Halloween Nails: 50 Halloween Nail Designs to Try This Year
Updated on September 14, 2021
Halloween is such a special event that it turned one night of sobriety and spirituality into a night when everybody dresses up, kids and adults alike, and go after various thrills, whether it’s launching toilet paper at a house where you couldn’t score candy, ask neighbors for candy, or attend a theme party.
If you’re among the latter (partygoers), you most definitely know that in order for your outfit to steal the evening, you mustn’t let anything at chance. So when you’re in the front of the mirror, and you do the checklist, make sure you don’t just go hair – check, makeup – check, outfit – check, shoes – check.
Still wondering what you left out, huh? It’s obviously your nails that you forgot. Chances are you didn’t forget about them entirely, but you thought that simply getting them all neat and applying a layer or two of polish would be just about enough, but no, if you’re aiming to go out in style, you should do more than just that.
Do you still have no idea what I’m talking about here? Let me paint a mental picture for you here: have you ever seen those incredibly intricate nail designs on various social media places and wished you had one of them just for you? Well, now is the time to shine! With Halloween just around the corner, you can start thinking about how you’re going to do your nails, and luckily you have us to help you!
Halloween Nail Designs
Granted, not everyone is a talented visual artist, so the chances that you’ll be going to do them all by yourself are not exactly in your favor, considering that you only have two hands to work with in the first place. But you surely know a bunch of nail artists in your area, and going with a specific model in mind (and as a picture on your phone) could save you quite a lot of money and time.
How is this going to save you money? Well, first of all, nail artists offer two types of services: creating the design and applying the design, and with the former out of the picture, the artists only have to focus on the latter, thus spending less time on you, thus costing you a bit less than if you just went there and said that you wanted Halloween nails or whatever.
That’s precisely why we’ve compiled this extensive list that has no less than 50 nifty nail designs you’re going to love if you’re planning on attending or hosting a Halloween party this year. Don’t forget to match it with your scariest outfit, and we’re sure you’re going to impress just about every single party-goer you bump into.
1. Bats – Great Orange Halloween Nails
Orange is one of the most important colors of autumn, so it should make perfect sense that many nail artists are implementing it into their designs. Well, we’ve got the perfect example here; black cute bats on a bright orange background. The bright orange will definitely steal the eyes of your peers one or two times through the night, especially if you pair it with a dark outfit so that the color of your nails really pops out.
Granted, this design is not exactly creepy, as the bats look kind of cute, and yes, we know that it’s the googly eyes that make it seem that way. However, if you’re not a huge fan of cute Halloween decors, you can always scratch the eyes (I mean, don’t put them on in the first place) or just replace them with something a bit spookier, such as tiny red eyes, or bloody fangs.
The greatest part about this design is that it’s not exactly complicated to make, even by yourself! However, you’d have to be extra careful while doing the bats because you can’t exactly erase the top layer of nail polish without also removing the layer that’s underneath it, so you would have to start over.
On the other hand, if you’re not very comfortable withdrawing your own nail design this Halloween, you could seek a professional nail artist and ask them to take care of things for you. Sure, you’ll be spending some extra money on it, but at least your nails will look absolutely fabulous, and you’ll have them done in just about no time. Not to mention the fact that you’ll receive some well-deserved pampering in the process. The bottom line is that this is a fun design, and even if you’re paying a nail artist to do your nails, it shouldn’t cost you a fortune.
2. Witch – Spooky Nails
Witches are a staple item when it comes to Halloween decorations, so if you’re a fan of witchcraft or not necessarily, but you still love their aesthetic, feel free to jump on the bandwagon and try these absolutely gorgeous witch nails. Word of advice, though: you may need to bring a sheath with you to cover those bad girls if you’re planning to interact with anyone or have a drink that tilts too far back.
As you may have figured out by yourself by now, you can’t just head to your party wearing regular clothes and those amazing claw-like witch nails (if you can pull that off, good for you!), so you’ll also have to think about getting a fitting witch outfit and pairing up those two. You don’t even need to go by the book on this one and use the same color as the picture above: just find your own style and paint the nails the way it feels best.
