If you are having a Halloween party this weekend, you have already invited your guests.  Now it's time to finalize everything else.

Decorations are a first step.  You can go the autumn route or the scary route, depending on the folks who attend.  You'll certainly want pumpkins, gourds, and jack o'lanterns.  Consider using battery-operated lights in the jack o'lanterns for saftey.  Beware of purchasing hay bales from farms as decorative accents.   These hay bales often come with univited party guests — mice.  On the other hand, old pots filled with water and dry ice look scary and clean themselves up!

As for food, there's a practice of trying to make it look scary.  I don't want my food to be frightening — and I certainly don't want it to look like an insect.  I'm a big fan of keeping Halloween party food simple finger food with an emphasis on fall flavors.  For example, pumpkin cupcakes and apples with caramel dipping sauce, cocktail meatballs and hot dogs, suqash dip with toasted pitas, mixed toasted nuts spiced with chili powder.  Keep things simple, with an emphasis on preparing beforehand, especially if the party is Friday night.  Consider buying simple appetizers from a local restaurant or seasonal goodies from a bakery.  If you want to be eerie, make a nice red wine punch and toss in a few chunks of food grade dry ice.  It will make the punch smoke (and keep it cold), but it won't affect the flavor.

Whatever you do, the key is making sure that you are having a good time.  If you are stressed, your guests will be too!