1. What is a Virtual Halloween Party?
People wear their scariest costumes and makeup in virtual Halloween events for work. Working parents can bring their children in on the fun too! Every activity you associate Halloween with can be done online, from trick or treating and pumpkin carving to wearing your scariest costume and face paint.
Pumpkin carving dates back to an Irish legend about Stingy Jack, who tricked the devil on numerous occasions. The Irish believe that Jack’s soul roams the earth with a burning coal inside a pumpkin or turnip. This ghostly figure is referred to as Jack O’Lantern. This tradition was then taken to the United States where it continues to be followed today.
2. 18 Spooky Virtual Halloween Games For Work
2.1 Virtual Halloween Magic Show
If you're on the lookout for a unique and "magical" way to take your team-building to the next level this Halloween, then the interactive Virtual Halloween Magic Show by Hooray Teams is an awesome choice. With a professional magician at the helm and mind-boggling tricks that include mentalism, eye-rubbing optical illusions, nifty card tricks, and sleight of hand, Hooray Teams promises to spell-bind you right in the comfort of your living space.
It's a sure-fire way to foster team camaraderie, with everyone sharing in the excitement and wonder that a magical performance brings.
Hooray Teams is a hosted virtual platform that offers a wide range of fun and interactive team building activities and events, including trivia showdowns, cook-offs to paint and sip sessions that you can check out here.
SIWOM Fun Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
2.2 Virtual Halloween Trivia
Want to take your team-building quotient a notch higher, then Virtual Halloween Trivia by Hooray Team is an exciting opportunity you don’t want to miss. You'll face a series of mind-bending questions, eerie puzzles, and mysterious thrills that will have you and your team enjoying a ghoulishly good time.
But here's the twist - you're not just answering questions; you're doing it in style. Dress up in your most creative, hilarious, or spine-tingling Halloween costumes, and let the competition for the title of 'Best Dressed' begin.
A professional host will guide you through 4 to 5 thrilling rounds of trivia, keeping the excitement alive for an hour-long session. You can even customize the experience by including questions tailored to your team's unique interests.
SIWOM Fun Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
2.3 Virtual Halloween Olympic Games
If you're in the mood for a Halloween adventure that's more thrilling than ever, the Virtual Halloween Olympic Games event is a perfect choice. Hooray Teams hosts a spine-tingling experience where you and your team dive into a series of exhilarating challenges and contests that will send shivers down your spine.
From Spooky Trivia, which tests your Halloween general knowledge, to Zombie Scavenger Hunt, where you unearth items around your virtual meeting space, to Monster Pictionary, a fun twist to the classic game that features Halloween-themed words; each of these games is designed to bring out the 'spirit' of Halloween.
SIWOM Fun Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
2.4 Virtual Halloween Pumpkin Carving
If you're all about embracing Halloween traditions, then Hooray Team’s Virtual Halloween Pumpkin Carving is an absolute must-try. Armed with your favorite carving tools and a pumpkin, you'll craft your own unique jack-o'-lantern masterpiece right from the comfort of your home.
A professional pumpkin carving expert will guide you through the process, offering tips and tricks to help you conjure up the spookiest, wackiest, or most dazzling pumpkin creations. The host keeps the atmosphere fun and engaging with personalized trivia questions and exciting activities to keep everyone in high spirits. And, if you're feeling competitive, you can even participate in a pumpkin carving contest for the title of 'Pumpkin Picasso”.
This is a one-of-a-kind Halloween event that allows you to bond, unleash your creativity, and celebrate the season in a uniquely artistic way. So, grab your pumpkin and let the carving begin!
SIWOM Fun Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
2.5 Halloween Bingo
Break the ice with Halloween Bingo, specially created for the occasion. You can create it for your Halloween virtual games on Bingocardcreator or use Teambuilding’s Halloween bingo template. If you’re opting for the former, you can search for Halloween under categories and customize a card to print and/or download.
Once done, you can give the cards to each player and call off words at random. If the player has the word on their card, they have to cross it off.
SIWOM Fun Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
2.6 Costume Contest
If you are looking for virtual Halloween activities for work, a costume contest is great.