It goes without saying that this is a more pretentious project, so you may not be able to pull this off all by yourself. Nails of this caliber are considered art, and for a good reason, so you might want to consider calling your nail expert for this and be sure to show a picture so that there’s no confusion. We guarantee that you’ll be one of the spookiest attractions at the next Halloween party. Just make sure you’ll keep them at a safe distance from anyone’s eyes.
3. Frankenstein – Halloween-Themed Nails
Frankenstein, who here hasn’t heard of Frankenstein yet? Although it’s a common misconception, and the movie was about a young scientist called Victor Frankenstein trying to animate a sapient creature, making it more fitting for the reference to be called Frankenstein’s monster, we’ll just roll with it and say, that these are Frankenstein’s nails. Well, not his actual nails, but inspired by the movie.
Anyway, in this design, not only the patch design is Frankenstein-themed, but the colors, as well! If you can recall the original character (the monster, not the scientist), you may probably remember that various artists depict it as a green-skinned monster wearing purple (and sometimes blue or dark blue) clothes. Worst-case scenario, you’ll have someone believe that you’re going for a zombie reference, which wouldn’t be exactly untrue.
Now about the actual painting over your nails part: this design isn’t exactly complicated, but it does have a bunch of sections where you’ll need precision. You could call a friend and ask them to do your nails using this design, but only after giving them precise directions about how you want them done. Or, if you want to save yourself the headache, I guess you could go visit a nail artist in your area.
If you want to take it a step further and really zhoosh things up, you could choose one of your fingers and actually paint Frankenstein’s monster’s face on it. We’ve found that for painting faces, the thumb nail is the best, considering that it offers you the widest work surface. Last, but not least, after painting Frankenstein’s monster’s face on your nail, if you could source tiny screws and apply them somehow to your finger, that would be the absolute cherry on top.
4. Haunted House – Black Halloween Nails
If Halloween’s just around the corner and you’ve already filled your spook-o-meter to the top, then probably visiting a haunted house in your hometown isn’t something you’d want to scratch off your bucket list just yet. While our suggestion does include a haunted house, we’re merely holding on to the overall aesthetic of it and not attempting to convince you to take a spooky trip into an abandoned house.
Notice how on both hands, all the fingernails are painted black except for one, which holds the dark silhouette of a haunted house on a bright, yellow background. This further adds to the effect, and trust us when we’re telling you that they’ll definitely catch some glimpses at your next Halloween party. You can go ahead and use the same haunted house on both fingers, but it’d be a pinch more interesting if you used a different model on the second finger, such as a witch’s silhouette, a black cat, or a spider web.
As with other nail designs on our list, the haunted house model isn’t necessarily a complicated one, especially considering that you only need to paint models on two out of ten fingers, so it’s not exactly a tragedy if you screw the design up, either. You could even use a stencil if you don’t have a steady hand or any artistic talent whatsoever. Worst-case scenario, you go to a nail artist and get it done fast and pretty.
5. Sugar Skull – Cute Halloween Nails
If you’re not exactly familiar with the concept of sugar skulls, then maybe a quick crash course will jog your memory. Día de Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is a Mexican holiday that has family and friends pray and remember friends and family who have passed away, but here’s the thing: it’s portrayed as a celebration rather than a mourning day. The sugar skulls, as you’ve guessed, are a staple item for this holiday.
The sugar skull, which is also called a Calavera, is an edible or decorative skull that’s usually made by hand and either offered to kids or as offerings on an altar. Now that you understand the phenomenon better, it’s probably easy to see why the sugar skull has become a staple item not only in the Mexican holiday it represents but also for Halloween enthusiasts everywhere else in the world.
Sugar skulls are quite easy to do, as there’s no wrong way to do it, just as long as you follow some guidelines. The best part about this nail design for your Halloween night is that you can create it all by yourself, from the comfort of your home. Just start with a white background, then keep adding elements until you’re happy with it. A little extra tip: start with black eye sockets and teeth and keep adding around them until you’re happy with the result. Don’t be afraid to add other similar elements on other nails, such as flowers or stuff.
