18 Haunting Halloween Cocktails

Easy and Scary Drinks for Your Halloween Party

By
Colleen Graham
Photo of Colleen Graham
Colleen Graham
Freelance writer and cocktail book author Colleen Graham is a seasoned mixologist who loves sharing her knowledge of spirits and passion for preparing drinks.
Learn about The Spruce Eats' Editorial Process
Updated on 09/16/21
Black Widow Cocktail

The Spruce

Halloween cocktails are creepy—sometimes gimmicky—and always fun to mix up. These thirst-quenching beverages are sure to add an extra spooky touch to your party, and they're easy to make. You'll simply shake or stir these Halloween-worthy drinks just like any other cocktail recipe, but many include cool special effects. From pumpkin-like garnishes to blood-red layers, these show-stopping and delicious cocktails and shots will both charm and frighten your guests.

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  • 01 of 18

    Jack-O-Lantern

    jack o'lantern cocktail hero image

    The Spruce / Madhumita Sathishkumar

    Several Halloween drink recipes use the name jack-o-lantern. Yet, few are as simple or eye-catching as this one. While it's not a pumpkin-flavored cocktail, it certainly looks like one. Inside this glass, you'll find a pleasant drink of cognac, orange liqueur, and orange juice topped with ginger ale. It's the Halloween-worthy garnish that takes it from ordinary to extraordinary, and all you need is an orange and lime.

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  • 02 of 18

    Candy Corn Cocktail

    Candy corn cocktail recipe

    The Spruce / Teena Agnel

    Many attempts have been made to recreate the taste of candy corn in a glass. While they're not perfect, they are fun. In this candy corn cocktail, you'll infuse kettle corn into a bottle of gin and pair that with Moscato wine and homemade grenadine. It's a novelty drink with a fancier look, and that's what makes it great.

  • 03 of 18

    Halloween Hypnotist

    Halloween Hypnotist Cocktail

     The Spruce

    Dazzle your guests with a bewitching martini. The haunting, eerie glow of the Halloween Hpnotist is sure to do the trick! The vodka recipe is both easy and fruity—requiring just three common ingredients—vodka, Hpnotiq, and lemon juice—and the glow stick "garnish" completes the effect spectacularly.

  • 04 of 18

    Children of the Corn

    Candy corn cocktail

    The Spruce / Cara Cormack

    Homemade candy corn-infused vodka is the star of this intriguing cocktail. The infusion takes just a couple of hours so that you can pull it off at the last minute, and it's guaranteed to be the talk of the party. When it's party time, mix up a round of children of the corn cocktails by mixing your sweet vodka with cinnamon syrup, lemon juice, and seltzer.

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  • 05 of 18

    Mad Eye Martini

    Mad eye martini recipe

    The Spruce Eats/Julia Hartbeck

    This gruesome cocktail has a beautiful pale blue color, which is the signature of Hpnotiq, and the flavor is as pleasant as can be with its delicate lychee accent. Creating the creepy garnish is rather easy and may take a bit of practice to get the right look, but the membrane-like look of the lychee fruit is a perfect base. 

  • 06 of 18

    Blood and Sand

    Blood and Sand Cocktail

    The Spruce / Mateja Kobescak

    Go old-school with an impressive variation on the scotch Manhattan. In the blood and sand, you'll add a splash of cherry brandy and orange juice to the popular whisky-vermouth combination. This classic cocktail is a winner for any occasion, but the name makes it a great fit for Halloween.

  • 07 of 18

    Vampire Kiss Martini

    Vampire Kiss Champagne Cocktail

    The Spruce / Julia Hartbeck

    The vampire kiss martini is elegant, sparkling, and you don't need a cocktail shaker to make it. Everyone will enjoy this tasty concoction of vodka, black raspberry liqueur, and Champagne while the bloody red rim adds a frightful twist. You can also drop wax vampire teeth into the glass to give guests a special surprise.

