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27 Spooky Halloween Cocktails & Drink Recipes To Try

Fall is just around the corner, and while some folks count down the days to Christmas, I eagerly await the fun, scary, and gloriously spooky month of October. 

Pumpkin martini fall seasonal cocktail Pumpkintini with black salt rim

And if there was ever a time to throw a party for all your friends and serve up some delicious themed cocktails, it’s Halloween.

At Halloween, not only do you get to dress up, but you also get to dress up your food and drinks. It’s more or less a requirement – at my house, anyway. 

If you need some horrifyingly tasty drink ideas for your next monster mash, then you’ve come to the right place. Try some of the best Halloween cocktails from the list below. 

Are you eager to get started? Here’s a quick glimpse at the spooky fun to come.


Pumpkin Spice White Russian

What kind of fall holiday list would this be without at least one mention of pumpkin spice?

The pumpkin spice white Russian puts an autumnal twist on a classic cocktail, transforming it into a creamy, pumpkiny delight. 

To make this soon-to-be Halloween classic, you’ll need vodka, pumpkin spice creamer, and Kahlua or another coffee liqueur.

To take this drink to the next level, coat the rim in a mixture of pumpkin pie spice, sugar, and crushed graham crackers.

Top it off with whipped cream and a sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice and watch your guests fall in love. 


Bloody Mary

The Bloody Mary is a wildly popular breakfast or brunch drink that takes your typical tomato juice and adds vodka to it – among other things.

But when you think about the name – Bloody Mary – it’s the perfect cocktail for a scary night. Say this drink’s name in the mirror three times if you dare!

There are many variations of the Bloody Mary cocktail, but one of the most basic recipes includes:

Other recipes include horseradish, celery salt, lemon juice, and more. 

And my favorite part about the Bloody Mary is that the garnishes are endless. Some prefer a simple celery stalk or olive on a toothpick.

You can make some spooky garnishes, like the mozzarella and olive eyeball garnish to get in the Halloween spirit!


Death in the Afternoon Cocktail

One of the running themes of Halloween is the dead (or the undead).

From ghosts to skeletons to zombies and more, death surrounds the holiday. What better cocktail could there be for a Halloween party than the Death in the Afternoon?

This cocktail came from the brilliant yet somewhat dark Ernest Hemingway.

The author supposedly created the drink after writing a book of the same name. It’s made with absinthe and champagne.  

Rather than shaking or stirring this drink, the best way to serve it is to pour the absinthe into a glass and slowly top it with Champagne.

The result is an eerie yellow-green color that matches the night’s mood.  


Black Widow

The black widow pays homage to its namesake with eerie black and red coloring that when mixed correctly can look even more otherworldly.

It’s essentially a vodka and blackberry cocktail, made with muddled blackberries. The combination of the muddled juice and the blackberries creates a black and red cocktail that’s perfect for Halloween.

To make this even spookier looking, use Blavod, a black vodka to make the cocktail darker in color.


Hocus Pocus Jell-O Shots

Hocus Pocus has always been my favorite Halloween movie. What’s not to love about three villainous yet comedic witches? 

Combine this spooky classic with a crowd pleaser like these Jell-O shots, and you’ve got a recipe better than any cauldron could brew. 

Mix each Jell-O pack with one cup of boiling water and vodka each. Pour into plastic Jell-O shot cups and place them in the fridge to solidify. 

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And what’s a witch without her hat? Make hats using oreo cookies, whipped topping, colored sprinkles, and Hershey kisses. Top each shot once the Jell-O is ready and delight your guests. 


Pomegranate-Rum Punch

Pomegranate-rum punch is a crowd pleaser. It’s tasty, easy to make, and delivers that blood-red color you want at a Halloween bash.

This recipe is made with pomegranate juice, blood orange juice, cranberry juice, and white rum, as well as cinnamon sticks and rosemary to get that extra fall flavor.

Combine the ingredients in a large punch bowl and serve over an ice float to keep things chilly.

If you want an extra spooky effect, put some dry ice at the bottom of the punch – but be careful not to touch it. 


Cider Sidecar

Sometimes the best fall-themed cocktails take a classic and add just the right twist.

That’s what the cider sidecar does. Made with apple cider, cognac, and cointreau, this is the perfect fall cocktail

Shake the ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice and strain the mixture into a coupe glass.

For the finishing touch, garnish the drink with a lemon peel and a cherry. Or, to up the scary level, you might opt for a gummy eyeball instead of the cherry. 


