Halloween Murder Mystery Party Décor

1 Non-Horror Halloween Decoration Ideas (Witches, Cauldrons and Spiders' Webs)

1.1 Cobwebs and Cauldrons Tablescape

1.1.1 Cauldron Table Centerpiece

See Making Medium and Large Cauldron Party Decorations for how I made this medium-sized 12-inch cauldron table centerpiece out of a paper lantern and paper mache. The tutorial also shows how I added sparkle to this centerpiece with lights, orange creepy cloth, tissue paper and gummy worms.

1.1.2 Cobweb Place Settings

Rather than buying lots of fake cobwebs, I made my own using orange 3mm macramé cord from ilauke on Amazon. One 300m roll was more than enough for the cobwebs for my place settings for 13 people and also for the other cobweb decorations.  I used Wikihow's helpful tutorial on making a spider web as this showed me how to make webs without using glue. I found the simple overhand knots used to tie the yarn spiral to each spoke to be easy to master. I then adapted this tutorial for my own purposes:

• I used an LP record to give me the size of the finished cobweb. The center hole gave me a visual guide for keeping the cobwebs centrally aligned as I worked.
• I used 4 spirals of yarn rather than the three suggested in Wikihow's tutorial.
• I taped the cord to my craft tablecloth to hold it in place as I worked.
• I left the final end of cord attached to the main roll of cord so that, if I misjudged the amount of cord needed for each spiral, I could adjust without needing to tie an extra end knot.

For the "place mats", I used a stack of old records with circles of cardboard between the records to provide sufficient heatproofing to enable the main course dinner plates (containing stew and hot vegetables) to be placed on them. I then taped these records together. I covered the top with a circle of white computer paper. Then I covered the whole with a single layer of black tissue paper. I then arranged the orange spiders' webs on top.

Important: I would NOT put dishes directly from the oven on these mats! 

Note: I used three records with two thin layers of cardboard for each place setting. If you have a valued table surface, then please do your own heatproof tests.

Note: we got these records as a batch job from a recycling center and also from charity shops. We have used them in our 1920s Speakeasy party decorations, 1960s decorations, 1970s disco party decorations and also in our 1990s party decorations. We therefore make good use of recycling these décor props! Each time they look different.

For the coasters, I covered a single record with black tissue paper.

1.1.3 Mini Cauldron Place Cards

I wanted to create a place setting whereby the mini cauldrons looked (sort of) like they were sitting on flames. I also wanted to make these separate from the spiders' webs on the main place settings so that these spiders' webs were not cluttered with napkins. Upturning the wine glasses and placing the napkins inside the glass ticked both boxes.

• I bought a pack of Halloween Candy Cauldrons from Novelty Place on Amazon and was pleased with the textured feel of each cauldron. I then reused a pack of skeleton hands I had previously bought from a private seller on Facebook Marketplace. 
• I placed a scrunched-up man-sized tissue at the bottom of each cauldron so that the hand would be more visible above the rim.
• I then used two pieces of scrunched tissue paper to hold the skeleton hand in place. I used traditional Halloween colors of orange, green and purple and used a single color for each place setting.
• I placed the cobweb-themed place card in the skeleton hand to give each guest's name. (These place cards are one of the place card options provided in the Decoration Pack of our "Murder at the Halloween Party" game.)
• For extra spookiness, I placed a balloon light behind each skeleton hand. (I bought a pack of warm white mini-LED lights from LIHAO on Amazon. To save the batteries, I turned these lights on shortly before my guests arrived.)
• I also added a gummy worm to each rim.
• To be consistent with the "flames" under the cauldron, I rolled a small 2-ply orange napkin so it would fit inside an upturned wine glass.  (Note that larger or thicker napkins may not fit easily within a wine glass.) I then added a small section of orange creepy cloth to the base of the upturned wine glass before nestling the cauldron on top. Shreds of orange tissue paper would be an alternative. 

1.1.4 Orange Tablecloth

I used an orange sequinned tablecloth to give shimmer to my table. As a cheaper alternative, you could use an orange tablecloth or even a flat orange sheet.

1.1.5 Cake Stands

A simple way to make cake stands tie in with your theme is to cover them in tissue paper. I covered a flowery cake stand with black tissue paper and added an orange spider's web to tie it in with the rest of my decorations.

