21 Office Halloween Decorations for Desks, Cubicles & Break Rooms

These 21 office Halloween decorations cover desks, cubicles, doors, windows, break rooms and meeting-room walls. They are built for shared workplaces: nothing needs a flame, a ladder or a drill, and most pieces come down in under a minute.

Each idea lists a count, a size or a time, plus a way to hang it without damage. Start with the desk and cubicle ideas if you only control your own space, and use the door, window and break room sections if you plan for a team. For more handmade projects, see our easy DIY Halloween decorations.

Before you start

Check your workplace or facilities policy first. Many offices ban open flames, and some ban string lights, tape on walls or anything hung from ceiling tiles. Use removable hooks and painter's tape, and test them on a hidden patch.

Keep exits, sprinkler heads, smoke detectors, power strips and walkways clear. Cobweb and cloth burn easily, so keep them away from lights and heaters, and choose battery lights over plug-in ones. Skip gore and pick pumpkins, bats, ghosts and skeletons, which suit every coworker and any client who walks through. If a neighbor would rather skip it, keep decorations on your side of the line. Treat the policy as the starting point and the removable version as the default: if a piece can come off without a mark, it is usually the easier one to get approved.

1. Seat a skeleton coworker at your desk

Save

A small plastic skeleton in oversized tortoiseshell glasses and a dark tie, parked behind a laptop with sticky notes on the wall behind it, gives the whole row something to laugh at. Pick a skeleton about 12 to 16 inches tall so it fits behind a monitor instead of taking over the desk. Borrow a pair of old glasses and a thrifted necktie, then stick six or seven sticky notes in blue, yellow, orange and green around it. Nothing needs tape on the wall, and the whole setup takes about 10 minutes.

2. Turn a skull mug into your pen cup

Save

A white ceramic skull mug works as a pen cup, a paper clip dish or a pot for a small desk plant. Stand it upright, drop in your pens, and set five or six black plastic spiders on the handle, the top and the desk around it, the way the photo shows. A small group reads as a scene, while twenty spiders read as clutter. Keep the spiders off shared snack counters, since they are small parts. Thrift stores and craft aisles often have skull mugs, and the setup takes about two minutes.

3. Line up three mini pumpkins on a wooden tray

Save

Three mini pumpkins in a wooden tray are the lowest-effort Halloween piece you can put on a desk. Choose three that differ in color, such as deep orange, yellow-orange and a striped one, each only a few inches across. The tray keeps stems and any stray juice off your keyboard and gives the group a clear edge. Nothing plugs in, nothing sticks to the wall, and real mini pumpkins usually hold up through the month. For a version with no mess at all, see our no-carve pumpkin ideas.

4. Stuff warm star lights into a glass jar

A jar of battery-powered star lights gives a desk a glow without a cord across the floor. Pack a strand of warm-white LEDs loosely into a quart-size jar, and let a handful of stars spill out over the rim as in the photo. LED strands stay cool, so the jar is safe next to paper. If your office bans string lights, ask first: a sealed jar on a desk often passes because nothing is strung up or plugged in. It takes about five minutes and works on a windowsill or shelf too.

5. Fill apothecary jars with wrapped candy

Five corked glass jars in a row make a desk look like a witch's pantry. Fill each with a different candy: gummy worms, candy eyeballs, black licorice, candy corn and caramels. Tie blank kraft tags on with twine and label them by hand with silly potion names. Choose individually wrapped candy and add one jar of a nut-free or sugar-free option so everyone who stops by has something. Jars cost less than most office candy dishes, and the whole display takes about 15 minutes.

6. Stagger bats up a cubicle wall

About eight black paper bats scattered up a gray cubicle wall, with a wisp of cobweb over the monitor's corner, make the whole workstation look haunted. Cut bats from black cardstock in two sizes, about 4 and 6 inches across, and fold the wings slightly upward. Fabric cubicle panels hold push pins better than tape, so ask facilities whether pins are allowed. Place the bats in a loose diagonal that climbs toward the monitor, and keep the cobweb at the corner, away from the screen vents. Allow about 20 minutes.

