Sure, Halloween parties are about costumes, spooks, and scares. But with great Halloween party appetizers, you can really get your guests to focus on the food, too!

The creepy Halloween recipes here are simple to put together, fun to eat, and absolutely delicious. They're also just a little bit different and a little bit special. The Pumpkin Fondue is actually pretty elegant-- perfect for a Halloween dinner party.

But anybody with a Halloween food obsession like mine doesn't stick to just one page about Halloween party appetizers! I've got tons more Halloween snack recipes and party food on my main Halloween page, including:

• Gross-Looking Halloween Party Food
• Disgusting Halloween Food
• Fun Halloween Cocktails
• Halloween Party Punch
• Halloween Cookies
• Homemade Caramel Apples

And a ton more. No, really. A ton more. Check it out!

With their funky green crust, these eerie empanads look much stranger than they actually taste! Bite sized and easy to eat, these will be a Halloween party appetizer hit, I promise. The sweet potato filling is creamy and wonderful and oh-so autumn-y. I serve mine with a choice of two kinds of "blood sauce." Either a Mojo sauce, or a sweeter homemade cranberry sauce. Either way, they're delicious.

This Halloween party appetizer makes about 40-50 bite-sized empanadas. They taste nice either hot or at room temperature.

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Ingredients:
2 (15 oz) pkgs. refrigerated pie crust
3 egg yolks, beaten
Green food coloring, as needed

Filling:
2 1/2 lbs. sweet potatoes or yams, cooked, peeled, and pureed
2 tbsp. butter, softened
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/4-1/2 tsp. salt, or to taste
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Instructions: 1. In a mixing bowl, combine your sweet potato puree, butter, cumin, salt, and pepper until well mixed. Set aside or refrigerate until ready to use (will keep covered in the refrigerator a couple of days).

2. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F while you assemble your empanadas.

3. To assemble your empanadas, unfold your pie crust and place on a floured board. Roll it out slightly to thin it out.

4. Using a 3" biscuit cutter or a floured glass, cut 40-50 pie crust circles from your two prepared crusts.

5. Scoop about a tsp. of filling into the middle of each circle. Fold over into a half-moon shape. Seal with your fingers or a fork.

6. Place your empanadas on a parchment paper-covered baking sheet, about 1" apart. You'll need to cook them in batches.

7. In a small bowl, combine the egg yolks and food coloring as needed to get a bright green coating.

8. Brush each empanada lightly with green egg mixture.

9. Bake 10-12 minutes until crisp and cooked through. Cool on a rack.

Tip: I generally use concentrated green paste food coloring to make these, and it works wonderfully. You may need to use a lot of regular liquid food coloring to get the right color.

This is one of those Halloween party appetizers that will never get old. Your guests will love its simplicity and, well... its cheesiness. This is just about as good as fondue gets, and is chock-full of wonderful autumn-y flavors. Too good to be believed.

You can make the fondue up a bit in advance and keep it warm under a very low fire. But it's best to bake up your pumpkin right before serving, or to at least reheat it before serving. The hot pumpkin helps to keep the fondue fluid and hot. Either way, serve this up and let your guests know to start chowing down right away so it doesn't get cold and lose its perfect texture.

The perfect Halloween party appetizer for a dinner party or even a Thanksgiving dinner. Serves about 10-12, depending on how hungry your guests are.

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Instructions:
Pumpkin:
1 small pumpkin, opened, cleaned, and seeded
2 tbsp. butter, softened
1 pinch ground nutmeg
1 pinch ground cinnamon

Fondue
1 1/2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
3 shallots, minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
8 oz. emmenthaler cheese, shredded
8 oz. gruyere cheese, shredded
1 tbsp. cornstarch
2 tbsp. cold water
1 1/2 C. dry white wine (good quality)
Salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Freshly grated nutmeg, to taste
Pinch ground cinnamon
Punch ground smoked paprika

Instructions: 1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Prepare the pumpkin. To do this, combine the butter, cinnamon and nutmeg in a little bowl. Rub this mixture all over the inside of your cleaned pumpkin.

3. Return top to pumpkin, place on a baking sheet, and bake about 30 minutes, until softened.

4. Meanwhile, make the fondue. In a large saucepan, cook the shallots and garlic in oil about two minutes over medium-high heat. In a small bowl, stir together the water and cornstarch until smooth.

5. Stir the wine into you garlic-shallot mixture, followed by your cornstarch mixture. Bring to a simmer.

6. Add the cheese to the mixture bit by bit, stirring constantly. Stir with a zig-zag motion rather than a circular one. This will help to keep the cheese from clumping together into a ball.

7. Heat and stir until all of the cheese is incorporated.

9. Season as desired with salt, pepper, nutmeg, and cinnamon.

10. Pour fondue into your roasted pumpkin and sprinkle paprika over.

11. Serve with hunks of crusty bread, sliced apples, crudites, even roasted chunks of sweet potato.

This is one of those wonderful Halloween party appetizers that comes together in about 10 minutes, can be made ahead of time, and will wow everybody at your Halloween dinner party or party. The presentation has a ton of effect without a ton of work.

You can play around with the recipe to find a combination of ingredients that you like best. For me, this simple version is a success every time. I like to use this homemade guacamole recipe, but you can also use store bought if you're short on time. I also like refried black beans with it, but regular ones will work, too.

This Halloween party appetizer serves 10-12 people. I think it tastes great with a green salsa or a chipotle-based one, but you can also use a tomato-based salsa.

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Ingredients:
1 (16 oz) can refried black beans
1 (1 1/4 ounce) envelope taco seasoning
1 (4 oz.) can diced green chilies, drained (or jalapeños if you like it hot)
1 C. salsa
1 C. sour cream
1 C. guacamole
1 1/2 C. shredded cheese
2 green onions, sliced
2 C. shredded lettuce
1 C. chopped fresh tomato
A couple large bags of tortilla chips

Instructions: 1. In a small mixing bowl, stir together the refried beans and taco seasoning.

2. On a large festive Halloween tray , spread the beans in an even circular shape. Leave room around the edges for the garnish.

3. Sprinkle green chilies over. Smooth salsa over. Smooth guacamole over.

4. Place your sour cream in the end of a ziploc bag. Cut the corner off. Squeeze sour cream on top of guacamole in several concentric circles (or octagon shapes for a more authentic look). Using a knife or the handle of a fork, run lines lightly through the sour cream to make the web shape.

5. Sprinkle lettuce in a circle around bean dip. Sprinkle tomatoes and green onions over. Sprinkle cheese over.

6. Garnish with a creepy spider and serve with lots of tortilla chips!