1.2 Bedeck Your Party With a Witchy Hat Mobile

As the murder mystery is set in the Cobwebs and Cauldrons Hotel, I thought a witchy theme would complement the cauldrons nicely.

I bought a pack of black witch hats and then created a mobile using ribbon in Halloween colors. (I made one orange, one green, one purple, and one black witchy hat.) You might also use crepe paper, tissue paper, possibly even thin colored card, colored paper, string or creepy cloth.

• I cut 10-12 lengths of colored ribbon per hat. (For the original ones, I used 10 lengths but then decided that 12 lengths looked better.) I made each length just over 12 inches. 
• I used a long-arm stapler to staple each length of ribbon into the inside of the hat, just above the brim. You might be able to use glue instead. I left half a centimeter or so of space between each length of ribbon.
  • Tip: ensure the shiny part of the ribbons face the way you wish and that this facing is consistent.
• I then lightly scrunched tissues and put them into the pointy part of the hats to lend them stability and shape without making the hats too heavy.
• I then made the faces using 10-inch orange tissue paper pom-poms. I stapled each pom-pom into the hat front and back, using several layers of tissue paper under the staples.
  • Tip: ensure that the orange pom-pom is stapled so that it can be seen. (My first attempt had the pompom too nestled within the hat and I had to undo the staples and reposition the pompom.)
• I gently folded the front of the hat rim up to a jaunty angle so that the orange face was more visible.
• I hung each hat from the arm of our ceiling light using a double length of thread. You may prefer to hang your hats from the ceiling itself.
  • Note: please take any necessary safety precautions before hanging anything from lights.

1.3 Flying Witch Decoration

I constructed the witch out of different items and then got my husband to nail them to the wall so the witch looks like she is flying. As a backdrop, I used a purple sequinned tablecloth to add glitter and sparkle. 

Note to those on a budget: as an alternative backdrop, try foil curtains, a colored flat sheet, a tablecloth or even rolls of crepe paper or self-colored wrapping paper. Sometimes, online places such as Facebook Marketplace have vendors offering reduced-price costumes. To those who enjoy craft, witchy legs can be made out of scraps of black and colored material (or striped socks) and stuffed with tissues, kitchen roll or newspaper. The tissue pom-pom face could be made using lengths of tissue paper that you yourself cut.

• For the witch outfit, use a child's costume unless you have a very large wall. (I wanted this to fit above my fireplace and so I used Matissa's super-cute kid's Halloween witch fancy dress costume in orange and black.) 
• For the legs, I used Toyvian's pack of witch legs. I used safety pins to attach these legs underneath the skirt of the dress.
• For the arms, I used black gloves I had previously worn to a 1920s murder mystery. I stuffed them with tissues to give them form while still enabling me to bend the arms. (I first tried using rolled newspaper but the arms did not then bend easily.) I used safety pins to attach these arms underneath the shoulder sleeves of the dress.
• For the hat, I stuffed this with tissue paper to give it some shape and then gently bent the back of the rim so that it would sit nicely against the wall. For good measure, I stapled the back of the rim to the back of the hat.
• For the face, I used a 10-inch orange tissue paper pom-pom.
• I then added a broomstick that my children had used for trick or treating when younger.

1.4 Witchy Fireplace Décor

As well as the flying witch above the mantlepiece, I decided to continue the witchy theme:

• Witch legs going up the chimney
• Witch hats suspended from the mantlepiece
• Witch hats resting on "vases" (or vase equivalents) to the side of the fireplace.
• Coal bucket with black and orange tissue pom-poms.

Tip: I didn't have two black vases to rest my witchy hats on so I wrapped one tall glass and one non-black vase in black tissue paper. I also wrapped old cake tins in black tissue paper. I then stood the glass and vase on these tins to give height to the witchy hat display.

Tip: to give a warm glow to the display, I put some Christmas fairy lights inside the coal bucket and also on top of the mantelpiece beneath the feather boa. If you compare the top photo (without the fairy lights under the boa) with this photo above, you can really see how the orange and red fairy lights add a lovely warm glow to the fireplace.

Tip: the purple metallic foil curtains to the side of the fireplace expanded the visual display width and made my witchy decoration "cluster" look far more impressive.

1.5 Giant Cauldron, Giant Cobweb and Witch

I continued my witches, cobwebs and cauldrons theme in the lounge.

