Best Virtual Halloween Ideas for Remote Teams in 2023

Pumpkin spice lattes, costume parties, horror movies, marathons, and candies are what make spooky season one of the best seasons of the year! And while Halloween celebrations have always been filled with fun parties, now that most teams worldwide are working remotely, gathering the team in the same place becomes harder.

If you’ve found a way to celebrate other special dates virtually, why not Halloween? Many fun virtual Halloween ideas are great opportunities to connect with coworkers and keep your team engaged. 

Top 9 Virtual Halloween Party Ideas To Try With Your Remote Team This Year

There are many great virtual Halloween ideas that can make you feel closer to your team. From virtual haunted house experiences to spooky happy hours, here are some fun Halloween activities for remote teams.  

1.   Virtual Halloween Party

One of the best virtual Halloween ideas that remote teams absolutely love is online parties, even killjoy coworkers who hate celebrating special dates, enjoy Halloween parties. You can have many different activities and surprises for you and your teammates to make them have an unforgettable experience. 

Keep in mind that if you don’t organize anything, just a reunion via Zoom (or your favorite video call app), the chances are it will be awkward. Try to be intentional and focus on creating the best virtual Halloween party you can possibly think of. Start by picking a date (likely the 29th, as 31 is on a Sunday), and then choose what activities you can do with your team, and the amount of time everyone will need to block their schedule.

Here are some fun ideas:

• Make everyone choose spooky Zoom backgrounds
• Create invites and send them via email
• Dress code: Costumes (you could even pick a theme) 
• Create a Halloween playlist for the party
• Choose different fun virtual Halloween games (trivia, costume contests, etc.)

2.   Pumpkin Carving Contest

There are many virtual Halloween events you’ve probably heard by now, and if you’re looking for unique options, then a pumpkin carving contest is the answer. 

How does it work? Your team will only need a pumpkin, a knife, or a tool for carving and a marker, and that’s basically it. You can get together via Zoom, set the rules, the time, and start! To add more motivation to your team, you can set up different prizes such as a gift card or a bottle of wine. 

3.   Halloween Gaming Night!

If your team loves playing games, a Halloween-themed gaming night is also a great virtual event. And though some might be struggling to manage other responsibilities, there’s always some free time left to have fun with your teammates. 

You can organize a set of games to do online via Zoom for an hour (or even more, if everyone gets excited). These can include prizes or fun surprises for your team members.

Here are some fun ideas:

• Virtual apple bobbing: Tell participants to fill up a bowl with water and a few apples. Then everyone must set their cameras far enough and pick a judge who will evaluate who can snag an apple first!
• Trick or Treat (with a twist): Send out to everyone in your team full drink recipes to participants who want to be part of the game. The idea is that they have to make all the drinks and add food coloring or juice to make them similar in color. Have everyone pour the cocktails and nonalcoholic beverages into shot glasses and mix them up. During the call, people can vote whether the shot will be a trick or a treat. 
• Guess who: This is a great team bonding game perfect for any event. The concept is that you set out different questions, and participants need to determine the identity of people answering questions. Leaders will ask the group Halloween-themed questions, and players should privately message the leader with the answer. The leader shares the responses, and players must match each reply to the correct participant. Here are some spooky prompts: 

• Childhood fear
• Favorite childhood Halloween costume
• Favorite scary movie
• Creepiest experience
• Their magic spell of choice.

4.   Virtual Halloween Costume Contests

What would Halloween be without costume contests? One of the best parts of the season is getting to dress up your favorite characters. And while you’re not in the same physical space as your team members, virtual Halloween costume contests can be just as fun. 

Before the call, you can set out basic guidelines (for example, everyone must have a costume) and announce different categories such as the funniest costume, scariest costume, innovative costume, etc. During the call, you can set a poll for everyone to vote, and the winners get different prices (gift cards, books, food, etc.)

Here are some virtual Halloween costume ideas to get inspired from: 

• A chef
• Movie monsters
• Classic Disney characters
• A ghost
• A scarecrow
• Chucky
• The Joker
• A pirate
• A star wars character
• A vampire

5.   Virtual Haunted House Experience

While Halloween games and activities are fun, a virtual haunted house tour is definitely a must if you really want to get scared and have a paranormal experience with your remote team. Now there are haunted houses in different parts of the world that are offering tickets to online tours. 

Although you’ll not have the same experience as if you were there physically, in honor of the spooky season, you can virtually visit these houses with your team and learn their mysterious histories.

These are some of the virtual haunted house tours available:

• Winchester Mansion
• Salem Witch Museum
• Eastern State Penitentiary
• The Paris Catacombs
• Isla de las Muñecas (Island of the Dolls)

6.   Halloween Home Office Decorating Contest

Encourage your teams to get creative and decorate their workspace with the best Halloween decor they can think of. You could give everyone a week to come up with their best desk creations. When the date arrives, you can all share pictures of your desks and vote for the best (and scariest) one. The winner gets a gift card for office supplies! 

There are many things you can decor yours with: the classic spider web, pumpkin, skeleton, vampire things, etc. 

7.   Virtual Escape Room

Escape rooms are popular because they encourage teamwork despite being in scary and unknown environments. And believe it or not, there are virtual escape rooms that are a great alternative to celebrate Halloween. 

These web-based experiences challenge your team to work together, find clues, and solve clues to escape the room.

If your team is big enough, you can create small groups and make it a competition. The team who gets to escape the room in the least time wins!

Here are some popular virtual escape rooms:

• International Monster Hunter 
• Haunted House Virtual Escape Room 
• The Grimm Escape 

8.   Halloween Virtual Movie Night

While not everyone loves scary movies, one thing is for sure: they are always easier to watch with company. Another great virtual Halloween idea you can make with your team is a movie night with classic Halloween movies. Multiple streaming services like Teleparty, Watch2Ghether, or Metastream allow big groups to watch movies simultaneously.

Before the movie night, you can make a poll, and everyone gets to vote on what movie to watch. There’s no need to have costumes or anything, just popcorn, candy corn, your favorite beverage, and that’s it! 

Here are some great Halloween movies to consider for all kinds of people:

• Friday the 13th
• Hocus Pocus
• The Exorcist
• Ghostbusters
• Insidious

9.   Spooky Happy Hour

Happy hours are a great way to connect with your team and talk with them in a more informal environment. If you don’t have time to organize a Halloween party, a Halloween-themed happy hour is the way to go. You can send out ideas for everyone to prepare spooky drinks and get together via Zoom!

You can even send them a basket of candies to pair with classic cocktails! Here’s a list of the best cocktail pairings with Halloween candies according to Vinepair:

Get into the Halloween Spirit with These Fun Ideas

There are many fun and different virtual Halloween ideas perfect for remote teams. The best thing about them is that you get to know your team members on a more personal level while having fun and strengthening your team’s and company’s culture. 

While not everyone is a fan of Halloween, sometimes these events are just an excuse to have fun and do something different with your remote team. These activities boost the team spirit and make employees feel even more engaged. 

FAQ on How to Celebrate Halloween Remotely