6. Mix & Match – Cute Nail Ideas For Halloween
Here’s the thing about Halloween: if you’re a true fan of a certain TV series or movie, you could attempt to reproduce a costume as accurately as possible, you know, for the sake of anyone in the same fanbase as you recognizing your game. However, in terms of partying, Halloween is also very accepting of improvisations, so you could easily go dressed as a potato satellite and call yourself Spudnik (yes, I know).
So who’s there to say that you shouldn’t take the same route with your nails, as well? Go ahead, mix them up a bit, have a little fun, we’re completely positive that absolutely nobody will mind. In fact, you may even have to extend your fingers one by one so that everyone can take a closer look at what’s happening there. Just put a spider web on one finger, a witch on another, a black cat on the other, and do that until you run out of unpainted fingernails.
Given that you’ll have to create different designs for all of your fingernails, and you’ll probably want them to be related to Halloween, not just lines and patterns, you may have to go to a professional for this one. Sure, it may be fun painting your fingers at home, but if you’re not exactly experienced in nail art, you may start to regret it after a finger or two. A professional won’t just get the job done right, it will also handle it a lot faster than you possibly could (as a novice).
7. Vampire Teeth – Creepy Halloween Nails
Wanna be ferocious this Halloween and put some bite into your nails? Well, that didn’t sound exactly as I planned, seeing as I’m clearly not advocating for biting your nails this Halloween, but you’ll get the point in just a few. Although vampires are powerful symbols for Halloween parties, getting an entire vampire painted on your nails isn’t exactly worth doing. First of all, you’d probably have to pay a lot to get it done, and your peers will have a hard time seeing it.
However, a vampire is as popular as its own fangs, so why not paint vampire fangs on your fingernails for your next Halloween party? Or, if you really want to stand out in the crowd, you could go ahead and have an entire set of vampire teeth painted on each of your fingernails. The gaping mouth of a vampire is nothing short of terrifying, and not to mention highly recognizable, so you’d have no trouble from partygoers not being able to make out the design.
Although this project is simple enough that you could probably tackle it at home all on your own, it also requires you to have a steady hand. If you’re not exactly popular for your artistic skills, you may want to ask a friend to do it for you, or if you really want to make sure that you’ll pull off this design for your fingernails for Halloween, it would be best if you went to a professional nail artist and let them do the heavy lifting for you.
If you can’t afford a nail artist, or you’re simply too stubborn not to at least try and create this design on your own, then you might want to take heed of the following advice: buy several fake nails and place them on a stable surface, or have one of your friends wear them (without sticking them) while you’re painting over them. Once you finish painting, you can simply apply them over your fingernails, and you’ll be ready to party in just about no time.
8. Witch Shoes – Halloween Nails Simple
As we’ve previously stated, Halloween isn’t just meant for spooky, creepy costumes, as you’ve probably noticed a lot of goofy and cute outfits at every Halloween party you attend. If you’re not exactly a fan of old-school creepy stuff, then we’ve got the perfect idea for you. Instead of picking anything creepy this year just for the sake of it, you can paint your nails with a nice alternating pattern and slap a pair of witch shoes while you’re at it.
Now when it comes to artistry and design preferences, we’ll leave it entirely to you, so you can decide whether you want to follow the example in our photo and go with two neighboring fingers like the perfect spot for your witch’s shoes. However, for all, we know you could put witch shoes on each and every single finger of yours, and you wouldn’t be wrong for wanting to do so! They look absolutely great!
Despite the overall simplicity of this design, you may want to at least find a friend that is willing to help you, as drawing the legs and shoes of the witch could be a bit tricky to pull off singlehandedly (and we mean that literally). Or, you could, you know, go downtown and ask a professional to take care of this design. It’s simple enough that you won’t (probably) have to pay a fortune for it, and it will also be over before you can know it, which leaves you more time to prepare for the party.
9. Moon and Crow – Halloween Nail Colors
This is one of our most intricate examples, as you can all probably agree, seeing as they’re not exactly your usual single-color designs. I’m no nail artist, but I’m guessing that unless that color came in a bottle ready to apply on your nails, you’d have a pretty hard time getting that moonlit night sky color on your nails without going through an advanced course on how to mix colors on a palette and not lose it whenever you mess it up.
