Every year when the leaves start turning, I look for one regular tradition to turn into something more, and this year it was book club’s turn.
This spooky book club party turned an ordinary meeting into an actual event: hands-on Halloween activities like themed Kindle charm-making and mug gifting, jack-o’-lantern florals throughout, and a seasonal read to set the mood for discussion.
It’s proof that a book club party can be just as themed and just as fun as any other Halloween gathering, without losing the bookish heart of why you’re all there in the first place.
This month’s book club pick: Haunted Ever After by Jen DeLuca.
Why a Spooky Book Club Party Works So Well for Halloween
A spooky book club party works because it gives your regular meetup an occasion without changing what it fundamentally is. You’re still gathering to talk about a book, just now surrounded by crows, candlelight and a skeleton who’s clearly been enjoying the punch.
It also adds a little movement to the night. Building in a couple of hands-on stations gives guests something to do between chapters of conversation, and it almost always makes the night flow even better.
Watch How the Spooky Book Club Party Came Together
Before we get into the details heres the full reel so you can see the table settings, the boozy drink stand, the gifting cart and the bookish activity stations in motion. It’s the best way to get a feel for the overall Halloween bookish vibes, layout and set-up before you start planning your own!
Don’t forget to save this post for later — and follow along at fernandmaple.com for more book club party ideas and bookish Halloween inspiration!
What You’ll Need for a Spooky Book Club Party
This list is not exhaustive and you can add to fit your preferances, a specific Halloween or spooky boook theme or color scheme.
Full DIY tutorials for making decorative elements of this party can be found here – Including Spooky book cutlery holders, Spooky book page wreath, Book themed wall plaques, and Spooky book garland.
Here’s the full list of items I used for my spooky book club party, area by area— the dining table, the bar, the gifting cart, the mantel and the Kindle charm station! You can find a full shoppable list HERE.
- Table Setting:
- Checkerboard plates topped with a book page & skeleton plate
- Crow Napkins
- Book page & crow cutlery holders, get the DIY HERE
- Black drinking glass & owl water glass
- Spooky book club bag tote for taking home books!
- Spooky book club notebook & jack o’lantern pen for book notes
- Spooky Book Club Centerpiece & Runner:
- Kraft newsprint paper & book pages as a table runner
- Books for stacking
- Jack o’lantern florals
- Crows & other Edgar Alan Poe decor
- Pumpkins
- Spooky book club confetti
- Boozy Drink Stand (full shopping list HERE):
- Tierd drink stand
- Mini jack’o lanterns & alcohol bottles
- Skeleton & coffin drink cooler
- Black florals
- Halloween decor (e.g. crows, witch hats, candles, black cats, & paintings)
- Black glasses or themed tumblers
- DIY Book page Halloween wreath, DIY instructions HERE (coming soon)
- Gifting bar cart: books to wrap for Blind Date With a Book, brown paper, a marker, Halloween-themed mugs, bookish treat fillers (tea, lip gloss, hand sanitizer, bookmarks, stickers)
- Gifting bar cart:
- Books to wrap for Blind Date With a Book
- Wrapping supplies & bookish treats (e.g. bookmarks, paper clips, stickers, pens, page tags & more) to place in wrapping pockets (supply list HERE)
- Halloween-themed mugs
- Bookish mug treat fillers (e.g. tea, lip gloss, hand sanitizer, bookmarks, stickers), you can find a supply list HERE
- Kindle charm station (full supply list HERE):
- Beads
- Charm Hooks for phones & kindles
- Jump rings
- Chain
- Small pliers
- Wall and mantle styling:
- Wood plaques, find the DIY HERE
- Book pages
- Crows, ghosts, garlands, candles, cats, witch hats, ribbon, velvet bows and more!
How to Set Up a Spooky Book Club Party
The heart of this party, and the part that makes it completely unique, are the bookish Halloween activities. Guests got to make Spooky Blind Dates With a Book and build a Halloween Kindle Charm. Two of my favorite spooky book club party ideas! This is what separates a book club party from a regular meetup: hands-on stations built specifically for readers. Every guest bought a book to wrap and swap with someone else at the table, then built a Kindle charm to take home.
Set the Table
You’ll find the full supply list for this table set-up including the table runner & settings HERE.