Zombie Cocktail

The zombie cocktail is about as terrifying as the undead creature from which it gets its name.

Plan to take car keys if you’re serving this cocktail at your party – it’s a doozy. The drink contains a variety of juices, various types of rum, brandy, and more.

This is a classic, tropical rum drink, but you can add a different garnish to make it fit in the Halloween holiday.

If you’re feeling a little overwhelmed at that list, the drink is already living up to its name.

It’s a lot of rum and not much else, and it’s sure to have you seeing zombies. 


Wolf Bite

Wolf Bite is as ferocious as it sounds, packing a hell of a punch in a shot glass.

The base of the cocktail is melon or pineapple liquor, mixed with pineapple juice.

The bite however is provided by a ¼ ounce of absinthe which can be snuck into your cocktails to take your friends by surprise! Finish this off with some grenadine and a splash of soda for a truly devious beverage.


Witch’s Brew

The witch’s brew cocktail is what you would picture in a witch’s cauldron: a lime green substance with unknown ingredients.

You can experiment with your own witch’s brew, but this recipe gets its green color from Midori melon liquor, pineapple juice, and limoncello.

If you want to cut down the sweetness, add some soda water!


Dark and Stormy Cocktail

“It was a dark and stormy night…” Sound familiar?

Most of the scary stories I read as a child started that way. So it makes sense that, as an adult, I would gravitate toward this spooky cocktail. 

Despite its wildly appropriate name, the dark and stormy cocktail isn’t specifically a Halloween drink.

It’s enjoyed by many throughout the year and is particularly popular with sailors. 

It’s a simple drink, but the rum poured over the ginger beer gives it a fun ombre effect. It’s ideal for anyone who avoids complex, sugary cocktails. 


Haunted Graveyard Cocktail

We’ve all seen at least one scary movie that features a haunted graveyard scene.

Bring those horrifying vibes to life this Halloween with the haunted graveyard cocktail. If you’re a fan of bourbon, this is a great Halloween cocktail for you.

Shake the bourbon over ice with maple syrup, bitters, orange slices, and one sprig of rosemary.

This cocktail is tasty on its own, but you can’t leave out my favorite part. Carefully using a match, set a fresh rosemary stem on fire and garnish the drink. 

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Witches Blood Cocktail

What’s scarier than witches? Witches’ blood, of course.

The Witches’ Blood cocktail will take your spookiness to the next level. It’s really a twist on the whiskey sour, with the addition of cherry schnapps and cherry soda.

This drink comes out a deep red color, hence its name. You can serve it in single martini glasses, make a pitcher, and display its bold color in a fun Halloween punch bowl.

The cherry flavor is out of this world. 

Garnishing it with cherries, plastic spiders, and gummy worms adds a bit of extra fun. 


The Grave Digger Cocktail

If I could think of one of the spookiest careers in the world, it would be a gravedigger.

What’s creepier than digging holes for the dead? If you want a cocktail name bound to turn heads, this is a great one to choose.

The gravedigger is an easy cocktail to make, with whiskey, hard cider, and ginger ale. Add some spooky garnishes to complete the look!


Frog in a Blender

This drink is a little less impressive than some others, however, the effect can be no less fun when properly executed.

The idea is to make a standard vodka-cranberry or any other basic mixer that has a light color, and then add a slightly blended lime to the mixture, allowing the bits to remain fairly chunky.

This gives the impression that a real frog has been ground up and added to the beverage as an eldritch ingredient. Try the frog in a blender yourself!


Apple Cider Mules

Not every drink at your Halloween party has to be fear-inducing.

Halloween can include adorable themes and general fall favorites. And one of my favorite things about fall is apple cider. 

For an easy fall and Halloween cocktail, try this spin on the classic mule cocktail by adding apple cider. You can even use caramel vodka for some extra fall flavor.

Serve in a copper mug. For the full effect, I like to garnish this drink with a lime wedge, an apple slice, and a dash of cinnamon. 


Bourbon Butterbeer

Harry Potter is one of my favorites to watch during the Halloween season when I need a break from scary movies.

After all, the world of witches and wizards fits perfectly with the Halloween theme.

And if there’s one thing I love about Harry Potter, it’s butterbeer.

But we’re going to turn this fan favorite into an adult drink for your Halloween festivities. The bourbon butterbeer is easier to make than you might expect, so try this recipe if you’re a fan!

You can create your own buttered brown sugar simple syrup by combining water and light brown sugar in a pan and bringing it to a boil.

For full effect, I like to use just a tiny piece of dry ice in the drink. 