Who is going to take home the trophy? Is it Frankenstein, the mummy bandaged in rolls of TP, the person wearing the werewolf mask, or the wicked witch with green face paint on?
Ask your Halloween virtual games participants to dress up as any character, either from a horror movie or mythological story. This year could have some surprising entries. Someone could dress up as Morticia from the Addams family, for example. Or if there’s a Potterhead in your team, he or she could come dressed as a Dementor or Lord Voldemort himself! Announce prizes for the scariest lifelike costume.
SIWOM Fun Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
2.7 Virtual Trick or Treat
Who says treats are only for the kids? You can host a virtual trick or treat for your teammates and help them recreate their childhood. You can unlock access to stock images, wallpapers, app downloads, or store credit for select retailers and send one of these as a "treat" to each team member.
To add a fun twist, prepare a few joke questions, brainteasers, or puzzles for the "trick" part of the event, which members can ask each other. If someone answers a riddle correctly, the gift giver can email the treat to them. This creative approach adds a touch of Halloween fun to your work event and encourages participation.
SIWOM Fun Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
2.8 Virtual Halloween Pictionary
Play a Halloween-themed Pictionary using photo clues, even your whiteboard, for freehand drawing in real-time!
Find a scary picture online. Give out clues verbally describing it. Set a timer (optional) for the players to guess the photo you’re looking at on your screen. They can type in their guesses until the reveal! Let me explain it with an example. Say, I’m describing an arrangement of bones in an underground chamber. The correct answer would be ‘Catacombs. This is one of our favorites when it comes to Virtual Halloween games for work.
SIWOM Fun Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
2.9 Virtual House of Horrors
Do you know those horror mazes in amusement parks where there are actors dressed as a clown or ghouls ready to jump out at you from the shadows? Why not recreate this hair-raising thrill online with a virtual tour of a haunted house?
There are virtual guided and unguided tours of real, and fake haunted houses. You can book tickets in advance for the group. We’d recommend the Winchester mystery 360-degree tour, which is an immersive experience of Sarah Winchester’s mansion. If that isn’t creepy enough for you, try making it through Virtual Shocktober. This is a virtual walkthrough of the haunted halls of Carlheim Manor in Virginia, which has fascinated historians and paranormal investigators for decades.
If you’re booking the team in for this terrifying session, everyone will get a first-hand account of the hauntings and paranormal activities that reside in the halls, dating all the way back to 1872. It costs $4 per ticket. I’m getting goosebumps already!
SIWOM Fun Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
2.10 Movie Marathon
If you’ve got the time and want a break from horror (with more horror, of course!), dedicate an hour to a group screening of a movie. Collect a list of movie titles from your group and take a vote on the one to watch on Halloween. Some suggestions include The Shining, The Cabin in the Woods, Paranormal Activity, Midsommar, Get Out, and Insidious.
SIWOM Fun Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
2.11 Halloween Stories
The signature tunes of the Tales from the Cryptkeeper and the Addams family are playing in my head as I’m writing this! This is one of the most creative virtual Halloween games for work that tests your group’s resilience as the story’s suspense builds up! It's also a great team-building activity because everyone can get in on the story and take turns to continue where the previous person left off.
If you need a little help in storytelling, check out some of Creepypasta’s top posts with the most upvotes! I personally find Japanese Kaidan stories creepy, such as the one about the laughing skeleton, Teke-Teke, and Kuchisake-Ona.
Warning: Teke-Teke is an urban legend about a vengeful spirit haunting railways. Read it at your party only if everyone’s feeling brave enough to sit through it!
SIWOM Fun Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
2.12 Murder Mystery
Halloween night is the perfect time to schedule your team for a Virtual Murder Mystery at the Manor by Hooray Teams. In this game, you have to solve the mysterious death of Lord Faukner! So, put on your detective hats and figure out the mystery. You will receive clues in advance to help you understand the premise better.
Ghostshipmurdermysteries is another great facilitator for mystery games. They currently offer 6 games, from Murder in the West Wing (6 guests) to That Show About Love (10 guests). You have to fill out a form to help them cast you in the right character. The experience lasts for about 2 hours.
