Organizing A Spine Chilling Virtual Halloween Event - Tips And Tricks

Halloween is scary, but it’s even more fun. Whether it’s dressing up like your favorite Marvel character or moving around the neighborhood trick or treating, the festive spirit of Halloween brings around fond memories of our childhood. It is also an incredible time to showcase your innovation while bonding with people around you.

But this fun is not only limited to the physical world. Thanks to technology, virtual Halloween events can be as fun and exciting as a traditional Halloween. And we are here to tell you how.

Join us as we discuss the best ways you can celebrate virtual Halloween events with your work buddies.

A. Prepping it the right way

To prep your Halloween event the right way, here are some of the ways to get on with it:

1. Keep the agenda ready

The activities of the virtual Halloween events will play a major role in determining the vibe and success of the event. Make sure to draft your agenda and circulate it with your attendees so that they know what to expect. 

Remember to:

• List the activities and the time you are planning to start them
• Mention if you are planning for a dress code, but ensure it’s optional to not pressurize anyone
• List the rules of the games and activities that you are planning to host.

2. Design for the feel

Halloween is not just a party, it is an experience. When you are planning virtual Halloween events for work,  putting in extra effort will help you to deliver the feel and vibe of an in-person Halloween party. 

Here are some ideas to help you out -

i). Invitations

Make your invitation tickets extra spooky to get employees excited for the event. Things to include-

• A click-worthy subject line or catchphrase. Example- Join us if you Dare..For a Halloween Scare.

• Mention the basic event details such as date, time, location or meeting link, duration, and agenda.
• Include the steps for RSVP and the date by which the attendees need to confirm to help you plan accordingly.
• Include special instructions. For example, rules of games, competitions, costumes, etc.
• Put a countdown timer to generate excitement and anticipation for the virtual Halloween event.

ii). Virtual backgrounds

To enhance the virtual Halloween experience, introduce a Halloween background to your platform. Ask your event tech provider if they can customize a Halloween party theme such as a haunted house, graveyard, foggy forest, pumpkin patch, disembodied hands, and so on. 

You can even encourage your team members to pick their background for the call, and even give a prize for the best.

iii). Playlist

Set the mood with a spooky and fun Halloween-themed playlist. You can create your own or use a curated playlist from Spotify or YouTube.

3. Send Halloween gifts to the attendees

Sharing gifts is a great way to showcase gratitude to your employees for their hard work which makes them feel valued. It doesn’t have to be anything big but just to get them into the Halloween spirit while feeling appreciated. 

Sending treats is also a great way to celebrate the spirit of Halloween but make sure to keep it a surprise. You can also consider gift cards, vouchers, and other e-gifting options if you are unable to mail the gifts.

4. Market your event

You don’t necessarily need a detailed marketing plan to host virtual Halloween events. Launching your marketing campaign before a week would also work well if you promote it good enough. 

You can consider launching email campaigns, social media promotions, or even embedding an ad on your website to help reach people faster.

5. Test your technology before the event

The technology or the platform you choose will play a major role in deciding the experience of the event. To ensure the event runs smoothly, test the platform beforehand to avoid any possibility of technical glitches and errors.

B. Themes for virtual Halloween events

Virtual Halloween events can take the following forms:

1. Costume contest

Crazy, innovative, spooky costumes are synonymous with Halloween. And what’s a better way to celebrate than a costume contest? 

Best practices-

• Announce the contest at least two weeks in advance so that employees who wish to participate have enough time to prepare their costumes.
• Share spooky e-invites to create a feeling of excitement and enthusiasm among your employees.
• Share the rules and guidelines for the costumes clearly to keep the event fun and fair for everyone.
• Decide on the prizes beforehand.

Costume theme suggestions

• Movie moments
• Cartoon heroes
• Misunderstood villains
• Ghosts of companies past
• Best costume you wore as a kid
• Anything but human

Costume judging criteria

• Best Overall
• Scariest
• Most Gory
• Innovative
• Best Handmade
• Most Likely to Scare a Child
• Least Effort, Highest Impact

2. Scary movie party

If you want your employees to take some time off work to chill and have fun, organizing a virtual movie night is an incredible idea. Announce this on your invite to let your employees know about this early enough and plan their tasks accordingly. 

The sole purpose of Halloween movies is to make you scream with fear or laughter. There are numerous options available on movie streaming platforms. To select the movies, you can run a quick poll among your employees to choose the most popular option.

Classic Halloween movie recommendation-

• Friday the 13th
• Nightmare on Elm Street
• Halloween
• The Exorcist
• The Ring
• The Sixth Sense
• Insidious
• Cloverfield
• Poltergeist

Funny Halloween movie recommendation- 

• Clue
• The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror specials
• It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
• Hocus Pocus
• The Nightmare Before Christmas
• Young Frankenstein
• Ghostbusters
• Beetlejuice
• The Rocky Horror Picture Show

3. Never have I ever

The classic game of ‘Never Have I Ever’ is familiar to all, but you can also make it all about Halloween. To do this, you can take turns with one person going into the presenter mode and saying one thing they have never done on a Halloween night. Anyone who has done the thing before can identify themselves by turning the camera on.

