Do you live with a fan of the living dead, a fan of all that is gruesome and scary? You are apparently not alone. Due to a spike in outbreaks of zombie fever, sparked most recently by the CDC’s preparedness list for the zombie apocalypse, we’re sure you’ll want to hold a zombie party to allow the walking undead to congregate for a night of feasting and fun away from the public eye. We’re here to help you plan your party for the walking, flesh-eating undead. Seriously, whether your kid is 8 or 18 years old, or even if you’re having an adult party, we’ve got some morbidly fantastic ideas for your zombie party!
Invitations
We have a new Zombie Party Supplies theme, which is a great option if the party is for high school guests or older, but if you fear that these invites are too scary, you can easily make zombie invitations by hand for younger guests. All you need to say is that zombies are invited to gather at your place for a delectably fleshy feast and general spooky fun at the date and time of your choosing. Stick a picture of a well-fed zombie on the front, and voila! Definitely invite your guests to dress up as zombies! Some guests might not want to dress up, so state that dressing like a zombie is optional. They can just come as humans and hope the zombies don’t bite them. This will add to the excitement at the party.
Decorations
A dark and gloomy atmosphere is a must for your zombie party! Either rent a fog machine or simply dim your lights and hang tattered sheets and battered streamers in grey, black or any dark color. Replace your regular light bulbs with green or red ones. Splatter fake blood or ketchup on old sheets, and use them as tablecloths or rug coverings. Dress yourself up as a hungry zombie ahead of time to add to the scare factor as your guests arrive. Wear your oldest, stinkiest, rattiest clothes, and try to summon the courage to rip or shred them a bit (while remaining fully decent, of course!) Then use any gray, blue and green eye shadow you have to make your face look hollow, sunken and essentially, undead. If you have a box of Halloween decorations in your attic or closet, then bring out any fake guts or bugs to strew about your house. Definitely play any dark and scary music you have in your collection during the party. Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” is a classically awesome zombie party song. Or simply play zombie movies (appropriate to the ages of your guests) in the background to add to your already eerie, creepy atmosphere.
Games & Activities
For older guests, offer zombie makeovers! With some craft paint, glue, toilet paper, and creativity, you will have a house full of the walking dead in no time! If you are hosting a younger crowd, zombie tag is fun for kids and adults alike. The first person to be “it” is a blindfolded zombie, who should walk around slowly with his or her arms out, just like a zombie, hunting people to tag. As each person is tagged, they become fresh zombies, and the winner is the last human standing. Depending on the ages of your guests, for safety’s sake, you might want to delineate a safe space for tagging without sharp or heavy objects to bump into for the duration of the game. Another zombie-related activity is having a zombie impersonation contest. You can award points and prizes for the best zombie groan, the best zombie costume and the best zombie walk. Give out small bags of intestines (gummy worms) or babies’ brains (kettle corn) as prizes. If your party is for the older teenager, then let your guests watch a fun zombie movie like “Shaun of the Dead,” or “Dawn of the Dead,” but if your guests are much younger, then maybe “Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island” might be more appropriate.
Food
Have some fun with your zombie party food! Mini-bagels with cream cheese and pieces of smoked salmon make great “Flesh Appetizers.” You can also serve pigs in a blanket, and label them “Fingers in a Blanket.” Make up a big batch of different types of pasta, such as rigatoni, large shells, and thick spaghetti along with tomato sauce, and label the plate “Intestines!” You can serve a steamed head of cauliflower on a bed of lettuce as “Brains,” in order to add a healthy flair to your meal. Another healthy and slimy option is to serve sliced roasted red peppers that you have marinated in olive oil, lemon juice and salt. To satisfy your thirsty zombie and human guests, lovely drinks could include grenadine and milk, or hot chocolate with red food coloring, or just red tomato juice or fruit punch. Call your blood red drinks “Reviving potions.” If you’re having adults over, serve bloody marys!
Cake
There are so many options to choose from when it comes to spooky desserts. To save on time and to make a big impression, you could have your local bakery make a zombie cake in the shape of a head with oozing brains, or a cake with a few hungry zombies popping out of it. If you do have the time, then make some easy zombie-themed cupcakes. You can make red velvet cupcakes with vanilla cream cheese frosting piped onto the cakes to look like brains. A fun cupcake option is also to pour white cake mix batter into cupcake shells. Then drop 1-2 teaspoons of raspberry jam in the lower middle part of each cupcake before baking. After baking, let cool, then sift powdered sugar over each cake, avoiding the bloody zombie mouths (the raspberry jam!). Finally, use two chocolate chips on each cupcake for zombie eyes, and there you have it!
Favors
These coffins filled with gooey slime will simultaneously freak out, and delight all the tired zombies at the end of the evening. Want another great tip? Send your zombies home with food and decorations from your party to help with the cleanup. Boys might be happy to take home any extra fake blood or spooky fake cockroaches. Girls might prefer gummy worm guts or colored light bulbs to decorate their rooms at home. As with any party, I try to send guests home with leftover food and drink so that my post-party work and figure are minimized! I hope you have a blast at your special gathering of the undead!
