50 Halloween Activities & Fun Things to Do

Looking for things to do on Halloween? Explore 50 creative Halloween activities for adults, kids, friends and families, from spooky nights at home to festive outings. For a calendar of local celebrations, visit our Halloween Events in Orange County guide.

We challenge you to complete them all, if you dare!

Set your calendar, Halloween is on Saturday, October 31, 2026.

For local seasonal events check out our Halloween and Día de los Muertos event pages.

Find the Right Halloween Activity

For adults and friends, try costume parties, murder mystery games, horror movies or themed cocktails and mocktails. For kids and families, try pumpkin painting, crafts, scavenger hunts and trick-or-treating. At home, enjoy baking, decorating and game nights. For free ideas, explore neighborhood decorations or host a scavenger hunt. Looking for local dates and venues instead? See our Orange County Halloween events calendar.

Decorate Halloween Cookies & Cupcakes

Gather the kids or host a party and spend the night decorating cookies or cupcakes with icing ghosts, candy corn, and pumpkin faces.

Conjure up Some Halloween Cocktails

Make Halloween cocktails or alcohol-free mocktails with colorful juices, festive garnishes and themed glassware. For a smoky effect, use a separate, professionally managed fog display; never put dry ice in a drink where someone could touch or swallow it.

Roast Pumpkin Seeds

Save your seeds and make a tasty snack after carving your Jack O' Lantern. Kids of all ages will enjoy learning how to make roasted pumpkin seeds.

Bake a Pumpkin Pie

With Halloween comes the pumpkin pie or pumpkin pie cake! Plus, it's easy enough to get the children involved in the baking process as a perfect Halloween activity.

Make Scary Finger Food

Turn your favorite snacks and bites into spooky Halloween appetizers. Add eyeballs to bananas, make finger breadsticks, and cheesy pretzel spiders.

Create a Candy Wreath

Let the kids pick the candy and then glue all the treats together into a wreath form. Add a ribbon to top it off. This is a great craft right after All Hallows' Eve to creatively get the kids away from eating all the candy.

Go Apple Picking

Pick what you can eat at a local apple farm, then make a plan to treat yourself to caramel apples, warm cider or bob for apples.

Make Caramel Apples

You've picked all the apples and what better thing to do with them than make caramel apples. Add some fun to the process and let the kids add their own toppings like sprinkles, nuts, and crushed up candy.

Sip Hot Apple Cider

A pot of warm apple cider is just what you need. Serve it with rum for the adults.

Bob for Apples

Is this still a thing in this era? The traditional way is to grab an apple from a water-filled bucket using only your mouth. Another more sanitary version of the game is hanging an apple tied to a string and then trying to grab it with only your mouth as well.

Doll in the Hall

If your kids can't get enough of Elf on the Shelf, this may be the year to introduce them to the Doll in the Hall. Simply buy or craft a creepy doll and keep secretly moving it around the house each night.

Paint or Carve a Pumpkin

Painting or carving a pumpkin or creating a jack-o-lantern is a classic tradition and still a lot of fun for the whole family. There are tons of pumpkin carving kits and no-carve ideas to get you started. 

Donate Candy

When you're done with the little ghosts and ghouls bouncing off the walls you can donate the remaining candy to Treats for Troops or many local dentists offices take back candy for healthy items such as toothbrushes and coupons.

Pull a Harmless Halloween Prank

From chocolate covered surprises to fake blood in the bathroom, the harmless pranks options are limitless for some frightful fun.

"Boo" Your Neighbors and Friends

A Halloween boo is a little gift or treat left anonymously by a friend or neighbor. Once you’ve been boo’d, you hang a ghost picture on your front door, to let everyone know you’ve gotten your Halloween surprise. Once you are boo’d, it’s your turn to boo someone.

Read a Spooktacular Halloween Book

Set the mood by lighting candles, playing creepy music, and curling up with a blanket and a spooky tale or psychological thriller.

Plan a Halloween Movie Marathon

From family friendly movies like Hocus Pocus, Ghostbusters, The Nightmare Before Christmas to Halloween and Chucky, Halloween movies are definitely in order around Halloween time.

Go to the Movies

The movie studios know what they're doing and as certain as the undead and witches there is sure to be a scary or festive movie playing at the theatres. Dress up in a costume for even more fun. Plus, even if you're not a Halloween fanatic, there should be something for you there as well.

Dine Out for Halloween Freebies

Beyond candy at Halloween, it's also about enjoying lots of sweet deals and freebies for trick-or-treaters of all ages. Check out your local "haunts" for Halloween deals, discounts, and freebies.

Share Scary Stories

Families that scare together, stay together. Make up a Halloween tale or use one that you remember from your childhood to scare and delight all. Dim the lights, play eerie music, and gather around a fire for extra fun.

DIY a Halloween Costume

Why buy one from the store with so many creative options to challenge your creative urges?

Dress Up Your Dog

Don't let your dog miss out on all the fun. Pick out a dog costume for your furry friend.

Decorate the Home Inside & Out

Hang up fun Halloween decorations inside and outside of your house to get in the spirit of the season. Try skeletons, candles, and hang fake cobwebs all over the place.

Have a Halloween Crafting Event

Halloween is the perfect to time to start crafting with creative projects like origami pumpkins, stick monsters, paper bats, gluey spiderwebs and more.

Play Halloween Trivia

Come up with trivia questions to ask your kids and the winner gets...?

