Haunted House Party

Is your home haunted by friendly relatives who pop up here and there - especially around holiday time - expecting to be entertained? Mine is! But to be quite frank, it's usually me who invites them in. Oooooh! Wait! So that's it! You have to invite them in! Guess that explains why, with a little stretch of the imagination, you might presume that my house looks exactly like this!

My family "everybody-plays-and-everybody-wins" competition is a real winner- if you don't mind the self-congratulatory mood I'm in right now! It's a board game that's perfect for a Halloween gathering at your own haunted house. You'll have everyone sneaking around like slinky black cats, disappearing around corners like wispy ghosts, and flapping batty wings with joy when a treasure is discovered. And no one will go home rattling their bones in dismay, because all of the rescued loot is divided equally at the end- everybody goes home with stomachs churning in candy corn and pretzel sticks!

The playing board is a prize in itself. I'll detail instructions and a list of "witch" supplies you need at the end of this post, but for now, here's a closer look at some of the characters creeping around inside my house....I couldn't even fit everybody in! Scary!

This little guy just flutters around and makes everybody happy....the perfect little "batman!"

Nothing witchy about Mary Jo - I just think she looks spellbinding in that pointed hat!

Where's camera red eye when you need it most? I was forced to add Roxie's alien eyeballs with glue and a paper punch!














Game rules are simple. After everyone has finished "ROFL-ing" at the sight of them themselves, they are dispatched to seek treasure hidden throughout the house. When something is found, a bell is rung - or a horn is honked - or an owl is invited to hoot - and everyone gathers back at the board. A group decision is made on "witch" character matches the treat.

For example.....

Someone finds a basket of wax fangs. It also contains bottles of red liquid - human blood! We don't want to scare the kids so we'll just say (wink, wink!) it's Vampire Juice! And then we'll agree to mark Uncle Tom's square with a candy corn piece. Back to the search! We're soooo done with him!

A batch of clear plastic gloves - one per guest - is discovered. They are stuffed with green tinted popcorn. Ooooo...do you think that's a match for Monster Nick?

How about Halloween Ghost Peeps - Charlie?
Candy corn packs - Karen?
Cheese crackers - Uncle Keenon?
Pretzel broomsticks - Mary Jo?

Rubbery skeleton toys - hmmmm.....could be Christy, waving "hello!" from the attic - or is it Roxie? Let's go with Christy for the bones - those bars of chocolate bark (woof! woof!) seem to be calling Roxie's name! She's part chocolate lab you know!










After every stash of goodies has been found, and every window square is marked, every haunted hunter distributes his/her/its treat, giving everybody an equal amount of toys and candy. See how everybody wins? It's that simple!

And so, the next time you hear....

Knock, knock!
Say: "Who's there?"
If they say: "Annie,"
You say:
"Annie body want to come in and play Haunted House Party? It's so much fun it'll scare you!!"

To make a game board (completed size 13" x 28") you will need:

Canson paper (preferred), orange, 19" x 25" sheet
Light weight cardboard, black, 22" x 28" sheet
Wallet size head shots of players (print at home)
Scrap book paper, scissors, glue, and a really crazy imagination!

1. Decorate each face with paper scraps.
2. Cut 3" x 4" paper rectangles into quarters for window panes. Glue them on slightly larger rectangles, contrasting colors and leaving space between each 1.5" x 2" pane.
3. Glue each character on top of a window.
4. Make a larger rectangle, 4" x 6.5" for front door. Arch the top, cut hinges and doorknob from scraps and glue on.
5. Arrange windows and door on orange paper, allowing space below for steps and a fence if desired. Measure, then cut paper. Mine is 12" x 20"
6. Cut fence and steps from scraps. Make cats and pumpkin for faces of babies if desired. Arrange and glue everything to orange paper.
7. Cut black cardboard to 28" x 13" or to a width that allows a 1/2" border around sides of orange paper house. Glue house to cardboard, centered, 1/2" from bottom edge.
8. Make a pattern for triangle roof, adding chimney. When you are satisfied with the fit, cut it out of orange paper and glue down. Add attic window and/or character(s) on the roof if desired.

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