Each year in Australia, Halloween gets bigger and bigger. It’s a fun holiday for the whole family, and while some dismiss it as an American import, it actually has its roots in the Gaelic festival of Samhain.
Wherever it comes from, Halloween in Australia isn’t going anywhere. Whether you’re planning a big night out, a party at home, or just want some fresh Halloween ideas to build new traditions with the kids, this is your one-stop guide to everything Halloween, with links through to our full guides on events, costumes, movies, books and music. This year, Halloween falls on a Saturday so expect it to be big!
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Find Halloween Events Near You | Trick-or-Treating & Neighbourhood Fun | Halloween Games & Activities for Kids | Costumes for the Whole Family | Halloween Food | Watch Something Spooky | Curl Up with a Halloween Book | Set the Mood with Music | FAQ
Costumes for the Whole Family
Don’t stress about Halloween costumes. It’s easy to whip something up, recycle last term’s Book Week costume, or buy or hire something from a local costume shop.
If you’re coordinating costumes across the whole family or a friend group, our Best Family & Group Halloween Costume Ideas guide covers trending pop culture themes, timeless classics like skeletons and pirates, and easy DIY options for every age and effort level.
Take Halloween Photos
Get the whole family dressed up and snap some Halloween selfies, pet included if they’ll sit still for it.
Make Some Halloween TikToks
If your family’s into TikTok, stay in costume and film a few Halloween videos. Sort out the music and the dance moves first. A “Thriller” recreation never goes out of style.
Find Halloween Events Near You
If you’d rather join an organised event than plan your own night, we’ve rounded up the best Halloween happenings across the region and beyond.
Halloween Events in Newcastle, Lake Macquarie & Hunter: Halloween events, kids’ discos, haunted attractions and community festivals across the region.
Halloween Events in Sydney: ghostly events, haunted wonderlands, kids’ craft and spooky festivals for families exploring further afield.
Trick-or-Treating & Neighbourhood Fun
Go Trick-or-Treating
One of the most popular Halloween activities is trick-or-treating. You can keep it local in your own street, which is a great way to meet the neighbours, or head to one of the well-known “treat streets” that draw a crowd.
You can usually spot which houses are taking part, since they’ll often have signs, orange balloons, or in our case, a scary hand hanging out of the letterbox. For safety, walk the neighbourhood with your kids and stick to treats that are individually wrapped.
When to Go Trick-or-Treating
Most Australian neighbourhoods start trick-or-treating from around 4 to 5pm while it’s still light, and wind down by 8 or 8:30pm. Starting earlier works well for littlies, since it means they’re not out well past bedtime, while older kids and teens often prefer heading out closer to dusk once the streets feel properly spooky. If you’re unsure whether a particular street or suburb takes part, a quick look on local Facebook community groups in the week before Halloween usually turns up the answer.
Drop Off Boo Bags
Instead of trick-or-treating yourself, flip it around. Fill a Boo Bag with Halloween treats and leave it on the doorstep of a friend, family member or neighbour, then ring the bell or send a text to let them know it’s there.
Decorate Your House
Get in the spirit and decorate the outside of your house so families walking or driving by can enjoy it. Make some ghosts, add a few pumpkins, and lean into the spookiness. You can decorate inside too, and turn a room into a mini haunted house for the kids.
Take Your Dog for a Halloween Walk
Dress the family in costumes, pop a costume on the dog if they’ll tolerate it, and head out for a spooky walk around the block.
Halloween Games & Activities for Kids
If you’re after fun Halloween activities for kids that don’t involve canvassing the neighbourhood for sweets, these party games are a reliable hit with almost any age group.
Organise a Halloween Hunt
Skip trick-or-treating and run a Halloween hunt in the house or backyard instead. Think Easter egg hunt, but Halloween themed. Grab some sweets, stickers and little toys, hide them around the place, and let the kids loose.
Try a Glow-in-the-Dark Hunt
Want to turn it up a notch? Run the hunt after dark using glow-in-the-dark items like necklaces, bracelets, wands, headbands and stickers. Elmer’s Glow in the Dark glue is also handy for adding a glow to things you already have at home.
Bobbing for Apples
An old-school classic that still works every time. Fill a large tub with water, float some apples on top, and get the kids to try to grab one using only their mouths. Lay towels down first, since this one gets messy fast.
Donut-Eating Race
String up donuts from a line at head height and see who can finish theirs first without using their hands. Simple, cheap and always good for a laugh.
Halloween Bingo
Print or draw up bingo cards using Halloween images instead of numbers, things like bats, pumpkins, ghosts and spiders. A good quieter option to mix in between the messier games.
Skeleton Puzzle Relay
Draw or print a skeleton, cut it into its individual bones, then split into teams and race to be the first to correctly reassemble their skeleton on the floor or a wall.
