Growing up in the Most Haunted Town in Kansas, I&rsquo;ve heard my share of ghost stories. Whether it&rsquo;s the tale of the drowned woman who calls to men from her watery grave in the Missouri River or Molly, who lets out blood-curdling screams in the park at midnight, the spooks that call Atchison home are legendary. But even though I am the world&rsquo;s biggest chicken, I can&rsquo;t resist throwing a Halloween soiree at my historic home, dressing it up so it looks like a haunted Victorian mansion. Why not join in the fun and throw a sensationally sinister dinner party of your own?</p><p><strong><span class="subhead">Set the stage</span></strong></p><p>From the moment your guests approach your front door, let them know they are in for a spine-tingling good time. Line your walkway and flank your door with lanterns filled with flickering, battery-operated candles. Surround the lanterns with clusters of leering jack-o&rsquo;-lanterns or ghoulish green pumpkins. Hang a piece of creepy artwork on your door, like a photocopy of a cadaver from an old anatomy textbook or an old clock face ominously stuck at midnight. One year, I decorated my front door with a bull&rsquo;s eye mirror that distorted the faces of guests when they looked into it. </p><p><strong><span class="subhead">Frightful foyer</span></strong></p><p>I love to serve drinks and appetizers in my foyer so guests have a chance to congregate before being ushered into the dining room. To turn your entry into a spooky reception area, pull in a table set with crystal decanters holding spirits, or create a witches&rsquo; brew in an elegant punch bowl. To shroud the room in a mysterious mist, add food-grade dry ice. </p><p>Fill tarnished silver trays with dark and sinister-looking appetizers, such as plums, blackberries, black grapes and figs. If you want to get really icky, put fake vermin such as rubber bugs, snakes or a rat around the serving platter.</p><p>Work a lacy, pre-made spiderweb into the arms of your chandelier then suspend little wire spiders from fishing string. Create a macabre display on an entry table: Prop a skull atop a cake plate covered with a glass cloche, then elevate the stand on a stack of classic tales of horror, like &ldquo;Frankenstein.&rdquo; Add in a greenish gray pumpkin with a raven perched on top. </p><p><strong><span class="subhead">Dreadful dining room</span></strong></p><p>Bring out the silver, crystal and china to set the most opulent table you can imagine. Then creep it up with a few terrifying touches. Cover your candelabra with webs made of cheesecloth or scrim. Roost bats in your chandelier. Fill flower vases with blackened hydrangeas and carnations. Slip wart-covered rubber toads in the guests&rsquo; water goblets. </p><p><strong><span class="subhead">Spooky treats</span></strong></p><p>You simply can&rsquo;t have a Halloween dinner party without giving out goodies. Fill small fabric pouches from a craft store with wire spiders that guests can use to decorate their own homes. Hunt for classic tomes of terror at a used bookstore. Then wrap the books in scrim tied up with Halloween ribbon. Fill pumpkin-shaped soup bowls with candy corn.