Murder mysteries online bring your team together to work out puzzles and riddles. It gets them to think outside the box and apply their problem-solving skills in a fun setting. There’s also the thrill of knowing all the pieces came together thanks to everyone’s effort. Win-win!
SIWOM Fun Rating:⭐⭐⭐⭐
2.13 Zombie mode
The Zombie Game is a Halloween-themed twist on the classic Never Have I Ever, making it a top choice for virtual Halloween office games. In this game, participants confess to quirky actions or moments of absentmindedness. The goal is to accumulate points by admitting to various blunders listed on the questionnaire template, ultimately earning the dubious title of the office Zombie.
Examples of these mishaps include mistaking the day of the week upon waking up, forgetting a coworker's birthday, inadvertently leaving a non-food item in the office fridge, consuming something without removing the wrapping, accidentally double-brushing your teeth, missing a scheduled meeting, persistently knocking on a colleague's door when they're away, unintentionally hitting "reply all" in an email, or even talking in your sleep during a phone call. It's a lighthearted and fun way to celebrate Halloween while fostering team bonding.
SIWOM Fun Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
2.14 Guess whoooo?
Guess Whoooo? is an engaging addition to the lineup of virtual Halloween office games. In this activity, the remote team is tasked with deducing the identities of their colleagues based on responses to a series of intriguing questions. A designated facilitator initiates the game by collecting participants' answers to a set of common queries, which can be submitted through a poll or anonymized survey.
For instance, team members might share their earliest memories of something frightening, the most recent scary movie they've watched (regardless of language), what terrifies them the most (with multiple-choice options like clowns, ghosts, or The Slender Man), and their favorite Halloween story.
The facilitator maintains a reference sheet linking each answer to the corresponding respondent. To reveal the identities, you can do this in real-time during the call, where participants privately send their answers, and you subsequently disclose the responses for everyone to match with their colleagues.
This interactive game encourages team engagement and problem-solving as participants attempt to unravel the mystery of who answered what through a process of elimination. It's a fantastic way to foster teamwork and Halloween spirit in a virtual work setting.
SIWOM Fun Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
2.15 Virtual Escape Room
We played an Escape Game getaway about two weeks ago as our way to celebrate virtual Halloween events for work. The experience of playing “Prison Break” got our minds racing! Send your virtual team into an online escape room where they will be locked in for an hour. The goal is to make your escape before time runs out.
There are a variety of online escape rooms and remote adventures to choose from as virtual Halloween activities for work, like the EscapeGame, mysteryrooms, or the ExpeditionEscape. Like virtual murder mysteries, you’ll get clues (some within plain sight) that are arranged strategically around the room, while the host will supply you with clues to get you thinking in the right direction.
SIWOM Fun Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
2.16 Scary Movie Trivia
Test your own and everyone else’s knowledge of horror movies with a virtual trivia night for Halloween!
If you want ideas for virtual Halloween activities for work, bigquizthing has a set of 30 questions (with answers) on horror films. You can also check out Kidadl for more trivia categories, such as Slasher movies, the ‘90s, or Disney.
SIWOM Fun Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
2.17 Nosferatu
Based on the 1920s silent expression film, this virtual Halloween party idea is a live enactment of the movie. There’s considerable planning involved here, beginning with checking in with the team to see which members would be interested in being cast. Once you have your primary and supporting actors, allow time for them to create a script according to the story and rehearse dialogues before the show.
Lights out, camera, ACTION! Sit back with your popcorn and enjoy your staff putting on a spooktacular performance for their coworkers!
SIWOM Fun Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
2.18 Mask-making
If you are looking for virtual Halloween games for work, this is a great inclusive one. At the count of 3, all participants make face masks with craft supplies available. Everyone will need paper, color markers, or a handkerchief that can go around the face. They’ll need to set a design first and color it in before cutting the shape out. The person with the most terrifying mask gets more Halloween candy!
SIWOM Fun Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
3. How Do You Celebrate Halloween Virtually at Work?
3.1 Send Scary Invites for the Party
The hype is where half the fun is. If you want to get your remote team excited about the festivities, start with the invitations. Design them using editing tools like Canva or Crello and/or invitation templates such as the ones on Greetings Island.