Jokes aside, not only the color is a bit more special this time, but also the pattern, which is a moon, a crow, and a tree, so you’d also need to know how to work on layers. Obviously, the background comes first, followed closely by the moon, and only after that you can start sketching the tree and place a bunch of crows on its branches. I’m telling you, this design requires the steady hand and skill of an artist.
However, if you or one of your friends has a knack for it and wants to give it a go, then, by all means, be our guest. Although the example in the photo above uses a more sophisticated color for the sky, you could also go for plain black or a dark blue, but then you may lose some of the details of the tree and crows since you can’t draw a moon as big as your finger. Our advice? As usual, go see a nail artist and ask them if they can replicate the model in our photo. You’ll thank us later.
10. Scary Eyes – Black Nail Ideas
Eyes are the window to the soul, or so they say, but if you want a spooky approach to your Halloween costume this year, we suggest pairing it up with this design of scary eyes glaring at you from the dark on your fingernails. The concept is pretty simple: you just paint all of your fingernails with black nail polish, then you paint a spooky pair of eyes on two adjacent fingers. You can even do the same procedure for both hands (i.e., two fingers on each hand) if you want to. NailsbyCambria absolutely nailed this design (pun intended), and we love this Insta look!
Although in our example, the eyes are green, you could always use a different color if you feel like green is not exactly your thing. The secret here is to use a vibrant, saturated color for the eyes so that they pop right out of the black background on your fingernails. For instance, a deep orange or a warmer yellow might do the trick, but blue may not work exactly great in this case. Red is also a popular choice when drawing evil eyes, so you could experiment a bit if you want to.
The design is also quite simple, so it’s entirely possible for you to do it in the comfort of your own home. However, if you’re not exactly sure about it, you could practice for a bit on a piece of paper before jumping to the real tools and start painting your fingernails. Aside from color, you could also experiment with the shape of the eyes, and the ones in our example are a good starting point. Want some extra points? Use glow-in-the-dark polish to paint the eyes. That will definitely freak out some of the partygoers.
Not entirely comfortable with the idea of painting your own nails this Halloween, or you simply don’t want to leave anything to chance this year? The cheapest version would be calling a friend and asking them to help you with this nail design, but if you can afford it, I guess a visit to the ol’ trustworthy nail salon in your city could save you from a lot of headaches, not to mention that you’ll have the nails done in virtually no time.
11. Googly Eyes In The Dark – Simple Halloween Nails
Not a long while ago, we mentioned something about people’s preferences when it comes to picking the perfect Halloween costume, and we made it very clear that while some people enjoy a good scare and wearing realistic outfits, others see this as an opportunity to goof around, and both choices are completely fine with us! If you’re not a big fan of classic Halloween decorations, then this nail design may fit you like a glove.
The concept is quite simple: multiple pairs of googly eyes applied on a layer of black polish on your fingernails so as to create the effect of the eyes sticking out from the dark and staring at you. The end result is quite amusing, especially if you can pull the right look for the googly eyes, much like the example in our photo tries to demonstrate. You can also use several colors for your googly eyes to make the design look even nicer.
Note that as far as the googly eyes are concerned, you could either go the traditional way and paint them directly on your fingernails, or you could opt for those tiny, tiny ones you could find in various decoration stores. Note that you’ll probably need to use a strong adhesive since the one they come with by default isn’t exactly top-notch, and you may notice that your googly-eyed friends decide to leave you at some point during the Halloween party.
12. Autumn Colors – Black And Orange Halloween Nails
Remember what we’ve said about people being divided into spooky and goofy Halloween partygoers? Scratch that, or better yet, let us rephrase that by adding a third category that slipped our mind somehow: there’s also the classy type, the one that doesn’t suit up in a silly or creepy outfit but still likes to make an appearance at the Halloween party, and one that won’t be disregarded nevertheless.
If you want something nice for your fingernails without being either scary or goofy but still want people to know that you acknowledge being at a Halloween party, then this autumn-colored theme will match your style gorgeously. This design is actually a combination of black and orange, which are commonly known as two of the most important colors that symbolize not only Halloween but also Autumn.