Start with checkerboard plates and add a skeleton plate with book page background as your base — the pattern alone does most of the theming work before anything else is added. Then I added a crow napkin and a DIY folded crow-topped cutlery holder at each seat. This was made from book pages and the full is linked HERE (coming soon). Finish the setting off with a sprinkle of themed confetti, a black champagne glass and an owl water glass.
If you want to be extra bookish! Add a Spooky Book Club tote bag (full tutorial HERE, coming soon) for guests to take books home. Plus a DIY Spooky Book Club notebook & pen for taking notes during the get together.
For the table runner I used a roll of kraft newsprint wrapping paper. On top of this I layered spooky book pages and sprinkled some custom Spooky Book Club confetti from Festive Fetti.
For the centerpiece, I stacked a few old books as pedestals. I topped them with a DIY Chalkboard pumpkin saying Spooky Book Club on one side and a crow in the middle.
At the center of the table I used a jack-o’-lantern as a vase and filled it with black and orange blooms. This was flanked by and Edgar Allen Poe candle with a cauldron of matches on one side. And on the other side a set of animated books that creak and move, super fun!
I pulled up a Jack o’lantern skeleton up to one of the seats as a temporary guest. A little fun and it totally finishes off the table and makes it a party!
Set Up a Boozy Drink Stand
You’ll find the full supply list HERE.
To the left of the fireplace, a small tiered stand became the actual drink station for the night — this is where the Jack-O’-Lantern Tower lives, with mini pumpkins each filled with a mini bottle and a straw, stacked and topped with florals. Guests grab one, add it to the punch for an instant cocktail, or take it home as a favor. Full tower tutorial HERE.
Right beside the stand, a pair of skeletons carry a coffin-shaped cooler between them, stocked with the actual drinks and mixers. Between the tower and the coffin, guests can help themselves without you playing bartender all night.
Above the cooler I added a wreath made out of spooky book pages, this really made the space pop and drew attention to the cooler station. Get the full DIY instructions to make your own wreath HERE. I reworked an old floral wreath, swapping out its skull accents for a jack-o’-lantern bow and adding rolled book-page scrolls throughout for texture!
Set Up the Bar Cart for a Blind Date With a Book Swap
You’ll find the full supply list for making Halloween themed blind dates with a book HERE.
The bar cart isn’t for drinks at this party. It’s where the Blind Date With a Book swap happens. Each guest brings a secret book from home, either pre-wrapped with pockets or they use the wrapping paper on the cart. Find out how to wrap a book with pockets & make a Blind Date with a Book HERE.
Then guests fill the wrapping paper pockets with their choice of items set out on the cart – pens & markers, book marks paper clips, stickers and more. Then they can use twine or ribbon to complete the wrap and add a short, playful teaser description instead of the title. Once every book is wrapped, guests swap and everyone takes home something new to read.
A little decor ties the cart into the rest of the room too. I strung a DIY Halloween themed book garland made from book pages along the front edge. You can get the DIY instructions for making it yourself HERE.
Then and propped a bow-tied skeleton right beside it, positioned like he’s the one pushing the whole thing around. A few extra book-themed pieces on the cart keep it in theme with the occasion.
I also added bookish stuffed Halloween mugs, one ghost print, and one bat print. These were gifts for my guests and could double as prizes or another DIY activity to do with your guests. Each one comes packed with bookish treats such as tea, lip gloss, hand sanitizer, themed patches and stickers, magnetic bookmarks, gravestone sticky notes and skull straw toppers. Plus a book recommendation tucked inside. Full mug gift tutorial linked HERE.
Set Up a Kindle Charm-Making Station on the Coffee Table
You’ll find all the supplies you need to make kindle charms HERE.
The low coffee table in my living room became the kindle craft station for the night. I laid out a tray of adhesive charm hooks and small Halloween-themed charms — skulls, pumpkins, bats, whatever fits your palette! I also added jump rings, chain and a couple of pairs of small pliers.
Guests build their own charm and clip it straight onto their Kindle or e-reader before they leave. Find out how to make your own kindle charm HERE.
This one works especially well for a book club, since almost everyone at the table also reads on a device in addition to paper books. It gives guests a one-of-a-kind favor that’s actually useful, not something that ends up in a drawer. Keep the bead and charm selection edited rather than overwhelming — a smaller, well-chosen tray moves faster than a huge bin guests have to dig through
Style the Walls and Mantle
For the walls, I painted a set of wood plaques black and layered book pages onto the center of each one. Then I added black crow, owl and ghost silhouettes cut on my Cricut. Finished with ribbon and velvet bows, they hang as a small gallery near the table — full tutorial linked HERE.
