Halloween may be all about the candy for kids, but for adults it means sexy costumes and stiff drinks. Sure, a spooky cocktail is usually all in the name, but presentation can go a long way. There are classy options that offer a hint of fall charm and messier concoctions designed to mimic eyeballs and smoky cauldrons. No matter which route you take though, these 10 recipes are sure to get you in the creepy mood. 

Drexler's Zombie Cocktail

New York-based Dustin Olson, Drexler's Beverage Director, created the above fun drink to meet all of your undead needs.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 ounces Jamaican rum
• 1 1/2 ounces gold Puerto Rican rum
• 1 ounce 151-proof Demerara rum
• 1/8 teaspoon Herbsaint or Pernod
• 1/2 ounce falernum
• 1/2 ounce Donn's Mix (see below)
• 1 teaspoon grenadine
• 1 dash Angostura bitters
• 6 ounces crushed ice

Directions:

Put everything in a blender/shaker, saving the ice for last. Blend at high speed for no more than five seconds. Pour into a glass and add ice cubes to fill. Garnish.

Sabrinatini

From Barton G. in Los Angeles comes the Sabrinatini, which features orange vodka, watermelon liqueur with a nitro-Champagne swizzle stick and a strange chocolate monkey garnish.

Ingredients:

• 12 ounces prosecco (6 popsicles or 12 cubes)
• 3 ounces orange vodka
• 1 ounce watermelon liqueur
• Splash sprite
• 2 ounces prosecco
• 1 chocolate monkey

For the Nitro Pop:

Freeze 12 ounces of prosecco in Popsicle molds with sticks (or an ice cube tray), and deep freeze in a nitrogen bath. When frozen solid, remove ice from the molds and store with dry ice until ready to use. Just before serving, float the Popsicle in a nitrogen bath for 30 seconds.

Directions:

In a cocktail shaker, add the orange vodka, watermelon liqueur and sprite.  Add ice, shake well and strain into a chilled oversized martini glass.

To serve, float the cocktail with two ounces of prosecco. Pull a Popsicle from the nitrogen bath and stir into the martini.

Important: Wait for the smoke to clear before sipping!

The Smashing Pumpkin

Found at the US Grant Hotel’s Grant Grill in San Diego, the Smashing Pumpkin is a festive take on the martini and has even been featured on the Food Network’s Best Thing I Ever Ate. Don’t forget to garnish it with a little pumpkin-like ornament!

Ingredients:

• 2 ounces pumpkin and star anise-infused 10 cane rum
• 1/2 ounce Grand Marnier
• 3/4 ounce St. Elizabeth All Spice Dram
• 3/4 ounce Massanez ginger liqueur
• 3/4 ounce saffron syrup
• 2-3 dashes cardamom bitters
• 1 ounce fresh Meyer lemon

Directions:

Rim glass with spice mix of sanding sugar, ground ginger, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Float an Orange Putka pod as garnish.

Punch Bowl Social Creature Feature

It’s always nice to have a punch to gather around and even better when it looks as cool as this one from Punch Bowl Social. Of course, if you only want to make one glass and keep it all to yourself, you can do that thanks to the recipe below.

Ingredients:

• 1 ounce Deep Eddy Straight Vodka
• 1/2 ounce triple sec
• 1/2 ounce creme de violette
• 1/4 ounce Pimm's blackberry and elderflower liqueur
• 1/2 ounce lavender syrup (in-house)
• 1/4 ounce fresh lemon juice

Directions:

Combine and enjoy!

Buddhalicious

The Buddhalicious also comes from Barton G. in Los Angeles and stars pear-infused vodka, lychee and cranberry juice, served with a pop of nitrogenized pear vodka.

Ingredients:

• 9 ounces pear vodka (6 popsicles or 12 cubes)
• 3 ounces soda water
• 2 ounces pear vodka     
• 1 1/2 ounces fresh lychee, puréed
• 3 ounces cranberry juice

For the Nitro Vodka Pop:

Combine nine ounces of pear vodka and soda water, and freeze in Popsicle molds with sticks (or an ice cube tray). Deep freeze in a nitrogen bath. When frozen solid, remove ice from the molds and store with dry ice until ready to use. Just before serving, float the Popsicle in a nitrogen bath for 30 seconds.

