15 Haunting Halloween Cocktails

Halloween cocktails are creepy, sometimes gimmicky, and always fun to mix up. These thirst-quenching beverages are also a perfect way to add an extra spooky touch to your party.

Among the best drink recipes that are perfect for Halloween are those that come with 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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Jack-O-Lantern

The Spruce Eats / S&C Design Studios

A number of Halloween drink recipes have used the name jack-o-lantern over the years. Yet, few are as simple or as eye-catching as this one. While it's not a pumpkin-flavored cocktail, it looks like one! Inside this glass, you'll find a pleasant drink of Cognac, Grand Marnier, and orange juice topped with ginger ale. It's the Halloween-worthy garnish that takes it from ordinary to extraordinary.
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Candy Corn Cocktail

The Spruce Eats / S&C Design Studios

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 15

Halloween Hypnotist

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—and the glow stick "garnish" completes the effect in spectacular fashion.
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Children of the Corn

The Spare Room

For this super easy cocktail, you get to make candy corn-infused vodka! It takes just a couple hours for the infusion, so 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 adding cinnamon syrup, lemon juice, and seltzer to your sweet vodka.

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Vampire Kiss Martini

The Spruce Eats / S&C Design Studios

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, Chambord, and Champagne while the bloody red rim adds a frightful twist. You can also drop wax vampire teeth into the glass to give guests an extra special surprise.
06 of 15

Candy Appley Cocktail

The Spruce Eats / S&C Design Studios

To make an old-fashioned game like bobbing for apples even more of a spectacle, add an applelicious cocktail to the party. 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.
07 of 15

Fright Night in the Grove

The Spruce

Shock your guests by serving Jägermeister and tequila together in style. The fright night in the grove is strangely 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.
08 of 15

Frog in a Blender

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.

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Swamp Water Surprise

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 creepy 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.
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Skeleton Key

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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Black Widow

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 to make black vodka from scratch.
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Ghostbuster

The Spruce Eats / 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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13 of 15

Zombie

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 punch. Both are old-school tiki cocktails and either of the fruit-filled, rum-heavy drinks will keep the party going all night.
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Peach Candy Corn Cocktail

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 a very 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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Wolf Bite

The Spruce Eats / 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 Midori shooter—complete with a blood-red layer—needs to be seen before it goes down.