A Student Guide to Celebrating Halloween at University

While you might have grown out of trick-or-treating at school, you’ll probably start celebrating Halloween again at university. In fact, it’s one of the most exciting and memorable events in the university calendar! Whether you go out or stay in, Halloween is a great time to get everyone together and have a laugh. It also doesn’t have to be one big drinking party, and there are plenty of great ways to celebrate Halloween sober!

Ahead of the spooky celebrations this year, we’ve created a short student guide to celebrating Halloween at university, including how to throw a Halloween house party in student accommodation, other fun ways to celebrate and a list of budget-friendly costume ideas.

How to Celebrate Halloween at University

Make your Halloween as terrifying as that stack of bins in your first-year flat with these six spooky ideas…

• Go on a Halloween Night Out

  Walking around your university town in fancy dress is a right of passage for university students, and what better way to show the locals how to make a costume on a budget than going on a Halloween night out. Tons of bars, clubs and pubs put on Halloween specials every year, inviting students to ghoulishly grace their venues in exchange for deals on drinks and a playlist of Halloween-themed bangers. While we recommend scouting out the best event in advance, it can also be fun to have a good explore – after all, you never know which scary surprises might be around the next corner!

• Throw a Halloween Party

  If you don’t want to go out, take advantage of your space by throwing a Halloween celebration for course friends or flatmates. This can be great fun if you’ve got a group that’s too big to get in anywhere or a smaller circle that would instead prefer celebrating at home. If the party planning responsibility lands on you, remember to do the following:

  • Choose a theme: The best Halloween parties choose a theme – and stick to it. Potential themes include horror movies, zombies, witches or spooky creatures.
  • Decorate accordingly: This is an easy way to run wild with your theme while also including other signature Halloween decorations like cobwebs, skeletons, and pumpkins.
  • Create a playlist: Even if you don’t keep it on all night, get the party started with a classic Halloween playlist – or better yet, make your own!
  • Consider a karaoke machine: Put on your own performance with a karaoke machine and make your Halloween party well and truly memorable (hopefully for all the right reasons!)

• Serve Up Some Spooky Food and Drinks

  Who said party food was just for kids? Create your very own spooky dishes to share with the flat, including marshmallow ghosts, witch finger cookies or mozzarella and olive eyeballs… You could even throw a Pot Luck Dinner and ask your guests to bring their favourite Halloween treats, finding a prize for the best chef! And what Halloween dinner party is complete without cocktails? Pour out a dozen bloody Marys or create your own Halloween punch using whatever you have left over from other house parties. Definitely a recipe for horror!

• Host a Freaky Film Night

  Showcase the very best Halloween films by throwing a horror-themed movie night. Whether you’re streaming the latest Saw film or watching a cult classic like Hocus Pocus, this is an easy way to celebrate Halloween with your friends if you don’t want to go overboard this year. Don’t have a TV in your student flat? No problem. Ask for a projector and beam your favourite film onto a plain white wall. Somehow the Scream franchise is even better this way!

• Do Halloween Arts and Crafts

  Even if you aren’t throwing a Halloween party in your student house, you can still decorate it to the nines! Getting your friends together to do some Halloween arts and crafts is the perfect way to get into the spooky spirit and get everyone together in one place. You could make classic interior additions like fake cobwebs and hanging skeletons, or decorate your front porch with pumpkin carving. A great final budget-friendly touch to your home is a Halloween-scented candle – perfect for bridging the Autumn/Winter changeover. 

• Go Pumpkin Picking

  Visiting a pumpkin patch is one of the best things you can do this spooky season – whether you want to get some massive orange decorations for your accommodation, or are just after some brilliant photos for Instagram! Either way, nothing says Halloween more than getting a group of pals together and going pumpkin picking. Just search for your nearest patch online and get ready to push that massive wheelbarrow…

Easy Halloween Costumes for University Students

Whether you love or loathe Halloween, dressing up at university is on every student’s bucket list – and this is a brilliant time to put your best fancy dress skills to the test! There are tons of great Halloween costumes for students, ranging from traditionally spooky to modern-day horror!

• Witches: Grab your pointed hat with this timeless and easy costume that never disappoints.
• Ghosts: What’s better than a white sheet – an instant classic!
• Zombies: Create an instant zombie look with makeup, torn clothes and fake blood.
• Vampires: Whether it’s Twilight-inspired or classic Dracula, this is a popular choice that can either be dressed up or dressed down. 
• Cat: Tickle your feline fancy with some fake whiskers and tiny ears.
• Video game characters: Got a favourite Halloween game? Why not emulate one of the main characters? 
• Film characters: Take your freaky film night to the next level by dressing up as your favourite film or TV show protagonist. 
• Villains: There’s a reason villains are notoriously evil!

Group Costumes

If you’ve got a group of friends or coursemates who are planning to celebrate Halloween together, a group costume can be a really easy way to excel at fancy dress – while also convincing those who aren’t so keen to come along. Some instant hits include:

• Shrek
• PacMan and his ghosts
• The Addams Family
• Scooby Doo
• Monster’s Inc
• Toy Story
• 101 Dalmations 

Dressing up for Halloween on a Student Budget

Halloween is one of the most fun and exciting events in the university calendar. However, the thought of going out and finding a fancy dress costume can also sound incredibly expensive. But fear not! There are plenty of ways to make your student loan go further and celebrate Halloween on a budget. Below are some of our top tips for creating the cheapest Halloween costumes that still pack a punch.

Hit the Charity Shops

Charity shops are an absolute goldmine for both sustainable living as a student and bagging a killer fancy dress outfit. If you’ve already got the bulk of your outfit from elsewhere, charity shops can also help complete the look with a wealth of kooky accessories!

Head to the High Street

While it might be tempting to do a massive Asos order tucked up in your bed, the high street is the best place to get some brilliant fancy dress on a budget. We recommend heading to bargain shops and supermarkets which are usually filled to the brim with cheap Halloween costumes and accessories.

Let Your Creative Juices Flow

One of the cheapest ways to dress up for Halloween is to make the costume yourself. There’s no doubt this requires a little more creativity than grabbing something off the rail but thinking outside the box will be a whole lot more rewarding when you bag the award for best-dressed…

Ask Around

The chances that your course friends or housemates have a spare fancy dress outfit they’ve kept after a night out is high at university – especially if you’ve surrounded yourself with students who are part of sports societies. An easy way to save the pennies with your costume this Halloween is to ask around and see what you can first get your hands on.

Create a Shared Stash

Prevent any dawdling with your fancy dress costume in the future by creating a shared stash of goodies with your housemates. If everyone chips in to buy a few items for the stash, you’ll soon have a crate of brilliant costumes ready for all manner of spooky celebrations. Here’s a quick list of staple items for your shared stash:

• Fake glasses
• Various wigs
• Feather boas
• Eye patches
• Braces
• Various hats
• Bow ties
• Luau
• Inflatable instruments

From all the team at Ivory Research, Happy Halloween!