Create a Halloween Scavenger Hunt

Use the frightful decorations in your house as items to hunt down or explore the neighborhood and find all the skeletons, spiders and bats lying in wait. 

Attend a Halloween Festival or Parade

Celebrate Halloween with the community at a local Halloween festival or parade. From sampling festive Halloween food to Halloween games, pumpkin and costume contests, there is something for everyone.

Visit a Spooky Theme Park

Starting as early as September you can get into the spirit of the season at the many awesomely Halloween themed attractions at Knott's Scary Farm & Camp Spooky, Disneyland, Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights, Queen Mary Dark Harbor and more. Even the smaller amusement parks, museums, zoos and aquariums join in on the Halloween spirit.

Throw a Halloween Party

Have a costume contest, play Halloween games, and make spooky crafts at your very own Halloween party.

Trunk or Treat

Trunk-or-Treating is a twist on the traditional door to door trick or treating. During trunk or treat events parents decorate the back of their cars and trunks for Halloween, stock up on candy, and wait for the kids to "trick or treat" from car-to-car.  Typically, a group of parents, school, church or organization will organize this event in a parking lot. It's a much more social experience and saves the parents the door-to-door hopping around.

Turn Your Home Into a Haunted House

Have fun completely turning your home into a haunted house. It’s easier than you think, and most decorations have a DIY option which won’t break the bank.

Have a Game Night

Any game will do but there also plenty of spooky games to be played too. Make it a hauntingly good time by adding a costume theme or making some spooky snacks and drinks.

Hand Out Candy to Trick-or-Treaters

Load up on the Halloween candy and start passing out treats to the neighborhood ghouls and princesses. Make it extra fun for them by dressing up, playing spooky music and decorating the front porch.

Go Trick or Treating

We spent a lot of time coming up with this idea, but nothing beats trick-or-treating when you're a kid.

Get Lost in a Corn Maze

Fall is the time to visit a family farm's corn maze and during Halloween you might just find a "haunted" corn maze plus other fun things to do at the farm like hayrides, petting zoos and pumpkin patches.

Go on a Hayride

You've finished the corn maze and chances are there is a hayride nearby or perhaps even a haunted hayride.

Go to a Haunted House

Every city has dark tales and rumored places where the undead haunt. Get that adrenaline flowing and find one in your area.

Go on a Ghost Tour or Visit a Ghost Town

So many local areas offer ghost tours leading up to Halloween (and even year round). It's a fun way to learn some history while getting a good fright. Be extra adventurous and go on a road trip to a ghost town like Calico.

Visit a Cemetery

Many local cemeteries don't miss out on the call of Halloween. From graveyard tours to scary movie nights, you can learn about the frightful history of the cemetery or send chills up your spine watching a movie at a cemetery. There are many online events as well.

Explore a Pumpkin Patch

Pumpkin Patches today are loads of family fun, plus you can make a night of it by carving the picture-perfect Jack O'Lantern when you get home.

Attend a Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) Event

Día de los Muertos is a distinct cultural tradition honoring loved ones who have died, rather than an extension of Halloween. Learn more about Día de Muertos celebrations continuing on in November.

Complete a Murder Mystery Together

Work together with friends and family to figure out "who done it." Purchase a murder mystery party kit to get things started.

Complete a Horror-Themed Escape Room

Get a group together and book an escape room. Many local places have thriller- and horror-themed games to complete.

Make Leftover Halloween Candy Bar S'mores

Almost any candy bar can work it’s way into a s’more so say goodbye to the candy with a mini-sized candy bar and a roasted marshmallow between two graham crackers. Have fun experimenting with different candy bars.

Six More Fun Halloween Activities

Host a Halloween Potluck

Invite friends to bring a spooky appetizer, dessert or mocktail, and vote on the most creative dish.

Play Glow-in-the-Dark Mini Golf

Visit a glow-in-the-dark mini golf venue or create a simple glowing putting challenge at home.

Create a Halloween Photo Booth

Set up a decorated backdrop, costume props and a phone tripod for memorable party pictures.

Make a Halloween Charcuterie Board

Arrange cheeses, crackers, fruit and treats into a festive snack board with spooky shapes.

Take a Neighborhood Halloween Decorations Tour

Walk past decorated houses, respect private property and enjoy the displays from public areas.

Host an Outdoor Halloween Movie Night

Set up a backyard projector, blankets and themed snacks, then pick a film that suits your guests.

Halloween Events in Orange County

Looking for real-world attractions, trick-or-treating, fall festivals or haunted houses? Our regularly updated Halloween Events in Orange County 2026 guide has event dates and listings by city. This article focuses on Halloween activity ideas you can enjoy anywhere.

Print this list of Halloween Activities & Fun Things to Do: PDF | Image

Print this list of Halloween Activities & Fun Things to Do: PDF | Image

Halloween Activities FAQ

What can adults do on Halloween?

Adults can host costume parties, organize a murder mystery, watch horror movies, visit an escape room or plan a themed potluck.

What are fun Halloween activities at home?

Pumpkin painting, cookie decorating, scavenger hunts, spooky board games, crafts and movie marathons are easy activities at home.

What are free things to do on Halloween?

Try a neighborhood decorations walk, tell ghost stories, make a costume from items you own or organize a scavenger hunt.

Where can I find Halloween events in Orange County?

See our Halloween Events in Orange County guide for current dates, locations and event details.

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