• The large cauldron is made out of a 30-inch lantern, paper mache and spray paint. See my detailed tutorial on how to make your own medium or large witch's cauldron decoration.) As covered in this tutorial, I then brought the cauldron to life with internal disco lighting and "flames" made out of fairy lights and tissue paper and "kindling" made from shredded cardboard packaging.
• The giant spider's web is made out of a 50-foot roll of 3cm wide purple tinsel. This gave me enough to make eight 4-foot spokes and 3 sets of internal spirals. I had tinsel left over but not enough to create a fourth set of internal spirals.
  • Note: I used the same overhand knot method of creating this spider web that I used for the cobweb place settings in 1.1.2 above. For this large web, I decided to use cotton thread to wrap around the middle meeting of the spokes to keep the center together.
• The orange cord spider webs subtly pick up the theme of the spiders' webs on the dining table.
• The backdrop was made by using the same type of orange and purple sequinned tablecloths that I had used in the dining room. This kept a visual cohesion between the two rooms. If on a budget, consider using a flat sheet, a plain tablecloth, creepy cloth, crepe paper, rolls of self-colored wrapping paper, or foil curtains.
• The purple divider was made by pushing two bookcases together so that the backs of these bookcases faced the room. This gave me a useful top on which to place my spider and skull display.
• As the orange tablecloth did not reach the floor, I used two paper pumpkins with orange tissue paper behind them to extend the visual display downwards.

2 Halloween-Horror Themed Decoration Ideas

2.1 Skeleton Witch, Giant Spiders and Skulls

I decided to reuse the skeleton that I had bought for my pirate murder mystery decorations and reuse the black spiders and skulls I used for our horror party decorations.

I dressed the skeleton in a witch's outfit I bought from a private seller on Facebook Marketplace. I taped a black staff to her hand. (This staff was part of a costume my husband had worn to our Murder at Horror Castle party.)

I sprayed the branches of a dead houseplant black and put this plant inside a mason jar together with some plastic bats. (I got this jar from Facebook Marketplace.)

For a simple but effective "extra creepy effect", I wrapped pieces of orange, purple and green tissue paper around small balloon lights.

• I placed orange-covered lights in the eye sockets of the skulls.
• I placed purple-covered lights in the eye sockets of the skeleton. Due to the tilting of the head, these had to be taped inside.
• I also wrapped two balloon lights with purple tissue paper and placed them by the dead plant in the mason jar.
• I placed green-wrapped lights in small black spider candlestick holders I had bought as part of a bundle of Halloween decorations from a private seller on Facebook Marketplace. I placed two of these holders underneath the giant spiders and placed smaller spiders on top of the other two holders. The green glow made it look like the spiders were hatching other-worldly creatures.

2.2 Spooky Mirror Using Spray Paint and Paper

I wanted to experiment with creating a spooky mirror using purely the spray paint that I already had, rather than buying additional mirror paint that many use to create ghostly mirror effects.

I used a mirror a neighbor was throwing out and then covered the main mirror with newspaper and masking tape. I used several layers of orange spray paint to turn the wood-effect frame orange.

Once fully dry and hard, I covered the frame with newspaper and masking tape. I cut the word "BOO" out of three sheets of computer paper and a ghost shape out of a different paper sheet. I then used the plastic skeletons that I wanted spray-painting for other decorations and placed these on the mirror. I attached the paper and the skeletons to the mirror with small dabs of glue before I spray-painted the mirror black. (I used Tetrion Easy Spray Paint.)

Once fully dry and hard, I carefully removed the glue residue with damp pieces of kitchen roll and gentle scratching.

The resulting ghost mirror looks impressive. It catches the reflection of the foil curtains and other Halloween displays.

2.3 Spooky Vase Using Spray Paint, Paper and Tissue Paper

I had previously saved a vase that came with some flowers a friend had given me. 

I cut two different ghost shapes out of computer paper and glued them in a diagonal pattern on the vase. 

I spray-painted the vase using matt black spray paint. (I used Tetrion Easy Spray Paint.) As with all spray painting, it is best to apply several thin layers rather than one thick one to avoid runs.

I then put a sheet of orange tissue paper on the inside of the vase.

Then I added some sparkle with Christmas fairy lights that changed colors every few seconds.

As a finishing touch, I added a paper witch's hat on top of the vase.

2.4 Gravestone, Skeleton and Skull Decorations

Cardboard gravestone decorations are an ideal surface on which to write a fun slogan, a dinner party menu or a list of drinks.

