Did you feel that cold chill in the air this morning? Autumn has arrived and Halloween is right around the corner.

Despite the fact that trick or treating and Halloween events may not be happening this year, it doesn’t mean that this festive event is cancelled. Although we’ve been advised to stay at home and remain socially distanced with others outside of our household, that doesn’t mean this spooky time of year can’t be as epic as ever—it just means that we need to put our thinking hats on and get creative!

From baking some creepy yet delicious treats and dressing up as your favourite Halloween character, to roasting marshmallows over the bonfire in your backyard whilst telling spooky stories, and turning your home into the scariest haunted house on the block, here at HIP Hotels we have compiled a list of some of the best ways to celebrate this Halloween safely, yet as entertaining as ever. Not to mention that this holiday falls on a saturday (meaning that you’ve got an entire weekend of treats, costumes and crafts), and there’s also meant to be a full moon…

Get into the spooky spirit with some of these creative ideas you can do safely at home, watch the days get shorter as the clocks go back, and maximise the festive spirit of Halloween with a chilling weekend filled with scary and fun things to do!

Get creative with your pumpkins

As we all know, carving pumpkins is one of the most iconic Halloween activities you can do at home to show off your creativity and crafting skills—not to mention, it’s a tasty yet messy excuse to make a bunch of delicious pumpkin recipes!

If you’re getting a bit sick of the classic toothy grin and triangle pumpkin eyes design, what better way to spend more time getting creative with your pumpkin than now? From themed pumpkins from your favourite Halloween films such as Jack from The Nightmare Before Christmas, to trying something a little different and making your pumpkins more colourful with paint and food dye, let’s take this Halloween by storm and take your pumpkin carving game to a whole new level.

Tell spooky stories around the campfire in your garden

What better way to get into the spooky spirit than by lighting up a campfire in your backyard with the kids or housemates? Perfect and fun for all, there’s nothing like toasting marshmallows over an open fire on a cold, October night. So put on your warmest clothes, get comfy and take turns telling some scary stories around the fire whilst you indulge in some deliciously warm treats.

Take a bag or basket and start the day by walking around the nearest forest or woods to gather logs, twigs and dry leaves for your campfire. Rummage through the house and find any old newspapers or documents that can be added to the fire (another great excuse to clear out some mess in the house!). Grab some comfy cushions and blankets to put around the campfire, start putting your marshmallows onto the ends of sticks and let the spooky campfire stories begin!

If you’re looking to make the night even more creepy, set up some tents in the garden, spend the night under the rare full moon this year and revel in the true meaning of Halloween. Be sure to listen out for any wolves howling at the moon…

Take part in some in-house trick-or-treating

As each week becomes more uncertain with new lockdown rules, trick or treating is probably not allowed this year, or at least frowned upon. But that doesn’t mean you can’t bring the trick or treat to you!

Rather than decorating the outside of your house this month, bring the decor indoors and redecorate the inside this year. Turn your home into the scariest haunted house on the block by decorating each room with a different theme. From a skeleton-spooky kitchen and Dracula's lounge, to a witch’s cauldron in the bathroom and a ghostly bedroom with flying bed sheets, make some terrifying DIY Halloween props and gather some other decorations you may have lying around the house, turn that old plastic dolls house into a haunted one, play some spooky soundtracks and turn your home into the creepiest trick or treating place in town.

Each adult in the house must take part in answering the themed doors to make it all the more scary and you must dress the part. So make sure you’ve got a bowl of candy ready behind each door—you don’t want the kids to play a trick on you if there’s no candy. Perfect for all the family, taking part in some in-house trick-or-treating is the perfect way to spend Halloween safely yet spookily with the kids this year!

Go “Ghosting”

Not the kind of “ghosting” you think.

