The pumpkin goes in the bin, the gift does not
A Halloween present works best when it is still fun on 1 November. Inflatable costumes and paper decorations move in the final week of October and then stop dead, while glow shirts, drinking games and lamps keep going through November and into December. That gap is the whole trick to choosing well. Decoration gets one evening and then a cupboard; a Sunset Lamp or a Moon Light stays in the room it was given in. Buy the thing with a second life and let the skeletons carry the theme.
What to bring to a Halloween party
Bring something the host can put on the table. Not something they have to find a place for. The Pumpkin or Watermelon Tap sits in the middle of that range and turns the fruit already sitting on the counter into a drinks dispenser, which makes it the rare Halloween gift that is decoration and working object at once. Under 20 euros the safest picks are games: Gold Playing Cards, a Brain String brainteaser, a Cock Fighting Duelling Game that ends in shouting inside a minute. Anything that needs a manual is the wrong call at a party where half the room is wearing a mask.
Gift ideas for halloween by budget
Prices in this category run from just under 10 euros to just under a hundred, so the budget does most of the sorting for you. Below ten you are buying one joke, and it had better land. Between 10 and 25 is the useful-and-funny middle where most Halloween presents belong. Above 50 it stops being a party gift and becomes a birthday gift that happens to arrive in October. A shortlist to work from:
- Magic 8 Ball, the one pick here under 10 euros: a small gift that answers every question about the evening
- Sound Machine, a euro or two over that line: sound effects on one box, scream included
- Dinosaur String Lights, still under 15 euros: decoration that stays up long after October
- Talking Bottle Opener, the middle of the list: opens a beer and then comments on it
- Interactive Glow T-Shirts, the top of the useful middle: a costume and a game in one, best with kids
- Inflatable T-Rex Costume, the big spend of the six: the one that ends up being filmed
Gifts halloween for her and for him
Halloween is one of the few occasions where the same present suits a girlfriend, a colleague and a nine-year-old, because the joke does the work instead of the taste. For her, the Sunset Lamp and the Chinese Lucky Cat Cattitude get picked far more often than anything with a spider on it; there is more of that in gifts for your girlfriend and gifts for your sister. For him, the Diamond Whiskey Decanter and the AK-47 Whiskey Decanter are the cheap end and the expensive end of one idea. And the AK-47 is the most expensive thing on this page.
Halloween gifts for teenagers, kids and colleagues
Teenagers want the thing that films well, which is why the inflatable costumes and the glow shirts end up on their list; gifts for teenagers collects the rest. For younger kids the Candy Grabber Advanced is the obvious one, because it turns the sweets they collected into a machine they have to beat. At an office party, keep it under 15 euros and keep it harmless, which is the whole logic behind gifts for a colleague. Parents get the practical version. String lights, a bottle opener, ice balls.
Costume, or something that outlasts the costume
An inflatable suit is worth the money if it comes out more than once a year. The T-Rex, the priciest costume on the page, and the cheaper Inflatable Unicorn Costume both reappear at carnival, at stag parties and at office drinks in December, so the cost per outing is lower than the price tag suggests. A costume tied to one film or one year is the opposite. Worn once, then a bin bag with legs. If you want the lasting version of the same evening, choose the object over the outfit, such as a Moon Light, a Movie Scratch Poster or a Retro Arcade Games Mini Console.
A name on it, and what that does to your halloween deadline
This category is stocked ready to ship. So nothing here is printed to order. If you want a personal version with a name or a photo, start in personalized gifts and pick the Halloween angle afterwards. Printed items are made after the order comes in rather than pulled off a shelf, which adds working days that a costume does not need. Plan for that and a personalized gift is still the most original thing on the table.
Order for halloween before the last weekend
Halloween falls on 31 October everywhere. But the party often does not. In Ireland and the United States the evening itself is the event; in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany most parties land on the nearest Friday or Saturday, which can move your own deadline forward by several days. Order in the third week of October and you choose from the full range. Leave it to the last weekend and you choose from what is left.
Questions about halloween gifts
How much should a gift for halloween cost?
10 to 25 euros covers most of them, and up to fifty if it doubles as a birthday gift for someone born in October. Spending more than the host spent on the food reads as odd at a party like this. Under 10 euros still works when the joke is good enough to carry the evening on its own.
Which Halloween presents are a waste of money?
Anything that works once and needs batteries you do not have in the house. Fake blood, masks that block a straw and single-use props are the items that go in the bin the same night. If it cannot be used again in December it is decoration, and the host has already bought the decoration.
Costume or gadget: how do I choose?
Take the costume if the person goes to more than one dress-up party a year, because an inflatable suit earns its price back at carnival and on a stag weekend. Take the gadget if they host rather than dress up. A tap in a pumpkin or a set of ice balls gets used by everyone in the room, not just by the person wearing it.
When do I need to order for 31 October?
The third week of October is the comfortable moment, because sizes and popular items run out in the last weekend before Halloween. Anything personalized needs extra days on top of that. If the party is on the Friday before the 31st, count backwards from that Friday instead of from the date itself.