7. Mummy-wrap one cubicle panel

Wrap a single cubicle panel in loose white gauze or cheesecloth, and it turns into a mummy with a desk. Cut six or seven strips about 3 feet long, tape one end of each to the top rail with painter's tape, and cross them diagonally over the panel, taping the other ends at the edges. Leave a gap between two strips and stick in two large googly eyes. Wrap one panel only, keep it clear of the walkway and power strips, and never cover monitors, outlets or vents. Cloth burns easily, so use no candles nearby. About 30 minutes, and it all pulls off in seconds.

8. Build a graveyard on top of the filing cabinet

The top of a filing cabinet is a ready-made stage. Lay down a piece of black felt, then stand three blank tombstones on it, cut from craft foam or cardboard and painted gray, about 4 to 6 inches tall. Add two small pumpkins, a black crow figure, a few clumps of craft moss and a wisp of stretch cobweb between the stones. Leave the stones blank or give them a joke epitaph for a retired printer. Nothing is stuck to a wall or to the cabinet, and setup takes about 25 minutes.

9. Make a bat wreath for the office door

Save

About twenty black paper bats arranged in a ring make a wreath that costs a few sheets of cardstock. Cut bats in two sizes, fold the wings up so they cast small shadows, and glue them in a loose ring about 18 inches across on a sheet of poster board, leaving the center empty for a team name. Hang the board from a removable hook, not a nail. Some doors, such as fire-rated ones, may have rules about what can be attached, so check first. More looks are in our Halloween door decoration ideas.

10. Hang a hatted ghost from a door hook

Save

A sheer white ghost wearing a small witch hat looks funny on a supply-closet or meeting-room door. Cut a 24-inch square of cheesecloth or sheer curtain fabric, drape it over a ball of crumpled paper, and tie the neck with white string. Cut the eyes and mouth from black felt and top the ghost with a small black hat with an orange band, as in the photo. Hang it from a hook or an over-the-door hanger so nothing sticks to the door. Keep it above head height, out of the door's swing. About 15 minutes.

11. Tie a bunch of jack-o'-lantern balloons to a chair

Save

Six or seven glossy orange balloons with jack-o'-lantern faces and long gold ribbons, tied into one bunch, mark a desk as the one to visit. Tie the bunch to a chair back, a cabinet handle or a desk lamp with ribbons about 2 feet long, so nothing touches the wall. Air-filled balloons last longer than helium ones. Ask around for latex allergies first, and choose foil balloons if anyone reacts. A bunch takes about 10 minutes to blow up and tie, and balloons make no mess to clean up afterward.

12. Hang a witch hat on a cobwebbed window

Save

A witch hat on a cobwebbed window works for any office with glass that faces a hallway or the street. Hang a dark green or black hat on a removable adhesive hook, then pull stretch cobweb thin and press it across the glass, with no tape needed. Add one black plastic spider on the web, like the single one in the photo, and keep the web out of blind cords. A fabric rose or a bit of tulle on the hat adds detail. The whole look takes about 15 minutes.

13. String skeletons along a glass wall

Save

Three small green skeletons on a twine line across a window give a room a view worth glancing at, and the same setup works on an office glass wall or a conference-room window. Stretch a 4-foot twine between two removable hooks at the top of the glass, then clip three toy skeletons with mini clothespins, about a foot apart. Tape three 6-inch black web cutouts to the glass with painter's tape and add a few tiny spiders, as in the photo, which shows an older window with a metal frame. Take the whole set down before client meetings, since it comes off in two minutes. About 20 minutes to hang.

14. Frame two skeletons for the meeting-room wall

Save

An ornate thrifted frame with two plastic skeletons standing inside it looks like a haunted family portrait. Pop the glass out of a 12 by 16 inch frame and leave it open to the wall, as in the photo, or back it with black foam board for stronger contrast. Attach two skeletons about 12 inches tall with clear thread or a dab of removable putty. Hang the frame with a removable strip rated for its weight, in a hallway or meeting room. It saves wall space, because one frame replaces a whole cluster. A frame is about a 20-minute project, and you reuse it all year.