Never have I ever’ question ideas:

• Had your pumpkin smashed
• Had to take your little sibling trick or treating
• Your parents made you wear your winter coat over your costume
• You own Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin
• Ever dressed as a food item
• Had your mom make your costume
• You have ever bobbed for apples
• Your parents still won’t let you carve a pumpkin with a real knife
• Have worn an older sibling costume from the previous year
• You and a sibling dressed up as the same thing the same year

4. Virtual escape room

Escape rooms are great team-building activities that demonstrate teamwork, communication, collaboration, and problem-solving to save your team before time runs out. Apart from that, virtual escape rooms are incredibly fun and you can choose any theme that suits your team’s preferences.

Popular virtual escape rooms

• The Grimm Escape Puzzle Break
• The Heist
• Ruins: Forbidden Treasure
• The Hogwarts Digital Escape Room
• Murfreesboro Escape Room
• The Haunted Mansion Mystery
• Expedition Escape's Bank Heist

5. Halloween bingo

Bingo is a fun and cool game to play virtually. It requires minimal preparation with only the host doing the talking. You can find many pre-made Halloween bingo boards around the web. 

To play a game of virtual Halloween bingo, delegate one person to be the host. But before that make sure, everyone on the team has printed out the chosen bingo card. To make the game more exciting, offer a reward like branded swag or a fun gift card to the person who gets the bingo first.

6. Virtual trick-or-treat

Trick or Treat is one of the most anticipated and loved Halloween activities. It is also a time when your teammates can enjoy the spoils of the Halloween hunt without any ‘Aren’t you too old for this?’ remarks.

Virtual trick-or-treat best practices-

• Send your members digital treats in the form of gift cards, virtual wallpapers, online credits, etc.
• Share Halloween jokes, riddles, and questions for trick-or-treaters.
• Ask your gift givers to send the treats only when the trick-or-treaters answer correctly. 

7. Virtual haunted house tour

Even if you can't physically arrange a tour of an abandoned mansion or a mysterious neighborhood, you can still give your team a spine-chilling experience with a virtual haunted house experience.

Real-life creepy locations for virtual tour-

• The Paris Catacombs
• Isla de las Muñecas (Island of the Dolls)
• Winchester Mystery House

You can also get a lot of virtual walk-throughs of entertainment-based haunted houses on YouTube. These tours provide the viewers with the same experience as a traditional haunted house experience. Plus you also get the option of abandoning or switching to a different tab if it gets too scary.

8. Virtual pumpkin decoration

Halloween and pumpkin decorations go hand in hand. Though not physically together, you can still carve a scary-looking pumpkin together while chatting and spending some fun time with your teammates.

To ensure all your team members are equipped with the supplies, you can send decorating kits containing-

• Sharpie markers
• Glue
• Glitter
• Puffy paint
• Bat and ghost confetti
• Googly eyes
• Carving knife

9. Sharing Halloween memories

To add a personal element to your virtual Halloween party, encourage everyone to share a favorite Halloween memory. This can be anything from a mischievous teenage prank, a family tradition, or a fun recollection from childhood trick or treating.

Once a member finishes sharing, you can ask them to pick the next member who shares. This is also a great way to allow team members to bond and get to know each other better.

If your virtual Halloween event comprises a large group, you can limit the sharing to a few selected people. This will give you time to host other activities too. To encourage the participants, ask the members to engage and share reactions and comments in the chat box.

10. Virtual magic show

Halloween is all about witches, vampires, ghosts, and other magical creatures. To take your Halloween party to the next level, hire a magician to dazzle everyone. This is an exciting idea to get everyone excited and hooked on the event.

On-camera magic can be just as interesting as seeing a magician in real life. To make the magician feel appreciated, encourage the attendees to use the chat box and reaction features to share the excitement during the show.

Most magicians chose to engage with the participants. For example, they might ask for a volunteer to try a trick. This will keep the members of your team engaged along with the entertainer.

11. Halloween themed trivia

Trivias are fun and intriguing, especially a Halloween-themed one. To test attendees’ knowledge of the range of facts, you can choose a couple of categories like scary movies, Halloween history, candy, or costumes. You can even split the room up into teams and have everyone play. Keep a few extra questions ready in case there arises a situation for a tie-breaker. The winning team can get prizes. 

12. Ghost stories

Sharing ghost stories, fictional or real, is a great way to bond at a Halloween party. Notify your team about this activity in advance so they can come prepared with their version of the most chilling story. Don’t make it compulsory for everyone, but allow volunteers who are excited to go first.  By the end of the session, you all can vote to pick the best story.

Are you ready for the chills?

Arranging virtual events can sometimes be more stressful than organizing a real person one. This is because you mostly have to rely on technology and third-party platforms to do the heavy lifting. But it doesn’t always have to be this way if you make your decisions wisely. 

To successfully carry off all your virtual Halloween events, you need the help of an event management platform like Ticket Generator to help you with the registration and ticketing needs.

To know more, sign up now!