Although the design isn’t complicated at all, it requires an incredibly steady hand to set the two colors apart on your fingernail without looking all jerky. Notice how the imaginary line between the two colors is slightly curved? Well, if you’re no nail artist, then you’re gonna have to pay one a visit if you want this model to come out flawlessly. Although you won’t make the papers with your spooky costume (since you’re not gonna wear one), you’ll definitely turn a few heads.
13. Red Devil – Easy Halloween Nail Designs
The red devil may sound like the type of drink you order in a Halloween-themed bar while other partygoers yell, shot, shot, shot around you, but trust us, it barks louder than it bites. The design is actually quite playful, and, as you can see, it’s not exactly a masterpiece in terms of detail and realism, so you could play around with it if you’d like. The only thing you need to consider would be painting your nails in all red (well, the rest of them that aren’t deviled).
Thus, if you’re headed for a Halloween party, and you’re considering taking this one as your go-to fingernail design, you might need to consider whether or not red fingernails will match the rest of your outfit. In fact, you need to do that regardless of fingernail design, so you’re probably not on your first tango. Keep in mind that you’ll have to choose two fingers (or four if you plan on drawing it on both hands) and use one as a canvas for the head of the little devil, and the other one for its tail.
The design is not exactly pretentious, so you can feel free to play around and use the example in our photo above as a tiny little guide. For the head of the devil, we recommend you paint a half(ish) of your fingernail with red, trace the contour with a fine liner, then erase the rest that remained outside of the contour. For the eyes, you can either use a fine brush dipped in white nail polish or a fine correction pen. Don’t be worry to experiment, it’s a simple, fun design, after all!
14. Witch Hat – Cute Halloween Nails
Well, seeing as we’ve had the witch nails (the long, pointy ones) design and another one that had you paint witch shoes on your fingernails, we figured that witch hats could fit this scenario perfectly. If you’re going to a Halloween party or you’re hosting one and have no idea how to paint your fingernails, you could spice things up and add tiny witch hats on all of them. To keep things even more interesting, you could go with a slightly different hat design for each finger.
As you can see in the example in the photo above, no two hats are the same, and this would be a perfect way to keep things, well, not boring, seeing as you’ll be painting the same thing over and over again (10 times, actually). Furthermore, you’ll want to use a bright color as your background, but don’t go too bright, or you’ll lose the overall effect of the witch aesthetic on your fingernails.
For instance, green is good, and you can probably go even a bit darker without losing too much of the contrast, but if you go hot pink, then your design might not look exactly great. However, the way you go with this is entirely your call, so we’re definitely gonna let you pick the colors for yourself. As usual, if you feel like you can’t pull this off on your own, you could ask a friend to help you, or you could head downtown and ask a professional to take care of it for you. It’ll be faster and will definitely save you from a lot of headaches.
15. Simple Orange – Sassy Nails
Although it’s Halloween and most partygoers try to go in for the scary look, you don’t have to jump on this bandwagon if you don’t want to. You can stay sassy and classy by sticking with a simple orange design for your fingernails because we all know that orange is one of the most fitting colors that can describe an autumnal decor. Although the example we’ve attached above (check the photo) features applied acrylic nails that are painted over, you could go all-natural and just get a nice shade of orange over your real nails.
However, if you feel like that doesn’t scream Halloween loud enough, I guess you could go to a nail salon and get acrylic nails applied and painted. This situation highly depends on what kind of party you’re gonna attend, and more so, what kind of outfit you’re going to be wearing. If you’re not exactly into outfits and want to keep yourself veiled by a shroud of mystery at the party, we suggest you just stick with the orange nail polish and skip the acrylic nails.
On the other hand, if you’re thinking about rocking a mean witch outfit, then you should definitely go with the fake nails since we all know that the long nail aesthetic is paramount to being a convincing evil witch. Just make sure not to hold them too close to someone’s face, suddenly flail them around just to make a point, or hold them upright while you’re sipping on your drink, and you should be fine. Happy Halloween!
16. Blood Spatter – Creepy Halloween Nails
If you’re not exactly new to the Halloween scene, then you might be able to understand that it’s not all cats, witches, and goofy-looking skeletons, as many prefer a more realistic, scary approach to their outfits and decorations. If you’re one of them, then you’ll absolutely love this design for your nails this Halloween. As you can see from the example picture we’ve used before, this design emulates blood spatter and will make other partygoers think twice before picking on your outfit.