Here are some suggestions to include in the writing;
- You are inBITEd to the biggest scarefest of 2023!
- Join in on DD/MM/YY at 00:00 AM if you don’t want to be labeled a BOO-re!
- It’s a Ghostly Affair- Are you feeling brave enough?
Be sure to include typical Halloween designs on the backdrop of the e-vite, such as a white ghost, spider webs, a coffin, bats, witches, or black cats. Let your imagination run free!
3.2 Decide on Themes and Costumes
Decide collectively on a theme for your virtual Halloween teambuilding activity. Costumes add a fun dimension to your party, so encourage everyone to come up with an innovative costume that will be scored on how creatively terrifying it is! If costumes and props aren’t up anyone’s street, consider opting for a simple black and orange theme for the party decor and background. You could also ship the team black t-shirts (based on what size they wear, or free sizes) with a picture of a Jack O’Lantern emblazoned on the front and have them wear it while logged in.
This year’s party is going to have to be on a Monday since the 31st falls on a Sunday. On the bright side, nothing can chase the Monday blues away like cosplay, right?
3.3 Select a Video Conferencing Platform
Zoom works well for mass participation, but you can also use Skype, Loom, Whereby, or Microsoft Teams depending on what platform’s audio and video capabilities work well for everyone.
3.4 Choose an Activity to Do Together
Check-in with everyone for suggestions on virtual Halloween games for work to do as a group. From contests to team-building games and questions, make sure you have enough variety to keep the meeting interesting!
3.5 Have Themed Snacks and Drinks
Halloween comes just once a year, so don’t hold back on the sugar! You can either set aside a company budget to ship a party box to each employee before the date of the party or have them choose to make a selection of creative snacks, such as spider-web cookies, jelly babies, or glasses of cranberry juice or red wine to look like blood!
4 FAQs
4.1 What are fun activities for Halloween?
When planning a fun virtual Halloween party, you can explore a variety of exciting ideas and activities to make it a memorable event. Start by selecting a thematic backdrop that adds to the overall enjoyment. Themes can be inspired by your favorite horror movies, books, or series, adding a spooky twist to the occasion.
As for the menu, get creative with thematic cocktails and food presentations that are both visually appealing and delicious, with imaginative names like "Bloody Mary" for red-colored drinks, "Poisonberry Pie" for a unique twist on boysenberry, "Finger Sandwiches" cut into the shape of actual fingers, or arrange fries on a cutting board to resemble severed hands with trailing ketchup. Encourage everyone to dress up in terrifying costumes, whether it's vampires, witches, mummies, ghosts, or even a ghostly version of Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean.
4.2 How do you host a virtual Halloween contest?
To host a seamless virtual Halloween contest, follow a structured approach. Begin by providing detailed contest descriptions, rules, and prizes in your invitations. During the event, ensure active participation and monitoring by using breakout rooms and festive virtual backgrounds to create an engaging atmosphere. Start a countdown to build excitement as time runs out, and collect responses in written or picture formats to accommodate various expressions of creativity. Establish a fair voting system, either separately or within the call platform, to determine the winners. After tabulating the results, announce the victors, and wrap up the event by expressing your appreciation for the participants' enthusiastic engagement, fostering a sense of community and Halloween spirit.
4.3 How do you make a virtual Halloween party fun?
To make a virtual Halloween party fun, consider incorporating costume contests, spooky storytelling, virtual games, themed cocktails, and interactive activities like pumpkin carving or a virtual haunted house tour.
4.4 What games can you play at a Halloween party?
Some paid virtual Halloween party ideas are Virtual Murder Mysteries, Online Escape Rooms, Virtual Magic Shows, and Horror Mazes. If you are looking for free virtual Halloween events for work, then check out Costume Contest, Halloween Bingo, Halloween Trivia Hour or Witching Hour, and Spooky Storytelling.
4.5 What are some virtual Halloween games for Zoom?
Virtual Halloween games for Zoom include virtual escape room, virtual scavenger hunt, and a pumpkin carving competition.