This popular tradition is one of the best ways to share love in a socially-distanced and safe way this Halloween. Ghosting, also known as Boo’ing (a bit like Secret Santa), encourages people to put together a bag or bucket of tasty treats, along with any other Halloween goodies, and leave it on a friend, family or neighbor’s doorstep with a note saying “You’ve Been Booed”. Once this ghosting bag is ready, set out in the evening, ring the doorbell, leave the bag of treats ready for them to discover and run away!

You can get very creative with these Ghosting bags. From Ghostbusters to a DIY Boo kit, this festive way to spread some socially-distanced love to others you can’t physically be with, is the perfect way to celebrate the Halloween cheer.

Dress up as your favourite Halloween character

You don’t have to go out out, to go all out.

Just because you may be staying at home and not be going out for Halloween this year, doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t dress up in your funniest, scariest, or cutest costume—cat ears are not encouraged this year.

Seeing as most of us have had a lot of time on our hands in recent months, why not take advantage of this free time we have and design the most incredible 2020 Halloween costume ever? Whether that’s dressing up as your favourite character from a spooky film, book or TV show, or turning your home into the Upside Down and making the whole household dress up as the Stranger Things cast, why not give your costume a 2020 pandemic twist on it this year? From Zoom zombies and superhero NHS workers, to the Netflix classic Carol Baskin and the Tiger King, it’s been a difficult year for everyone, so why not try to end the year with a bit of spooky fun?

Make your own DIY Halloween face masks

Seeing as Halloween falls on a weekend, why not make your costumes extra special by creating your own Halloween-themed face masks?

Creating a DIY face mask has become one of the top stay-at-home activities during the pandemic and Halloween is probably the only occasion where wearing a mask would make more sense than ever (the spooky type). Although we’re sure that you may have a ton of classic blue NHS masks, online store-bought and the odd DIY mask lying around the house, making your own Halloween-themed face mask this year will not only keep you safe, but will also be a fun and whimsical way to spend the last October weekend.

From classic skeleton and pumpkin mouths, to mummy faces wrapped in bandages and the iconic dracula's teeth, grab some washable, breathable fabric, a couple of bands (or hair ties) some ribbon, colourful paint and any other decorations you’d like to add. Fun, safe and highly relevant, this is something that’s fun for all!

For some more information on homemade masks, please click here.

Host a scary movie marathon

There’s nothing more classic to get you in the Halloween mood, than by watching a scary movie or two—and there’s definitely no shortage of those.

From the family friendly classics such as The Addams Family, Hocus Pocus and Casper, to something a little darker; Silence of the Lambs, The Ring and the iconic Halloween, be sure to add the shuddering new film, Host, that was released earlier this year, to your watchlist. This British footage horror film is about six friends under quarantine due to the COVID-19 pandemic who decide to hire a medium to lead them in a séance. After a couple of pranks and claims, some terrifying things start to happen…

There’s something in the Halloween oeuvre for everyone. So make a night of it, get into your comfies, turn off all the lights to set the scene, prepare some tasty popcorn and Halloween-themed drinks and let the night of horrors begin. Don’t say we didn’t warn you!

Craft some spooky treats and cocktails

Halloween isn’t just about treating or tricking others, it’s also about treating ourselves. Which means if we want to delight our sweet tooths by indulging in a ton of candy, cookies, cupcakes and of course, cocktails (this one’s for the adults), then what is a better excuse than Halloween? Not only is this the perfect opportunity to add some great Halloween-themed photos to your social media profiles, but it’s also a great way to spend the afternoon with the kids or your housemates. So let’s try to be a little more imaginative this year!

Take advantage of the extra spare time we currently have and get creative with your baking and cocktail making. Decorate some spooky cookies, make some bloody red velvet cupcakes, build a haunted gingerbread house, and of course, some candy apples. For the adults, put a spell on the members of your household with some spookylicious cocktails. From Magic Margaritas and Bloody Mary’s, to Pumpkin Punches and glow-in-the-dark jello shots—you don’t have to be a pro bartender to make your perfect witch potion cocktail.