  • 08 of 18

    Candy Appley Cocktail

    Sam Hernandez's Candy Appley Moonshine Cocktail

    The Spruce / S&C Design Studios

    Add an applelicious cocktail to the party to make an old-fashioned game like bobbing for apples even more of a spectacle. The candy appley cocktail spikes sparkling cider with caramel-flavored moonshine, then tosses an apple liqueur and cranberry juice into the mix. It's not what you'd expect from moonshine, and that's definitely a good thing.

    Continue to 9 of 18 below.
  • 09 of 18

    Fright Night in the Grove

    Friday night in the grove cocktail recipe

    The Spruce

    Shock your guests by serving Jägermeister and tequila together in style. The fright night in the grove is simple, and the only other ingredients you need are simple syrup and grapefruit juice. It's a devilish drink and a new way to enjoy these two notorious spirits.

  • 10 of 18

    Frog in a Blender

    Frog in a blender cocktail

     The Spruce

    Admittedly, some drinks are more gimmick than anything else. The frog in a blender is one of those, and the concept behind this vodka-cranberry slushie is hard to beat. The trick is to avoid blending it as well as you would a margarita, so all the green bits of lime remain chunky and create the illusion of a witch's brew.

  • 11 of 18

    Swamp Water Surprise

    Swamp water surprise cocktail recipe

    The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck

    Making jello shots for the party? Save a bit of the gelatinous treat for this fun rum cocktail. You can totally customize the scary vibe of the swamp water surprise by choosing certain ingredients. For the curaçao, go with the blue liqueur or a clear one. Then, add in your favorite fruity gelatin in whatever color you like to create the plasma effect.

  • 12 of 18

    Skeleton Key

    Skeleton key cocktail recipe

    The Spruce / Julia Hartbeck

    When you're looking for a bloody good drink that will entertain and refresh, the skeleton key is a great choice. This unique bourbon cocktail includes elderflower and ginger beer and has an easy bloody garnish. Bottle of bitters be gone!

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  • 13 of 18

    Black Widow

    Black Widow Cocktail

    The Spruce

    Dark and mysterious, the black widow is nothing more than a Halloween-inspired way to make a vodka cranberry. The key to pulling it off is that you will need to find Blavod or make black vodka from scratch.

  • 14 of 18

    Ghostbuster

    Ghostbuster cocktail

    The Spruce / Julia Hartbeck

    When you mix up the ghostbuster, you'll find an apparition floating around in your glass. The recipe is easy and creates a green martini with a peachy-melon flavor that everyone will die for. What's floating inside? Nothing more than a white spirit that you probably already have in your bar.

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  • 15 of 18

    Zombie

    Zombie Cocktail Recipe

    The Spruce

    There are many cocktail recipes named for things that go bump in the night. A favorite among those is the classic zombie, which is a little different than the zombie punch. Both are old-school tropical cocktails, and either of the fruit-filled, rum-heavy drinks will keep the party going all night.

  • 16 of 18

    Peach Candy Corn Cocktail

    IZZE Sparkling Peach Candy Corn Cocktail with Whipped Cream Vodka

    IZZE Beverage Company

    The peach candy corn cocktail is all about creating the cult-favorite treat's three layers. Best of all, the recipe plays up that visual effect in an utterly delicious way. It's sweet—a mix of sparkling peach juice, pineapple juice, and whipped cream vodka—and as fun to drink as it is to look at.

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  • 17 of 18

    Wolf Bite

    Wolf Bite Shot

    The Spruce / S&C Design Studios

    Treat your guests to a round of Halloween shots and serve up the memorable wolf bite. Like a mad scientist's experiment gone wrong, this fun absinthe and melon liqueur shooter—complete with a blood-red layer—needs to be seen before it goes down. 

  • 18 of 18

    Candy Corn Shot

    Candy corn shooter recipe

    The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck 

    The key to the "candy corn" effect is layering the ingredients according to their specific gravity. Pouring the gold-colored Galliano, then orange curaçao, and finishing it off with cream creates the same distinct striping as the Halloween candy.