Halloween 2013

In 2008, a section of Hugh Taylor Birch State Park was transformed into a haunted Halloween scene for the 11th annual Bremen Brothers Beach Bash. Among the tented areas for the event was a black-lit library-like space that recalled a haunted house.

Interior designer Leah Pickler interpreted Showtime's Dexter series when the network partnered with Metropolitan Home in 2008 for an experiential show house. Pickler's dining room included plates, chairs, and walls splattered with blood and a centerpiece comprised of vials of red liquid.

The 2008 Design Exchange gala achieved a haunted forest effect in the museum with graffiti artist Mike Echlin's white trees painted onto a black backdrop.

At the 2011 "Galaween" Benefit in Chicago, guests walked through a temporary graveyard outside of Venue One. Inside, the raw space was transformed into an enchanted forest foyer, a torture chamber dance floor, and a haunted mansion with rags hung from the ceiling’s chandeliers.

At this year's Dining by Design in New York, the table styled by Alexa Stevenson had rather a macabre centerpiece that included moss, succulents, and a skull inside a glass cloche.

Last year's Malibu Rum launch for its Black spirit filled New York's Good Units with Halloween-inspired decor. Even the bars matched the look, with black lights and skull-and-crossbones imagery at one and plasma balls on foil-covered shelves at another.

A mob of silent, masked people marching through the streets of Manhattan last year made for a creepy, if not ominous sight. The stunt was part of a promotion from Starz to herald the premiere of Torchwood: Miracle Day.

For the Central Park Conservancy's Halloween ball in 2010, Frank Alexander dressed tables in shades of brown and green and topped each one with alternating arrangements of tree stumps with hidden gnomes and fairies surrounded by flickering candles.

The Walking Dead celebrated its 100th issue at Comic-Con in San Diego this past July with a party that referenced the comic book's gory, zombie-filled contents. At the edge of the event, two zombie nurses interacted with guests.

The look of the Lexus event during the 2011 New York International Auto Show might have been more futuristic than spooky, but the eerie glow of blue lighting and the fog coming out of the drinks works just as well for Halloween parties. Caterer Creative Edge served up a liquid nitrogen cocktail of vanilla Absolut with tangerine and a vanilla kumquat marmalade alongside passion fruit meringues dipped in a bowl of nitrogen for the carmaker's preview event.

In 2006, the Art Gallery of Ontario threw a costume ball that put ghostly figures in the long, dark entry corridor. The performers played unearthly sounding melodies on tiny music boxes as guests entered the venue.

There was no shortage of inspiration for HBO when it hosted a premiere party for vampire series True Blood in 2008. In addition to Mexican relic shrines and cemetery lanterns, the event included a menu of blood-colored dessert bites.

Edward Gorey's morbid illustrations were the inspiration behind the design for the 2006 Central Park Conservancy Halloween ball. Inside the dining room, Grayson Bakula (a company that has since changed its name to Bakula Design) decorated the walls of the tent with projections of barren branches and hung menacing hooded figures from the ceiling.

The Art Gallery of Ontario's 2006 Shadow Ball had tables topped with skull-shaped candles from sculptor Marcello Dalmao.

At the 18th annual Dream Halloween AIDS Benefit in 2011, guests entered the main space of the transformed Barker Hangar only after walking through a series of five haunted tombs amidst a foggy forest.

At the Florida Aquarium's 10th annual masquerade ball, Nauti-Night, in 2007, the entire space was transformed into a spooky environment for drinking, dining, and dancing. The webs that covered the exhibit walls created ghostly passages for guests to explore.

At the 2009 Green Halloween launch, caterer Flavor Palette crafted a menu that included jack-o-lantern-, ghost-, and graveyard-inspired sushi.

Recalling the movie's dark themes and visuals, the premiere party for Dark Knight in 2008 had red-painted graffiti on the walls, tables, and windows of the Mandarin Oriental ballroom in New York.

Rather than creating elaborate centerpieces for the Central Park Conservancy's 2006 ball, Grayson Bakula (now known as Bakula Design) used intersected pieces of laser-cut plexiglass to form the ghostly dining table decorations.

During Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York last September, retail display company Aux Armes crafted creepy black-and-white cutouts of spiderwebs, hand saws, and candelabra for Rachel Antonoff's presentation.