Above the fireplace, I hung a black lace table runner across the mantle. Then I added florals in a Jack O’ Lantern, a book candle, owl, ghost and spooky typewriter decor with a book quote. Finally I added two garlands made from bow, one in orange and the other black velvet.
On the other side of the mantel I added an urn of florals elevated on spell books. Snake themed candlesticks, skeleton busts a skull lamp and black butterflies. I found the perfect piece of orange plaid to use as an accent and tie in this area with the black and orange palette of the room. Classic Halloween colors with a twist!
Tips for Hosting Your Own Spooky Book Club Party
- Keep the gifting cart and the Kindle charm station within sight of each other. Guests naturally drift between the two rather than committing to one all night.
- Wrap a few extra books for the Blind Date station in case a last-minute guest shows up.
- Premix your punch base ahead of time so the drink stand is self-serve once the party starts.
- Buy a couple of extra charms and beads. Someone always wants to make a second one.
- Have a few easy discussion questions ready to go. With this many stations going, it’s nice to have a natural anchor to pull everyone back to the book for a few minutes.
- Stick to finger foods. Guests are juggling a wrapped book, a charm-in-progress and a drink, so anything that needs a fork just adds friction.
- Let guests who didn’t finish the book join in anyway. The stations and the styling carry the night just as much as the discussion does.
- Give each drink a small Halloween charm. With everyone holding a glass that gets put down during activities they won’t loose track of their drink. A tiny bat or pumpkin charm has the added benefit of tying it in with your kindle charm station.
- Print a few spooky specific discussion questions on a little card near the table. This carries the seasonal mood into the conversation too, not just the decor and activities.
Spooky Book Club Party FAQs
What supplies do I need for a spooky book club party?
First you’ll need the spooky book you are going to discuss. Then you’ll need themed tableware, some candle lighting, jack-o’-lantern florals and pumpkins! Use your own Halloween decor or use mine for inspiration.
Add a drink stand, a coffin-style cooler, and craft supplies for the Kindle charm and Blind Date with a book stations. See above for detailed inspiration and supply lists!
How many guests work well for a spooky book club party?
Anywhere from four to ten guests works well — small enough that the stations don’t get crowded, but large enough that the room still feels lively
Do I need to actually discuss a book at a spooky book club party?
Not necessarily, though most book clubs will want to. The stations and the styling are designed to sit alongside a normal discussion, not replace it.
Can I do a spooky book club party without the full DIY decor?
Yes, a spooky book and a few spooky items with candle light to create atmosphere works too. You can also just do a portion or this decor. Set the spooky table setting and a pick a single activity station, like the Kindle charm bar. This will carry the theme on their own if you’re short on time before the party.
What’s a good favor for a spooky book club party?
The Kindle charm guests make themselves works well as doubleing as a favor. The stuffed Halloween mug also works as does the mini pumpkin from the drink stand if it hasn’t been added to the punch.
Shop the Full Party
For a shopping list of supplies visit my full list HERE.
You Might Also Like
Looking for more Book Club party ideas? Try out these book themed DIYs:
- How to Make Crow-Topped Napkin Rings from Book Pages
- How to Build a Jack-O’-Lantern Boozy Bar Tower
- How to Stuff Halloween Mugs for a Book-Lover Gift
- How to Make Halloween Wood Plaque Wall Art
And these book themed activities (and gift ideas):
- How to make a Halloween themed Blind Date with A Book station (coming soon)
- How to make a Spooky Book Club kindle charm making station (coming soon)
You may also love this alternative book club theme for your next gathering!
- How to Host a Dark Romantasy Book Club Party (Coming soon)
And for more Halloween party ideas check out my Halloween Sip N Paint Gothic Drawing Room Party HERE or How to Host the Ultimate Broom Making Party Activity the Halloween. Or decorate your house with inspiration from my Witch-Themed Halloween Home Entryway.
Happy Partying!
As a blogger, I sometimes receive compensation and/or products in exchange for my styling and crafting services. I also may earn a small commission from any sales that result from affiliate links on this page. As always, all project ideas and any opinions expressed here are my own. For further information on our disclosure policy please check out our disclosure page.
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