Recipe for the Perfect Halloween Party Disaster

Halloween is nearly here and with it so is that desire to throw your own perfect Halloween bash. It should be easy: pick your costume, pick your friends and pick a venue in the city to combine the two. But New York City, god love it, always knows how to throw a wrench in your plans.

The entire week of Halloween is already booked with other parties and events going on downtown. So in order not to conflict with anyone, we made our Halloween party two weeks in advance. Unfortunately, that means our party was only two days away from the moment we thought of it.

Realizing time was key here, we used our magic Facebook-powers to create an event in less time than it takes for Sarah Palin to say "Maverick."


Without thinking, we invited 100 people. This is never a good idea: it's too many people if everyone shows up, and since 100 is an easy number to do math with in your head, if too few people show up, everyone will be able to calculate the tiny percentage of people who like you.

We made two more amateur mistakes: first we suggested to BYOB and second we didn't establish a solid starting time for the party, suggesting people could show up "whenever." In the city, everyone needs a plan and the promise of cheap or free drinks to get them moving from point A to point B.

Finally, we ignored the most basic rule of a good Halloween party: wear costumes. Instead we suggested people just wear stickers stating the idea for what they want to be. Unfortunately, that's like expecting a turkey sandwich and being handed a recipe written in mustard.

So here's the punchline: If you really want to throw a Halloween party weeks before the actual day, and you're too cheap to buy drinks or can't plan ahead enough to buy a costume, just pretend it's your birthday and maybe people will show up anyway. Maybe.

- Seth