Naturally, you probably won’t want to pair this creepy nail design this Halloween if you plan to keep it classy and skip on finding a scary outfit. In fact, we believe that this outfit could fit great with a vampire, werewolf, or zombie outfit. Surely enough, if you can think of other outfits that could mix well with having blood-spattered nails (or even hands if you want to take it even further), you should just go ahead and pair them up.
One of the best parts about this Halloween nail design is its overall simplicity, as opposed to some other suggestions we’ve included in our guide that would have you call your local nail artist. With the blood spatter nail design, all you have to do is use a light background (preferably white) and then use bright red nail polish to create the spatter effect. You could also go for a darker shade if you want to, but make sure to check it before you leave for the party and see if it does resemble blood splatter. You wouldn’t want someone thinking you’ve taken a dunk in a vat of yogurt or something.
17. Spider & Spider Web – Halloween Themed Nails
While most spiders are not exactly harmful if left alone and unprovoked, a lot of people are scared by them, and some of them would even suggest setting their houses on fire in the event of seeing such a critter seeking shelter there (yes, we realize it’s a joke). Therefore, it should make complete sense why you’d want to use spiders as decorations or outfits during Halloween; it gives people the heebie-jeebies, so they can definitely pass, judging by the beeping spook-o-meter.
Notice that the example we’ve used in the photo above looks like an assortment of sorts, considering that one finger’s purple, another one’s orange, and only two of them are spider-related (i.e., one of them’s an actual spider model, while the other is a web). Feel free to do what you want with this information, but most importantly, don’t be afraid to mix and match in order to get a design that’s true to your liking. For instance, you could try and change the non-spider nail colors or draw webs on all of your nails, there’s no one there to stop you.
As with the previous model (and several other ones in this guide), the spider & web design is quite easy to do, and you won’t have to go to your local nail artist to get it done. As long as you can draw a few lines (for the web and spider legs) and dots, you should be able to create this simple Halloween design on your nails in no time. If you don’t have a steady hand, you could even ask one of your friends to do it for you, seeing as it’s not exactly complicated, to begin with.
18. Little Monster Faces – Cute Nail Ideas
Still a child at heart? You’d rather dress as a ridiculously comical character for Halloween or design your own goofy outfit instead of putting on fake vampire teeth or hyper-realistic makeup to spook your friends? Then you’ll definitely love this nail design, maybe even enough to wear it this Halloween, and why wouldn’t you? Look at the pretty colors and cute characters; they’re absolutely guaranteed to steal a few glances from your peers at your next Halloween party!
Just as the design comprises various colors and characters, you shouldn’t be afraid of a little mix & match, especially if you’re going to try this out on your nails. So, if you decide you don’t exactly like one of the colors or characters in the photo above, just replace it with something else. Our suggestion would be to use bright, happy colors to bring out the best of this design, seeing as painting the characters in dark colors would totally defeat the purpose.
Another great thing about these little nail monsters is that they’re not at all complicated; in fact, we’re confident you could create this design by yourself at home, even without asking one of your friends for help. All you have to do is cover each nail in a different (bright) color, draw the mouths, and then you can either paint some goofy eyes or buy a bunch of tiny googly eyes and stick them on your fingernails. Make sure to use a good adhesive, though; you don’t want to realize you’re a few eyes short midway through the Halloween party, do you?
19. Evil Eye – Halloween Nails
Right from the start, you may notice that this design is a tad more complicated than others, seeing as it has a few finer details and patterns that are not as easy to recreate by yourself, and on top of that, on your own nails (unless you’re a trained professional, that is). However, it may be a bit easier if you’d be painting on acrylic nails and then attach them, but you’d need some sort of special equipment for that, and you’d honestly get done with it faster at a nail salon.
These Evil Eye Halloween nails from @alyssanailtech on Insta are not necessarily complicated to make, but you can see that they have quite some details, and you can’t afford to ruin the design with wobbly lines and splotches here and there. Notice how clean the lines are and how neat everything looks in the example we’ve included before; we’re guessing you’d rather have that than something that kinda looks like it, but it actually seems more like it’s been drawn upside down and in the dark.
