40 Haunting Halloween Cocktails and Shots

A popular name for Halloween drinks, a number of recipes have taken on the "jack-o-lantern" moniker over the years. Yet, few are as simple or as eye-catching as this one.

Cognac, Grand Marnier, and orange juice create the perfect, simple drink for Halloween. It's topped with a hint of ginger ale to rev up your taste buds, but it's the Halloween-worthy garnish that takes it from ordinary to extraordinary.

If you're in the mood for a real pumpkin cocktail, these are sure to fix your craving.

• Pumpkin Old-Fashioned: Bring a favorite bourbon drink into the Halloween season with pumpkin puree and maple syrup.
• Spiced Pumpkin: Not sure what to do with that pumpkin pie vodka? This creamy, spiced pumpkin martini is a perfect place to begin.

Many attempts have been made to recreate the taste of candy corn in a glass. These recipes may not get it perfect, but they certainly are some fun cocktails.

• Candy Corn Cocktail: You'll have fun preparing this recipe. It infuses kettle corn into a bottle of gin and pairs that with Moscato wine and homemade grenadine. A little fancy, a little crazy, and that's just the way we like it.
• Children of the Corn: For this super easy cocktail, you get to make candy corn-infused vodka. It is the ideal way to use up the candy and guaranteed to be the talk of the party.
• Peach Candy Corn Cocktail: Candy corn is all about the three layers and this recipe plays up that visual effect. It's sweet—a mix of sparkling peach, pineapple, and whipped cream vodka—and as fun to drink as it is to look at.
• Candy Corn Shooter: A round of shots, anyone? Practice your layering skills with this tasty little drink and recreate the look of those tiny candies.
• Candy Corn Oranges: Hollowed out orange peels are the mold for Jell-O shot layers spiked with Cointreau. Add a little coconut milk and you have a great tasting, very fun party favor.

Are you hosting a fancier party or just want to show off your new cocktail glasses? Any of these quick and stunning martinis will do. Of course, since it is Halloween there's always a trick or treat involved.

• Halloween Hypnotist: A drink with a haunting, eerie blue glow. What more could you want for a Halloween party? It's both easy and fruity, just don't forget the glow stick.
• Blood and Sand: Go old-school with a truly great Scotch Manhattan. The splash of cherry brandy and vermouth make this classic a winner for any occasion.
• Devil Cocktail: Pour this unexpected brandy classic for friends who need a bit of a shock. Ah, yes, the devil really is in the details.
• Vampire Kiss: It's fancy, it's fun, and it combines vodka, Chambord, Champagne, so you know it's delicious as well. The bloody red rim sets it over the top.

Apples are the fruit of fall and you can never get enough, especially for Halloween. From spiked cider drinks to sweet caramel apple goodness, these cocktails are sure to please.

• Candy Appley Cocktail: A bit of moonshine in your sparkling cider?This drink might not be what you expect from moonshine and that is most definitely a good thing.
• Caramel Appletini: Creating a caramel apple in a glass is much easier than the real thing. UV Green Vodka and butterscotch schnapps are all you need.
• Toffee Apple: Fancy and simple, this sweet little apple martini features a homemade toffee syrup that is very easy to make.

Low and slow. If that's the way you want to roll, these tequila and whiskey lowballs are the drink recipes for you. They're packed with attention-grabbing flavor, just the thing you need for a memorable night.

• El Diablo: Packed with the flavors of tequila, creme de cassis, and ginger beer, this is a devilish little drink that will spark the Halloween spirit in anyone. 
• Fright Night in the Grove: Shock your guests by serving Jagermeister and tequila in style and on the rocks. It's incredibly simple and a new way to enjoy the two somewhat notorious spirits.
• Witch Hunt: Scotch and lemonade really do work together. Discover how that can happen with the help of a bewitching liqueur.

Admittedly, these drinks are more gimmick than anything else. Yet, they are filled with fun ideas and the surprises these cocktails hold are sure to set your party apart from the rest.

• Frog in a Blender: Create a mess out of your vodka cranberry by giving this chunky lime drink a whirl in the blender.
• Skeleton in Your Closet: We all have skeletons in the closet, but now there's a variation of the margarita that takes it a step further.
• Swamp Water Surprise: Making Jell-O shots for the party? Save a bit of the gelatinous treat for this fun rum cocktail and give it a creepy vibe.

No rhyme or reason, just bloody good drinks that will entertain and refresh. 

• Skeleton Key: This unique bourbon cocktail includes elderflower and ginger beer and has an easy bloody garnish. Bottle of bitters be gone!
• Death by Chocolate: You could throw all rules out for the night and overdose on chocolate in this blended bliss of a drink.
• Dracula's Kiss: And we come back to reality with a simple cherry vodka and cola drink. That's easy enough!
• Black Magic: An easy made-from-scratch soda drink that is the perfect excuse to break out the black vodka.​
• Black Cat: Tasty, simple, and dark as can be, your costume-clad guests will dig a sip of this cherry and cranberry cola cocktail.

These fun drinks hold one spirit until the very last minute. When it's time to pour, you'll have a little something extra floating around in your glass.

• Black Widow: You will need to find or make black vodka to pull off this apparition in a glass. It takes your vodka-cranberry to a new level of Halloween fun.
• Ghostbuster: What's that floating in your peachy-melon cocktail? Looks like a white spirit of some sort.

Filled with flavor and screaming for a good time, your party will be complete with one of these irresistible recipes.

• Zombie: How will you make your Zombie? Choose the old-school way or a modern fruit punch. Either way, this boozy mix is always a favorite.
• Corpse Reviver: Waking the dead since 1930. This family of classic cocktails will revive, invigorate, and entertain.
• Scorpion: A bite from this creepy tiki cocktail isn't such a bad thing. The second round? Well, that may be a different story.
• Vertigo: If a casual Hitchcock film fest is in your plans, we have the perfect drink for you. 
• Zombie's Brew: You have our permission to pick up a candied vodka for Halloween. If Three Olives Tartz is on your radar, this easy lemonade cocktail is ideal.

Treat your guests to a round of shooters and mix up one of these crafty concoctions.

• The Wolf Bite: Like a mad scientist's experiment gone wrong, this fun absinthe and Midori shooter—complete with a blood-red float—needs to be seen before it goes down. 
• Beam Me Up Scotty: We can't forget about the Trekkies that come out on Halloween and, of course, there's a shot for them.
• Bloody Shirley Temple: Are you thinking of playing around with syringe shots? This simple cranberry vodka and soda concoction is a great one to start out with.
• Voodoo: Spread a little voodoo around the party with this fun and potent rum cream shot.
• Wake the Dead: Tequila and espresso...no one is going to snooze through this party!