A Halloween company party has one big advantage over a regular party: the theme comes ready-made. Darkness, pumpkins, ghosts and a little chill down your spine simply belong to late October, so nobody has to explain at length why the room is dimly lit.
Before you start hunting for decorations, it pays to know where this holiday comes from. It'll help you with the decor, the invitation and the quiz questions.
Below you'll find a short history of Halloween, its place in the Czech Republic and, above all, an outline for an evening that entertains even those who'd rather not dress up.
The Celtic Festival of Samhain
Halloween started out as the Celtic festival of Samhain. For the Celts, it was the equivalent of our New Year.
Its second face mattered more, though. The Celts saw Samhain as a time when the boundary between the world of the living and the world of the dead blurs.
People believed that on the last night of October the souls of the dead returned among the living. So they lit bonfires on the hills and wore disguises to confuse the restless spirits.
This idea is very useful for a company party. It gives the evening a mysterious atmosphere without unnecessary fright, and that's exactly the spirit a good Halloween event should carry.
Stingy Jack and the Pumpkin
Back then, lanterns weren't made from pumpkins. They were carved from hollowed-out turnips, and pumpkins only took over in America.
The lanterns are tied to the Irish legend of Stingy Jack. The story goes that Jack outwitted the devil, was refused entry to heaven after his death, and was turned away by hell as well. Since then, legend has it, he has wandered the darkness, lighting his way with an ember inside a hollowed-out turnip.
The pumpkin caught on thanks to better availability and easier carving. A folk custom became a symbol everyone recognizes at first glance.
Halloween in the Czech Republic
In recent years, Halloween has firmly settled in the Czech Republic too. For a long time, people associated it mainly with children trick-or-treating and carving pumpkins.
More and more adults enjoy it as well. Bars and clubs in big cities put on themed nights with music and costume contests.
For companies, that brings a practical advantage: everyone knows the holiday, so the invitation needs no long explanation, and even a hesitant colleague knows right away what to expect.
Late October also sits in a convenient spot on the calendar. A Halloween event doesn't compete with the company Christmas parties you hold a few weeks later, and it gives the team a great reason to get together before the holiday rush.
Costumes Without Pressure
Costumes tend to be the biggest draw of a Halloween event, but also its most common stumbling block. Anyone who doesn't want to dress up must never feel they're spoiling the fun for others.
So state clearly on the invitation that costumes are optional. Send it well in advance so everyone has time to come up with an outfit. Anyone who doesn't want a full costume can come in black or pick up a mask on site.
A table of accessories at the entrance works really well: masks, witch hats, capes or fake cobwebs for the shoulder. In a moment, even those who came straight from a work meeting have a costume.
A best-costume contest makes sense; just make sure the winner isn't whoever spent the most money on their outfit. Base the categories on creativity instead:
- scariest mask
- funniest costume
- best team costume
- costume put together from office items
The Venue
Halloween practically begs for a venue with character. A cellar restaurant, a historic hall or a vaulted space will do much of the decorating for you.
A company cafeteria or an ordinary private room will do too, though. Darkness, pumpkins and candles transform almost any room. All that matters is that you can dim the lights and the teams have enough space around the tables.
Lighting and Decorations
Atmosphere comes mainly from lighting. Dim the overhead lights, keep the room pleasantly dark and place carved pumpkins with candles around it.
In rooms with curtains and tablecloths, go for LED candles. They look almost the same, and nobody has to keep watch over an open flame.
You don't have to buy the pumpkins already carved. Put them on the teams' tables along with small knives and templates: carving fills the start of the evening nicely, and the decorations make themselves.
Don't overdo the food. A few themed specialties, like pumpkin soup, pastries shaped like witch fingers or a dark dessert, are enough, while the rest of the menu can stay traditional.
A Spooky Brain Party
A party needs an anchor that brings people together. Without a shared program, the room splits into groups by department, and the evening ends with the same conversations as at the office.
That's why, for Halloween company parties, we run Brain Party with a themed round of questions. Teams compete in their knowledge of Halloween, ghosts and legends.
Our questions cover exactly what we talked about above: Samhain, turnip lanterns and Stingy Jack. Vampires or witches can be added too. If you want to give the theme even more room, our blog has an article on vampire legends.
A well-made Halloween round combines familiar movie motifs with facts that surprise even seasoned horror fans.
A trivia competition has one huge advantage: nobody has to run around or perform in public. The quiet analyst and the loud salesperson sit at the same table, and both have something to contribute to the team.
If you want to add even more suspense to the evening, you can pair Brain Party with our Escape Box escape game. If you'd like to start outdoors, teams can head out before the party on Treasure Hunt Prague or Treasure Hunt Brno with a special set of Halloween questions.
Running Order of the Evening
A good party has its own rhythm. A schedule that sticks to the theme and doesn't overload anyone looks like this:
Schedule the competition after dinner. A hungry team thinks about the buffet, not about questions on Celtic customs.
Save the best-costume awards for the very end. People relax after the competition, and even those who came without a costume are happy to join the vote.
If you plan to spend part of the evening outside in the dark, a Halloween Treasure Hunt is a great fit. We describe it in detail in a separate article on the Halloween Treasure Hunt. This piece focuses on an indoor party.
- optional outdoor start: a Halloween Treasure Hunt at dusk that ends at the venue door
- arrival, the mask table and the first photos in costume
- pumpkin carving at the tables to warm up
- dinner with a few Halloween specialties
- Brain Party with a Halloween round of questions
- costume awards and free time with music
Mystery Instead of Horror
Spooky atmosphere, yes; gross-out, no. Bloody effects and terrifying masks belong in a club; at a corporate event, humor and mystery work far better.
A company brings together people who take Halloween for granted and people who've never celebrated it. For the second group, a short explanation of the holiday's origins at the start of the competition is a great ticket into the game.
We also prepare the hosting and the program in English, so nobody gets lost in a mixed team.
A Halloween company party rests above all on dim lighting and a shared competition that connects colleagues across departments. Keep costumes completely optional, and feel free to create the decorations together.
We run Brain Party with a Halloween round of questions ourselves, as the direct provider, not an intermediary, so you can be sure one team handles both the questions and the whole evening.
Write to us with the date of your party and how many guests are coming. We'll be glad to talk through the choice of venue and the best place for the competition in your program.
FAQ
When should we hold a Halloween company party?
Around October 31, usually in the week before the holiday or right after it. The date is up to you. A Halloween event doesn't compete with the Christmas party a few weeks later.
Does everyone have to wear a costume?
No. Say on the invitation that costumes are optional. An accessories table at the entrance (masks, hats, capes) dresses up even the colleagues who came straight from a meeting.
What program fits a Halloween party?
Brain Party with a Halloween round of questions: teams at their tables compete on Samhain, Stingy Jack, vampires and horror movies. You can add an Escape Box or an outdoor Halloween Treasure Hunt before the party.
Where does the competition go in the schedule?
After dinner, once nobody is eyeing the buffet. Save the costume awards for the very end so that guests without a costume join the vote too.
Where does Halloween come from?
From the Celtic festival of Samhain, which marked the end of the harvest in Ireland. The name comes from All Hallows' Eve, the evening before All Saints' Day. Lanterns were first carved from turnips; pumpkins took over with Irish immigrants in America.
We Run the Halloween Party, Questions Included
You handle contracts, code or production. We handle company parties. We run Brain Party with a Halloween round of questions ourselves: the host, the AV gear and the questions all come with us, and if you want to start outdoors, we link it to a Halloween Treasure Hunt in Prague or Brno. Send us the date, the city and the number of guests, or just give us a call. We'll settle the program and the venue in one conversation.
