Here’s a foolproof checklist to help you throw the ultimate Halloween party

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It's time to party. Halloween style.

We have our costumes ready, our apples candied, our sweets bought, and our pumpkins carved. Well, almost. Trust us, though, they'll get done. Because we LOVE Halloween. When we were kids we loved trick-or-treating, when we were teenagers we loved scary movie nights with our friends, and now we love our Halloween parties. It's the best time of the year, really. You might be a Halloween party veteran and know exactly what we're talking about or you might not be the biggest Halloween party fan (YET). Perhaps you have yet to make your scary party debut. Well, ladies and gents, we are here to help. With all of our obsessive Halloween party knowledge, we are going to fill you in on the top party essentials for throwing the ultimate Samhain bash.

1. A spooky entrance

Trust us when we say that the entrance is key. You gotta set that mood. If your house has a laneway, use it. Light some candles so people can see but try to keep it dark so it's still creepy. Have hands sticking out of bushes, cobwebs that people need to walk through, giant spiders that make noise when someone hits against it, whatever you can think of. Go wild.

2. Sweets

We'll get the obvious one out of the way. It's Halloween and this is a Halloween party. There has to be sweets. End of. The more the better. Try to make toffee/chocolate apples. They're so tasty and they look great on a table too. Very Halloweeny.

3. Costumes

Now we are not into those "you don't have to dress up" parties. This night happens once a year and once a year, yes, you DO have to dress up. For people who don't like costumes, they can pick a character who wears normal but recognisable clothes. No excuses. To encourage dressing up, have a prize for best dressed. Or if you want to go hardcore, set an entry price for people who haven't dressed up. It's tough but it works and, hey, you can give the profits to charity.

4. Decoration

Again, you can never to go too heavy with Halloween decoration. Stick cobwebs up everywhere, hang bunting in the doorways, dangle bats from the ceiling. Cover everything.

5. Spooky music

Now, this is the only thing on our list that is negotiable. We know that at a party people might want to dance or listen to songs other than creepy Halloween music. But if you have the option of setting up two speakers, consider playing various scary noises on a loop, such as screaming, doors creaking, evil laughing, you know the type. It won't interfere with the other music but it will add to the atmosphere perfectly.

6. Pumpkins

These can take time but they're so worth it. A carved pumpkin with a candle inside honestly just looks super. If you have a champion pumpkin carver on hand, force them to put their skills to use. You want really evil-looking pumpkins for this.

7. Candles

Nothing sets moods better than candles. They can be romantic, calming, or scary. Keep it fairly dark at the party and use candles as your main light source. Go wild with them outside but you might want to invest in a few electric candles for inside. It is a party after all, accidents will happen.

8. A Halloween movie

To put the finishing touch on the whole dark and scary mood, throw on a scary movie to play in the background. If you pick the right movie, this can even double as your scary music/noises. For one of our parties, we managed to get our hands on a projector and had a scary movie projected onto one of the wall. The best. Now it's up to you. Go forth. Set your scary mood, terrify your guests. It's not a proper Halloween party unless everyone is truly horrified. Brought to you by Fanta.  Fanta are proud sponsors of The Nightmare Realm. Buy tickets now and be sure to check out Fanta's terrifying Virtual Reality Experience, found exclusively at The Nightmare Realm. T&Cs apply - please visit the website for more information.