Our 13 Best Halloween Cocktail Recipes

This is a Halloween take on the Dark and Stormy, a classic rum and ginger beer drink. Floating in the punch bowl are round ice cubes made with lychee syrup and lychees stuffed with brandied cherries, which have an uncanny resemblance to eyeballs. There is nothing quite like drinking a cocktail with eyeballs.

This festive variation of a margarita is made with pomegranate syrup, silver tequila and fresh lime juice. Its blood-like hue makes it the absolute perfect choice for a gruesome, ghoulish Halloween. You can pass out single servings or make a big batch in a punch bowl—there's nothing more Halloween than a big bowl of blood.

Classicist bartenders have resurrected the centuries-old ritual of the formal punch service, which is something you can totally employ at your own Halloween celebration. Here, Philip Ward of New York's Death & Co. makes a potent concoction filled with vermouth, Champagne and citrus that's named after the old British slang for gin.

According to a Gosling's Rum tale, this drink was invented more than 100 years ago when members of Bermuda's Royal Naval Officer's Club added a splash of the local rum to their spicy homemade ginger beer. They described its ominous hue as "the color of a cloud only a fool or dead man would sail under."

This classic cocktail is perfectly fruity and only faintly smoky—an approachable drink for people who aren't sure they like Scotch and with a name like Blood & Sand, it's perfectly suited for Halloween. Not to mention it has only six ingredients, so it's a super easy mixed drink to concoct.

The Blood Peach Bellini was originally made using super-seasonal summer blood peaches. This variation, which we think is just as good, combines Campari, grenadine and white peach puree to approximate the rare fruit's flavor and color, which is bright blood red and ideal for Halloween. We're really into drinking blood, okay?

Cocktail historians Paul Harrington and Laura Moorhead trace this brilliant orange cocktail back to 1732, when Philadelphia's Schuylkill Fishing Club began every meeting with a bowl of this potent punch. 

The numerous cranberries in this delicious concoction perfectly complement the hard cider and the Aperol. And did we mention the color? Here we are back to the delicious drinks that resemble blood. Because it is Halloween and blood is scary and there is really nothing more frightening than drinking blood.

This clever bloody Mary variation gets its heat and flavor from pureed kimchi, along with a dash of Sriracha chile sauce. 

The name in and of itself qualifies this as a Halloween mixed drink. Andrew Volk says this is currently the most popular order at Portland Hunt & Alpine Club in Maine. The drink, according to Volk, is "approachable but geeky with the salt"—which he adds to balance the bitterness of the artichoke-flavored aperitif Cynar.

"Our consulting beverage director, Peter Vestinos, makes fun of my drinks because they're always a little sweeter than he likes," says chef Bill Kim. Kim's fruit-filled sangria is a bit sweet, yes, but it's also refreshing, thanks to the lemon juice.

Pumpkin is quintessential Halloween. For this thick and creamy pumpkin lassi from chef Rupam Bhagat of Dum in San Francisco, be sure to use a nice, healthy squash for a smooth texture and rich flavor. If you want a thinner consistency, add water gradually 1/4 cup at a time.

This cocktail is green as a ghoul. A trip to Japan inspired Denver bartender Jason Patz to combine matcha (a vivid green-tea powder) with Japanese whisky. Matcha tends to clump when mixed with liquid; to loosen any that's stuck to the side of the shaker, swirl the club soda in the shaker before pouring it into the glass.