For the Dexter season 4 DVD release party in Miami, Showtime fashioned crime scene sets at the National Hotel's poolside cabanas using police tape, fake dismembered bodies, and blood splatters.

The Addams Family-inspired Citi Performing Arts Center Gala in 2011 was ridden with graveyard imagery.

Neuman's Halloween-themed table for the ISES competition at the 2010 BizBash New York Expo used skeleton hands napkin rings, mini coffins and cauldrons, and a barren hilltop centerpiece to set the eerie mood.

NYC Photobooth’s “Haunted Photocrypts” photo booth station includes an interactive talking skull to instruct visitors and a number of spooky backgrounds to choose from.

In 2009, Old Navy created a pop-up pumpkin patch in New York City's meatpacking district that had a plethora of carved pumpkins.

In 2006, when XBox 360 launched its Gears of War game at Hollywood's Forever Cemetery, the spooky and unconventional mausoleum made for a suitably morbid venue.

At The Simpsons Halloween-Carnival party in 2009, a mask-making station at the Barker Hangar in Los Angeles let kids and adults create their own face coverings as a unique event souvenir.

At the Brooklyn Museum's 2011 Artists Ball, the centerpiece of Aleksandar Duravecevic's table was a taxidermied ram.

Playing off the venue—the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles—and eerie plots of its forthcoming shows, Showtime's 2006 event was set amid dry ice and twisted scenery.

For its Yelloween party in 2010, Veuve Clicquot filled bathtubs with skeletons and yellow rose petals at Tao Las Vegas.

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals offered a healthy alternative to snacking on candy by hosting a Halloween Half-Marathon on October 28. The Los Angeles event drew some 12,000 runners, including Will Ferrell. Fun sideline attractions included a Shelter Pet Costume Contest and dog-shaped cookies from Walkers Shortbread.

Billed as a "skeletal spectacle," Redmoon Theater's October 27 Halloween party in Chicago featured dozens of the bony Halloween icons. At a s'mores station, two performers dressed in lingerie and face makeup prepared the snacks in a bathroom vignette. They warmed the chocolates over candles in the bathtub and used blowtorches to melt the marshmallows.

Oranum.com and Neuro Drinks hosted Just Jared's October 27 Halloween party at Siren Studios in Los Angeles. Because oranum.com facilitates online video chats with experts who specialize in mystical topics such as clairvoyance, chakra healing, and dream interpretations, the event offered tarot card readings. The readings took place in branded areas replete with Moroccan-style lamps and psychics wearing golden veils.

Keep a Child Alive's family-friendly event included artsy activities for kids. The event took place at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica on October 27.

Chad Hudson Events produced the October 24 premiere event and after-party for the new film Fun Size. Held at Marathon Park inside the Paramount Studios lot, the event was inspired by a typical, all-American Halloween festival. Illuminated jack-o'-lanterns, creepy trees and scarecrows from CHE and Jackson Shrub and Props, and lighting effects and spiderweb gobos from CHE and Ultimate Lighting created the festive atmosphere.

On October 25, Patrón XO Cafe hosted an event in Chicago with so-called "celebrity ghost hunter" Zac Bagans. Bagans, who appears on the Travel Channel's Ghost Adventurers, brought paranormal-activity-detecting tools to The Hangge-Uppe, which is allegedly haunted. "There were definitely a few eerie moments including a voice that was heard by some guests on the ghost hunt," reported PR rep Arielle Himy. The evening's menu included "Dark Spirits" made with Patrón XO Cafe Dark Cocoa.

On October 24, Boston's Emerald Lounge at the Revere Hotel hosted a Zombie-themed fashion show with looks from Dance Party Massacre's fall line. Scenes from Night of the Living Dead played inside the lounge, and spooky swag included skull-shaped shot glasses from Crystal Head vodka.

Chicago's Dana Hotel and Spa hosted its zombie-themed Halloween bash on October 26. At 7:30 p.m., around 50 costumed dancers sporting everything including fake blood and checkered socks—one even held a sign that said "Eat You Maybe?"—took over the intersection of State and Erie Streets for a spooky pop-up performance. Jason Laws (who was also the assistant choreographer for the famous Oprah and Black Eyed Peas flash dance in 2009) choreographed the dance to a mash-up of "Thriller" and "Ganhgam Style."