Halloween Party Appetizers

These Halloween appetizers are much more delightful than frightful. To make, use mini Halloween-theme cookie cutters to cut out pieces of cheese and meat. Place cutouts on top of various crackers, along with lettuce leaves; use olive pieces to decorate the faces.

This spooky hummus pumpkin is just begging to be carved into. To make, scoop hummus onto a serving plate, then cover with finely shredded carrots. A small piece of green onion makes a perfect pumpkin stem.

Sweet and salty, this mix comes together in seconds for a last-minute Halloween appetizer. Toss together equal amounts candy corn, pretzels, peanuts, and corn chips and get ready for grazing.

Bearing an uncanny resemblance to the real thing, these fingers make a fun addition to the buffet table. Simple chicken breasts become Halloween appetizer-worthy when sliced and served with Romesco Dipping Sauce.

Grinning jack-o'-lanterns made from taco ingredients keep the buffet line moving. To make, start with large round crackers, spread with sour cream and/or salsa, and top with cooked taco meat and shredded cheese. Use tomatoes, peppers, and olives to make the jack-o'-lantern faces.

Transform traditional breadsticks into bare bones for this frightful skeleton. To make, simply cut the ends of uncooked breadsticks before baking. Arrange the ghastly bites around a marinara head, decorated with mozzarella cheese and black olives to ghastly perfection.

With a savory to-die-for taste, this Transylvanian is something guests will love to sink their teeth into. To make, spread cream cheese over a mini bagel half, then use triangle strips of red pepper for a colorful collar. A cut olive serves as this count's eyebrows and 'do, while a strip of carrot makes a wicked nose. Close the casket on this treat with thin slices of green onion and capers for eyes.

A tasty cheese ball turns into a Halloween-worthy appetizer when costumed in nacho-cheese-flavor chips. To make, roll cheese ball in crushed chips and place on a bed of kale. Cut a black olive into two triangle-shape pieces for the eyes and press into the cheese ball. Press three olive halves into the cheese ball to form the grin. (You might need to remove chips from these areas so the olives stick.) Place a dill pickle on top for a stem.

You might frighten your guests with this spooky spiderweb, but they'll forgive you when they taste the simple milk and sour cream flavors that weave it together.

These green cheese balls look past their prime, but their "mold" is just an herb coating that adds to the flavor. When plated with plastic spiders, they really achieve a gross-out appearance.

This delightfully gruesome concoction will win any creepy-eats contest. But with red pepper "veins" and plenty of flavors, guests won't be able to keep their hands off it once they get their first bite.

For a quick Halloween appetizer so good it comes from the graves, serve guests tombstone sandwiches. To make, cut chicken salad sandwiches into tombstone shapes, roll the edges in chopped pecans for a pebbly look, and serve from a graveyard covered in creepy cabbage.

Good with crackers or apples for goblins and for ghouls, your guests will go wild over this Halloween appetizer. Ten minutes -- start to finish -- and this tasty dip is ready to be devoured. Serve it in a hollowed-out squash or pumpkin for a nice Halloween touch.

Cook up some 'dogs for an all-wrapped-up take on finger foods. Refrigerated breadsticks do the legwork. Make the appetizer lighter with cocktail wieners and a pinch of the breadstick dough rather than a full breadstick.

Wrap a legion of scary mummies for a Halloween dinner or party appetizer. To make, skewer a purchased meatball and a 4-inch piece of summer sausage stick with a 6-inch wooden skewer. Combine 8 ounces of cream cheese and 1 teaspoon of purchased pesto. Spread some of the mixture over the meat skewer and wrap with cooked fettuccine noodles. For a more bulky body, spread with additional cream cheese mixture and wrap with another layer of cooked fettuccine. Add capers for eyes. Serve with pasta sauce for dipping.

Put pretzels, cheese, and green onions together and these bewitching pretzel broomsticks will fly right off the snack table. Serve them on a round yellow plate decorated with paper witch silhouettes.

Dig into this spooky graveyard -- if you dare! Venture into this Halloween appetizer and you'll discover a tasty taco dip. Layers of refried beans, lettuce, and black olives mimic dirt and grass. Eerie shapes cut from tortilla shells complete the spooky Halloween landscape.

Give a party favorite some Halloween flair with a few extra garnishes. To make, top deviled eggs with a dollop of caviar "bug guts" and sliced green olive "monster eyes." Serve the eggs on a platter surrounded with red licorice rope "guts." A ghoulish hand, ready to pounce, might scare off some guests, but the bolder ones will risk attack to snag a deviled egg.

With this Halloween appetizer your guests will be too busy saying "yum" to be frightened -- that is, once they get past the spider guarding the dip. The bacon-wrapped shrimp and accompanying dipping sauce are fiery hot and tasty.

Every party needs a few savory offerings to balance the snacks and sweets. Turn a favorite stew into a ghoulish delight with this ghostly garnish. To make, spoon servings of stew (or soup) into individual serving dishes, filling about two-thirds full. Using a pastry bag fitted with a large round tip, pipe hot mashed potatoes into a ghost shape on top of each serving. Use capers for ghost eyes, and sprinkle shredded cheddar cheese around the base of each ghost.

Though these Halloween appetizers will frighten your guests, their tasty insides will quickly put them under your spell. Gather pizza ingredients and you won't need to toil and trouble long to conjure up these tasty calzones.

Give new meaning to the concept "finger food" with these Halloween appetizers. Large pretzel sticks resemble useful appendages when the ends are dipped in melted candy coating and topped with a sliced almond "fingernail." Display the digits in a shirt sleeve-covered jar.

These fun snacks are crackers cleverly disguised as candy corn. For a Halloween platter, cheese nibbles are mounted on crackers spread with sour cream dip and finished with olives and meat slices.

Invite guests to circle around a fondue "cauldron" to dip delectable treats into white chocolate fondue. For more Halloween flair, dye the fondue orange or set black and orange sprinkles aside for guests to indulge in.

Go batty with the party mix munchies. To make, mix popcorn, pretzels, dry cereals, dried fruits, nuts, and candies. Serve in a festive bowl or trick-or-treat bucket.

This Halloween appetizer will put some spook into those with queasy stomachs. To make, top Brie with an assortment of "guts" -- flavorful dried tomatoes, onion, basil, and garlic. Once they get past the macabre plating, guests will eat this dish up.

Food sitting out always attracts insects -- this occasion is no different -- only these creepy skewers neatly stab delectable nibbles. To make, photocopy bug images and use a jumbo punch to punch out two bug circles for each skewer; glue the circles together with the skewer in between. Rest the bugs in cups on a platter full of tasty cheese and crackers for a simple Halloween appetizer.

Spooky peepers -- made from sliced black olives, asparagus tops, and bits of red pepper -- put a frightful spin on deviled eggs. Arrange the Halloween appetizer in fun dishes that emphasize them as the focal point of the party.

Basic cheese fondue becomes Demon Dip when served in a witch's cauldron. Use breads, vegetables, and tortilla chips as dipping options for this savory Halloween appetizer.

This sneaky guy's stuffed with pizza ingredients. A red pepper strip provides the sinister tongue.

This crazy cheese ball is delightfully fun! The frightful hairdo is a mound of curly shredded beets.

Make veggies fun to eat at Halloween by making them into a silly frog. Remove the top of a green pepper and set aside. Remove all seeds and membrane. Cut out leg shapes from another green pepper and attach to the front body using toothpicks. Fill with favorite vegetables. Add a long slice of carrot for a tongue. Using toothpicks, place two large pimento-stuffed green olives on top of the pepper lid for eyes. Serve with a favorite salad dressing if desired.