15. Use a letter board as the Halloween notice board

Save

A letter board works as a decoration and a notice board at the same time. Hang three white felt ghosts, about 3 inches tall with small black eyes, from black thread across a pegboard-style board, then use the letters for something useful, such as the date of the costume contest or the potluck sign-up. Change the message each week. If your office has no letter board, a bulletin board or a small whiteboard does the same job. Cutting the ghosts takes about 20 minutes.

16. Set out jack-o'-lantern treats on the meeting table

Save

A platter of about nine foil-wrapped treats printed with jack-o'-lantern faces makes a conference table feel ready for the holiday, and you can buy them in a bag for a few dollars. Arrange them on a white platter with a black rim, then add a white pumpkin, a small orange pumpkin, a few autumn leaves and a berry garland around it, and set out black plates for people to take one. For a fresher version, draw a different face on each clementine with a black permanent marker: triangle eyes, a wide grin, a surprised O. Set the table an hour before a meeting. The platter takes about 10 minutes, and drawing nine clementine faces takes about 15.

17. Dress the reception desk with a web runner

Save

A black web-pattern runner and a group of pumpkins in mixed sizes turn a reception desk or entry table into a Halloween welcome. Use about five pumpkins in mixed sizes, including one black glitter pumpkin, with three small orange spiders and a large black toy spider at the front, beside a length of black web fabric and a small potted plant, as in the photo. Odd numbers look less staged than pairs. Keep everything off the sign-in sheet and away from the phone. A runner about 12 inches wide fits most counters, and it takes about 10 minutes.

18. Set up a witch's corner at the coat rack

Save

The coat rack by the entrance is a good place for a witch's corner. Hang a black witch hat and a long black cloak on the wall or the coat hooks, lean a twig broom beside them, and group three or four pumpkins on the floor. Two small wooden shelves with mini pumpkins add height, and a battery string of lights along the top finishes it. Keep the pumpkins out of the walkway so nobody trips. A broom and hooks need no adhesive, and the corner takes about 30 minutes.

19. Drape cobweb garlands across the open floor

Save

Stretch cobweb garlands strung across an open-plan floor make the whole room feel abandoned after hours. Pull each strand loose, tie a small gray plastic skull to one end with thread, and hang it from adhesive wall hooks instead of ceiling tiles. Keep every strand well away from sprinkler heads, smoke detectors, vents and light fixtures. Stretch cobweb burns easily, so skip it near bulbs. Hanging three garlands takes around 20 minutes.

20. Stage a treat table in the break room

Save

A foil fringe curtain in orange, black and silver turns a break-room corner into a treat station. Tape it up with painter's tape or hang it from a tension rod, then set a small round table in front with a jack-o'-lantern bucket of candy, a striped paper tray of gummies and a shallow white dish of mixed candy and marshmallows. Add straws with pumpkin and ghost toppers in a glass. Keep decorative spiders and bats away from the food, and label anything with nuts. Allow about 20 minutes.

21. Bring mummy cookies to the potluck

Save

About ten sugar cookies striped with pale icing over a white coating, each with two candy eyes, look good on an oval black plate. Add a drape of stretch cobweb, two black plastic spiders and a white plaster hand reaching in from the edge, as in the photo. Put a card with the ingredients next to the plate, because coworkers with allergies will ask. Wrapped or store-bought cookies work too. Baking and icing a dozen takes about 90 minutes, and the display needs five minutes.

Final tips

• Ask first, then decorate. A two-line message to your manager or facilities team usually settles the open-flame, string-light and tape questions before you buy anything.
• Choose one zone and do it well, such as a desk plus one cubicle wall, instead of spreading small items across the floor.
• Set a budget as a team. Most of these use paper, cloth, jars and fruit, so a shared bin and a few dollars each covers a whole floor.
• Store everything in one labeled box, so takedown takes ten minutes and next year's setup starts ahead.
• Browse more office decorating ideas for everyday looks, or the full Halloween section for seasonal inspiration.
• Matching the glass? See our Halloween window ideas for paper silhouettes and cling decals that lift off cleanly.