Pumpkin Ring Toss
Line up a few small pumpkins or buckets and take turns tossing rings or bracelets to see who can land the most. Easy to set up in the backyard and works for a wide range of ages.
Mummy Wrap Relay
Split into pairs and give each pair a roll of toilet paper or bandages. One person wraps the other into a mummy as fast as possible, first team done wins. A guaranteed favourite at any Halloween party.
Halloween Piñata
Fill a piñata with Halloween treats and let the kids take turns bashing it open. A guaranteed hit with any age group.
Halloween Board & Party Games
If you’ve got older kids, Stupid Deaths is a great Halloween party game where players guess whether a described death is real or made up.
A few other family-friendly board games worth adding to the shelf for spooky season:
Horrified, a cooperative game where the whole family teams up against classic Universal Monsters like Dracula and Frankenstein’s Monster. Genuinely tense without being gory, and works well for ages 10 and up.
Ghost Fightin’ Treasure Hunters, a simpler cooperative dice game where players work together to clear ghosts from a haunted house before time runs out. A good option for younger kids around ages 5 and up.
Goosebumps: The Card Game of Monster Mayhem, a fast, charades-style game with picture cards instead of text, so no reading is required. Easy enough for younger kids to join in, and a nice tie-in if your family’s already into the Goosebumps books or films.
Mysterium, a cooperative mystery game where one player acts as a ghost giving clues through illustrated cards while the others try to solve how they died. More suited to family game night with tweens and up, since it takes a bit longer to play and needs a bit more strategic thinking.
Halloween Food {#halloween-food}
Carve a Pumpkin
This is the year to learn how to carve a Halloween pumpkin. Whole orange pumpkins perfect for carving usually turn up at local supermarkets around this time of year. If you’d rather not buy a pumpkin, oranges work as a fun substitute, and younger kids can decorate them with foam stickers or googly eyes instead of carving. Once you’re done playing, cut them up to eat.
Make Halloween-Themed Food
Cook up something spooky with the kids. There’s no shortage of sugary treats around Halloween, so it’s worth mixing in a few healthier options too. A few easy ideas that don’t need a recipe:
Ghost pizzas: use English muffins or small pizza bases, then cut mozzarella slices into simple ghost shapes with a knife or cookie cutter before baking. Add two dots of olive tapenade or black sesame seeds for eyes.
Mummy sausage rolls: wrap thin strips of puff pastry around cocktail sausages in a criss-cross pattern, leaving a small gap for two dots of mustard or tomato sauce as eyes.
Spooky fruit kebabs: thread green grapes, orange mandarin segments and a strawberry onto a skewer for an easy, healthier Halloween-coloured snack.
Crunchy noodle spiders: melt chocolate, stir through crunchy chow mein noodles, then spoon into spider-shaped blobs on baking paper and add lolly eyes before it sets.
Banana ghosts: cut bananas in half, stand them upright, and add two chocolate chips for eyes. About as easy as Halloween food gets, and a good option if you want something quick and not too sugary.
Monster fruit cups: layer chopped fruit in a clear cup and add a couple of lolly eyes stuck to the side with a dab of yoghurt, so it looks like a googly-eyed monster peeking out.
Watch Something Spooky
Halloween movie night is one of the easiest ways to close out the day. Our 30+ Best Halloween Movies for Kids & Families guide covers everything from gentle picks for littlies through to properly spooky options for older teens, plus a section on Halloween TV specials if a full film is too long.
Curl Up with a Halloween Book
Build a Halloween reading tradition by adding a new spooky book to the shelf each October. Our 25+ Best Halloween Books for Kids & Teens guide rounds up picture books, early readers, middle grade and teen reads, including a dedicated section of genuinely Australian Halloween books.
Set the Mood with Music
Whether it’s a backyard party or just getting the house decorated, Halloween needs a soundtrack. Our 50+ Best Halloween Songs for Your Family Playlist has kid-friendly classics, Disney favourites, and eerie hits for older kids and teens, ready to build straight into your own playlist.
Frequently Asked Questions
Plenty of families skip door-knocking altogether and stick to a Halloween hunt at home, a party with friends, or heading along to one of the organised community events instead. Check our Halloween Events guide for what’s on near you.
Most neighbourhoods run from around 4 to 5pm through to 8 or 8:30pm. Earlier works well for younger kids, while teens often prefer heading out once it’s properly dark.
Look out for orange balloons, Halloween signage, or spooky décor out the front. If a house is dark with no decorations, it’s best to skip it.
Bobbing for apples, a mummy wrap relay and Halloween bingo are all reliable options for a party at home, and none of them need you to leave the house.
Start with this guide. It links through to everything you need, from local events and costume ideas to movies, books and music, so you can build the day around whatever your family’s into.
A Halloween hunt is one of the quickest to pull together, since it just needs a few treats hidden around the house or yard. Pair it with a couple of the Halloween games above if you want a bit more structure.