Directions:

In a cocktail shaker, add the remaining vodka, lychee purée and cranberry juice. Add ice, shake well and strain into a chilled oversized martini glass. To serve, pull a Popsicle from the nitrogen bath, and stir into the martini. For a stronger martini, allow the Popsicle to melt completely.

Important: Wait for the smoke to clear before sipping!

Grey Goose Diabolique

Courtesy of Grey Goose, the Diabolique boasts a pretty cool foggy blood effect in the glass, which is due to the addition of crème de mure.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 part Grey Goose Le Citron
• 1/3 part Cointreau
• 1/3 part fresh pineapple juice
• 3/4 part fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 part crème de mure

Directions:

Build all the ingredients except for the crème de mure in a mixing glass. Top with cubed ice and shake. Fine strain into a highball glass, then add a cap of crushed ice. Drizzle with crème de mure, and garnish with a pineapple slice and mint.

Maker’s 46 Haunted Old Fashioned

Created by Arley Marks of #ArleyMarksDrinks and Dimes, this is a neat seasonal twist on the classic Old Fashioned.

Ingredients:

• 4 parts Maker’s 46
• 1 1/2 parts pumpkin syrup
• 8 dashes angostura bitter
• 8 dashes orange bitters
• 4 orange peels, squeeze oil from zest into tin

Pumpkin Syrup:

Remove seeds from a whole pumpkin and cut into slices that can be juiced. (A small pumpkin will yield approximately one cup of juice.) In a saucepan over low heat, combine one cup of pumpkin juice and one cup of organic evaporated cane sugar with two whole cinnamon sticks. Heat until sugar is dissolved and let cool before using. Alternatively, you can buy natural pumpkin syrup.

Directions:

Shake all ingredients with orange peels and then strain into a pumpkin filled with fresh ice. Add orange peels for decoration and top with a splash of soda water. Garnish with a handful of candy corn and enjoy as a Halloween snack and a drink in one!

Jack’s Lantern

From elit by Stolichnaya, Jack’s Lantern boasts apple cider and their brand of luxury vodka.

Ingredients:

• 2 ounces elit by Stolichnaya
• 1 ounce Apple Cider
• 1/4 ounce fresh lemon juice
• 3/4 ounce Allspice Spiked Agave (mix 1 cup agave nectar and add 1/2 cup allspice powder)

Directions:

Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into an ice-filled highball or double rocks glass.

Orange and Black Sangri-Ahhhhh!

Aside from having one of the cutest names, the Orange and Black Sangri-Ahhhhh! from Drizly’s chief cocktail officer Trisha Antonsen, looks pretty tasty too.

Ingredients:

• 16 ounces white wine
• 16 ounces orange soda
• 8 ounces pineapple juice
• 4 ounces fresh lemon juice
• 6 ounces cranberry vodka (dyed black)

Directions:

Combine white wine, orange soda, pineapple juice and lemon juice in a pitcher. Use food coloring to dye the vodka black (five drops of each blue and red food coloring, four drops of green.) Set vodka aside. In a glass with ice, pour in 4-5 ounces of sangria base. Turn a spoon over and slowly pour one shot of vodka over the back of the spoon on top of your drink. Serve with gummy eye garnishes.

Davio’s Black Devil

If you can’t get over to Davio's Manhattan in NYC to try their Black Devil cocktail, crafted by Bar Manager Jenny Schubert, you can recreate it in your very own kitchen (or dungeon).

Ingredients:

• 2 ounces Myers Dark Rum or Ron Zacapa
• 1/2 ounce sweet vermouth
• 2 dashes of Black Mission fig bitters

Directions:

Put all ingredients over ice, stir and strain into chilled martini glass with orange-colored super fine sugar. Garnish with French brandy-soaked luxardo cherries on a Halloween swizzle stick.