For our bar area, I covered the wine and spirit bottles with labels from the decoration kit of our "Murder at Halloween Party" game. I gave the large skeleton and the two skulls some fun wigs and stood the skulls on tall glasses covered in black tissue paper. The little mini skeleton was brought to "life" by adding miniature red fairy lights inside the ribcage.

I then used LED balloon lights covered in orange tissue paper to add a really creepy look to the eyes of the skeleton and skulls.

The miniature cauldrons with orange, green and purple tissue paper continued the cauldron theme used throughout my party decor.

To decorate our other sideboard, I had a gravestone, skeleton-picture and also a bat collage working together on a flat, black sheet backdrop. I used a paperweight covered in black tissue paper to keep the black sheet from falling off the sideboard.

The "gravestone":

• I made a gravestone out of cardboard covered with orange crepe paper. The gravestone was raised on further cardboard covered in green tissue paper.
• I then added a catchy slogan in letters cut from black card. The slogan was "Dying to Party". I used an approximation of Helloghost font as I liked the bone shapes to the end of many letters.
• I decorated the base with Halloween decorations such as fake spiders, mice, and insects.

The small skeleton climbing out of a picture frame:

• I took an empty frame that I had previously found in a charity shop. I spray-painted the frame orange. This took several iterations.
• I got John to drill two holes towards the edge of the hardboard inside the frame; these were just large enough to push through an arm and a leg of the skeleton.
• I covered the hardboard with white computer paper and then several layers of green tissue paper. I attached each new layer with small dots of glue.
• I opened up the two holes for the skeleton's arm and leg.
• Keeping most of the skeleton to the front of the picture frame, John and I pushed one skeleton arm and leg through the holes and then taped the other arm and leg to the back of the hardboard. This meant that the skeleton was still intact to be used for future decorations.
• I added some rubber bats to the picture by using a black pin to pin them to the hardboard.

The spider's web:

• I covered an LP record with white computer paper and then with green tissue paper.
• I glued a spider's web made with an orange cord to the back of the record.
• I added rubber spiders by using a cotton thread to attach them to the web and then hooking their feet into the appropriate parts of the web.

The base:

The Day of the Dead table runner was brought to life by putting orange tissue paper underneath it so that there was a contrast in colors.

3 Whacky Tacky and Fun Decorating Ideas

In Murder at the Halloween Party, the slogan of the proposed new expanded tourist resort is "Whacky, Tacky and Fun, Fun, Fun".

Let your imagination run wild as you follow this theme for some whacky and tacky and fun Halloween decorations. Just a few ideas:

• Use a child's walker to store drinks or decorations; decorate with streamers and pompoms in Halloween colors. Have a miniature skeleton dressed in fun doll's clothes push this walker.
• Mix unexpected props such as dolls, teddies, and clowns in with your Halloween decorations.
• Create cardboard signs with funny slogans such as "Spirit Time" for the bar area and add pictures of funny ghosts (rather than scary ones).
• Have "ghosts" hanging from the ceiling. (Draw eyes and a mouth onto a balloon with a felt tip pen and then cover in a lightweight costume. Suspend from the ceiling with cotton threads.) However, instead of using the conventional white sheet or scary ghost costumes, try a clown costume or a pirate costume, or part of an orange sheet decorated with smiling pumpkins.
• Have skeletons doing something amusing - such as playing a game, dancing, pole dancing, having a nap or a bath, or proposing. Dress them accordingly in colorful costumes. Be adventurous - have a skeleton dressed in a ballet costume, a 70s disco outfit, or even a Wild West outfit.
• Have pumpkins carved with smiling faces and silly hats. 
• Have pumpkin or gravestone signs with amusing captions such as "No Costume No Entry" or "Best Trick Wins Best Treat".
• Use some of your more colorful Halloween decorations to form displays and then add more color with other props.
• Have an artificial Christmas tree decorated with colorful Halloween ornaments. Instead of a fairy on top of the tree, place a couple of witch's legs sticking upwards.
• Use the "Whacky, Tacky and Fun, Fun, Fun" poster in the game's decoration kit.

4 Use the Murder Mystery Party Decoration Kit Printouts

As with all of our murder mysteries, Murder at the Halloween Party comes with an extensive Decoration Kit set of printouts to help you decorate. There are posters, wine bottle labels, and door signs. There are also place setting cards and menu cards in different spooky themes.