressed as one-half of a star-crossed couple. You’ll find the Romeo to your Juliet, the Lancelot to your Guinevere, the Hazel to your Gus. Disclaimer: we cannot be held responsible if there are like twelve Katnisses and no Peetas. I think we can all agree it’s way more fun to be Katniss. She has a bow and arrow. What does Peeta have? Bread? Maybe cake? Besides, it’s Halloween, a holiday that celebrates the unusual. Make Katniss/Romeo happen! What’s stopping you?