Halloween food art: 11 wicked ideas that will bewitch!

It's the time of year for bone-chilling stories and looking around dark corners when things go bump in the night. The perfect time to scare and spook, Halloween is also one of the greatest occasions to play, indulge our imaginations and get fantastically creative.

So surprise your kids — or your Halloween-y partner, roommate, or friends — with some creepy creations this year. Serve up a scary meal or shocking snack, and let these 12 awesome ideas inspire you.

Witchy nachos

The perfect platter for a cozy Hallow's Eve curled up on the couch with a scary movie. Super simple to prepare, this dish makes use of corn chips for the witch's hat, shredded carrots for its hair, a cornichon pickle for a nose on its guacamole face, olive pupils set on egg eyes under red onion brows, and preserved peppers for lips. Throw in roasted garlic cloves for teeth and your witch face is complete!

Scary as pie

Montreal-based foodie Tifany Segovia Nunez bakes up a freakish, yet delicious looking, blueberry pie that nightmares are made of. Taking a slice out of this one may even add to its scary appeal.

Ghoulish bread

For all those hopping on the #breadmaking train as of late, take note. Carefully placed veggie scraps and activated charcoal can turn a simple loaf into an impressive Halloween focaccia.

Monster bowl

All it takes is strategically placing your ingredients to turn regular spaghetti into something spookier. Tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, and black olives make a monster-face plate here that will delight the kids — or anyone else you're serving this to. This one would make a fun activity for young ones to get in on; get them to choose the pasta shape and colour (squid ink or beet, anyone?), and get creative with making cheese shapes. 

Killer pancakes

Could there be anyone more synonymous with all things scary than psycho-killer Jason Voorhees of the Friday the 13th series? Wake your loved ones up to a stack of these hair-raising pancakes embellished simply with vegan bacon and red food dye, to thrilling effect.

Graveyard cake 

Here's a creation to inspire your own take — whatever scale you can make it. Kristen "Gracie" Sybers, a self-taught cake decorator in Poplar, Ontario, wows with this upside-down masterpiece. This impressive cake is a storybook — a Halloween scene replete with marked tombstones, shanty house, full moon and flying witch.

Creepy teeth 

These ice cream chomper sandwiches slay! Made here with charcoal cookies, ice cream, candy apple jelly — but it's all about the marshmallow teeth.

Severed finger weenies

A clever idea by @mummys_gourmet_girl who turned a basic hot dog into a gruesome meal with minimal effort — simply score the dog to create the fingernail and joint areas, add some ketchup, and you're set to impress (by which we mean, horrify).

Cheesy brooms

Adya Das in Brampton, Ontario makes a batch of edible broomsticks using pretzel sticks, marble cheese, and chives for wrapping. Tip: Cut and chill the cheese the night before for easy morning assembly, and a packable school snack.

Freaky flatbread

If you can't get squid ink flatbread for this amazingly ghoulish treat, don't fret. Mushrooms transformed into cool skullcaps make the perfect Halloween pizza topping too, no matter the base.

Bad apples

While these apple skulls may take time to make, the creepy results pay off. After the effort, turn up your Monster Mash playlist and pour yourself a festive drink.

Janet Ho is a writer and hobby artist. You can follow her at @janetonpaper.

EDITOR'S NOTE:

A previous version of this article included an Instagram embed that was deemed offensive and it has been removed.