Halloween Drinks: Spooky Sipping

A big bowl of punch is the perfect prop for gory and ghastly Halloween trickery. There are lots of ways to make your party punch extra eerie!

Make a slime ring from green punch.

• Freeze green punch in a gelatin mold along with plastic bugs, spiders and eyeballs. And place a few small glow sticks underneath the punch bowl: when the lights are turned down, the brew will radiate in a mysterious and unearthly fashion.

Float life-size zombie hands made from ice.

• Buy a couple of latex or rubber gloves. Wash them thoroughly with dish soap and turn them inside out. Carefully pour in water. Fasten tightly at the wrist with a rubber band.
• The shape will turn out best if you hang the gloves, fingers down, from your freezer shelf. Plan to freeze your uncanny hands for at least one full day.
• When it's party time, run warm water over the gloves very briefly--just long enough to loosen the gloves from the ice--and carefully peel them off the frozen hands. The ice fingers break off easily, but that's okay--the disembodied digits just add to the "zombie" effect.

Turn your punchbowl into a steamy, smoky witch's cauldron.

• Nothing makes a party spookier than an ominous witch's brew. First, visit your local supermarket's fresh fish counter and ask if they carry dry ice; if they don't, they may be able to tell you where you can purchase some.
• Mix up a punch of your favorite fruit juices in a large bowl and place it inside an even larger bowl, pot or cauldron. Throw on your best witch or warlock costume and add (using tongs or extra-heavy-duty gloves) chunks of dry ice to the bigger container. This allows you to create that delightful creeping mist without putting dry ice directly into the punch, which can be extremely dangerous. When you're ready to create some magic, simply pour some hot water over the dry ice. Continue to add hot water and dry ice as needed.

Note: Never ingest dry ice! Be very careful when using dry ice. Always keep it out of reach of children and never touch it with bare skin; use tongs or extra-heavy-duty gloves.

You may have put a lot of thought into your Halloween costume, but don't forget to dress up your favorite cocktails, too!

• For an over-the-top centerpiece, rent a champagne fountain from a party supply store. Fill it will a blood-red punch.
• Make a batch of gelatin shooters in red, green or black cherry flavors. When they are set but not yet firm, place a gummy worm "crawling" out of each one.
• Serve samples from your mad scientist's lab: buy plastic beakers from a party supply store or florist. Pour shots of brightly colored punch into them, and invite your guests to take part in your "experiments." (For the kids and non-drinkers in the bunch, serve vivid, fizzy drinks in the beakers. Try adding color to lemon-lime soda with food coloring or flavored syrup.)
• Float colored liqueurs and mixers in your punch bowl (some will sink to the bottom, but that's even creepier). Try grenadine syrup (to look like blood), crème de menthe or melon liqueur (to look like green slime!), or sour peach or orange schnapps (for pumpkin guts).