Polar-Geist Cocktail

This freezy, creepy concoction is an ice-cold, bone-chilling variation on the classic tiki drink the Blue Hawaii, invented by David Yee in 1957.

But this version is less Elvis in Blue Hawaii and more John Carpenter’s The Thing. The enticing mixture of tequila, rum, and blue curaçao is bound to warm your…bones. 

You’ll want to blend up this cocktail with two cups of ice and serve it in a pint glass with any miniature bones, skulls, or skeletons you have laying around.

This cocktail is sure to make you as chill as the grave!


Vampire’s Kiss Cocktail

Last but not least, we can’t have a Halloween list without mentioning vampires. The vampire’s kiss cocktail is a blood-red martini to die for. 

This is more than just a vodka cranberry with a spooky name – the drink looks extra bloody with the addition of grenadine, chambord liquer, and maraschino cherries.

Mix in a shaker over ice and strain into a martini glass with a sugared rim. Toss in a small piece of dry ice for a smoky effect. 

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Ghostbuster

Ghostbusters is a fall favorite, so why not make a Ghostbuster cocktail?

The base of this cocktail is a mixture of melon and peach liqueur which combine to make an ectoplasmic green concoction, resembling the plasma of an 80’s science fiction!

Adding in a few drops of cream liqueur such as Irish Cream will create a ‘ghost’ that floats around in the base mixture and adding a little extra flavor to this delicious cocktail.


Jack-O-Lantern

No Halloween can be complete without a jack-o-lantern, and the same goes for your Halloween-themed beverages.

Luckily there’s no need to add pumpkin to the Jack-O-Lantern recipe, as this is substituted out for a more palatable orange, cognac, and brandy-based mixture which can be pepped up with a little ginger ale.


Children of the Corn

Children of the Corn is named after the classic Steven King novel of the same name.

It lives up to its namesake by steeping candy-corn in vodka for later use, adding a unique flavor for you to take advantage of.

Only a few hours are needed for the infusion to take place and the resulting vodka can be combined with various ingredients such as lemon juice, simple syrup, and seltzer water to create a unique and lively cocktail.


Swamp Water Surprise

The key to the swamp water surprise is in the consistency of the drink, which is thick and sludgy.

This is achieved by using vodka-infused gelatin, which makes the drink thick without affecting the flavor.

The drink will look and taste normal but feel extremely weird to guests. Flavors can be customized as you like but common choices are rum, orange liqueur, and juice.


Fright Night in the Grove

This is one for fans of the famous Jagermeister, a liqueur with a strange licorice flavor that is definitely an acquired taste.

The Fright Night in the Grove also contains a ½ ounce of tequila, an ounce of grapefruit juice, ½ ounce of simple syrup and can be finished with garnish such as a grapefruit slice or some sea salt.

This is a bold cocktail with a mix of powerful liquors and packs a serious punch.


Skeleton Key Cocktail

The skeleton key is sure to open the door to good times.

Use a perfect blend of bourbon, elderflower liqueur, and a combination of lemon juice, ginger beer, and bitters to create a wonderful highball style cocktail that is flavorful and classical.


Les Fleurs du Mal (The Flowers of Evil)

This drink has the perfect name to add some panache to your cocktail list.

Made using rose petal vodka, lemon juice, egg white, and absinthe, this cocktail is quite simple but looks great especially when served in a white glass.


Jekyll & Gin

The effect of this gin is excellent and will look awesome in darker venues.

The idea is that you garnish the Jekyll & Gin with a glowstick to make the cocktail glow lilac in daylight and turn black under a blacklight.

The ingredients consist of gin, lemon juice, and grenadine with a large helping of ice. Mix well and top with tonic water – adding a glow stick (or not) for an ethereal visual effect.

Keep in mind that tonic water is the key ingredient to achieve the otherworldly color, and getting a tonic that uses a substance called quinine which glows under the right conditions.


Candy Corn Martini

Create the iconic look of a candy corn in a glass with a candy corn martini!

For this cocktail, you use cake flavored vodka for that sweetness, and infuse it with candy corn to get the full flavor.

Layer in pineapple juice and heavy cream, and garnish with candy corn of course!

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Written by Brian Nagele

Brian attended West Virginia University, then started his career in the IT industry before following his passion for marketing and hospitality. He has over 20 years experience in the restaurant and bar industry.

As a former restaurant owner, he knows about running a food business and loves to eat and enjoy cocktails on a regular basis. He constantly travels to new cities tasting and reviewing the most popular spots.

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