Jokes aside, you probably noticed that these nails don’t just have the evil eye pattern. In addition to it, they also have moons, a sun, and some constellations, and all of these elements do an incredibly good job of tying everything together. Furthermore, the fact that the background is a light one and the lines are dark further enhance the aesthetics of this evil eye pattern, not to mention the fact that the other fingernails (ones without the drawings) are covered in shiny black polish, which boosts the overall design and gives it a nice contrast.
20. Haunted Forest – Black Nail Ideas
Have you ever went on a long walk in a dark forest in the middle of the night? If you have, then you can probably agree that it’s one of the spookiest experiences you could have, so it makes sense that people have started associating dark forests with mysticism, horror movies, and why not, even Halloween. That’s precisely what makes this haunted forest fingernail design from @nailsbybree on Insta perfectly fit to wear at a Halloween party, especially if you want to wow other partygoers.
You probably noticed that other nail designs we’ve included in our guide would have you use shiny, metallic, or pearlescent nail polish. However, the haunted forest design relies on matte, dark nail polish to create an eerie, spooky effect for your fingernails. However, if you take a closer look at the example photo, you can see that even on the fingernails where there’s no drawing, there is more than just one color, so they’re not all black.
Instead, the nail artist used a combination of different shades of grey to create a smoke, fog, or mist effect that can further enhance the overall aesthetic of the haunted forest design. On the other fingers, the artist cleverly used a combination of tree silhouettes, bats, stars, light orbs, a cat, and a ghost. If you lack talent in the visual arts department, it would be better to save the picture above on your phone, head to your local nails salon, and ask a professional to help you create the design on your nails. You’ll definitely catch a few glances at the Halloween party you’ll be attending.
21. Witchy Vibes – Purple Nails
Look, we get it, witches are the bomb when it comes to Halloween, and we understand that many of your friends will be rocking a mean witch outfit, so you’ll probably want to jump on the bandwagon by bringing something unique to the table. Let’s face it, there’s nothing much to add to a witch’s outfit; there’s the hat, the broom, the cat, the raggedy dress, the boots, and probably a bunch of hex bags and potions dangling from your sash. You did bring a sash, didn’t you?
Regardless of that, there’s one thing that may have slipped your mind when you were preparing your awesome witch outfit: your nails. Sure, all your friends may just paint them all black or apply fake long nails and then paint them black, but not you; you want to be unique, you want to stand out in the crowd, don’t you? Well, using a clever combination of ombre, purple, acrylic, and a few nifty designs, you can add a dash of uniqueness to your witch outfit and definitely be the star of the evening, like @rockstarnailstudio did.
Notice that the base layer is a dark, yet glittery nail polish that simply fades to black as it reaches the tip of the fingernail. On top of the base layer, you can find a few drawings in white that definitely give a witchy vibe, including a few stars, waning and waxing crescents (phases of the moon), and the popular pentagram, which lately has become a staple item in almost every witch outfit. The design seems a bit intricate, but trust us that with a bit of patience, you’ll be able to pull it off from the comfort of your own home.
22. Medusa – Halloween Acrylic Nails
We’re all aware that Medusa is not a part of Halloween lore and is, in fact, a part of Greek mythology, but let’s face it: if it exists, you can dress up as it for Halloween. In this case, Medusa makes no exception, but we’re not here to discuss you plugging a bunch of fake snakes on your head, wearing a robe, and pretending to avoid everyone’s glance so that they won’t turn into stone as they meet your eyes. No, we’re actually here to show you an awesome nail design with Medusa playing the lead role from @monstermanicures.
There’s something terrifying about a feminine figure with living snakes coming out of her head that can turn you into stone by simply looking in her eyes, so why not make the most of it this Halloween? If dressing up as various creatures or characters isn’t exactly your thing, you could take a shortcut and include Medusa in your regular outfit by painting her, or merely a portrait of her on your nails.
As you can see from the example photo above, the design is as awesome as it could possibly be, and the fact that it’s merely black and white, or better yet, a sketch, adds even more to its aesthetic, in our opinion. Furthermore, notice that the drawing couldn’t fit one nail, and was created as a 3-part drawing, which is a great approach for this design. As you could probably figure out on your own, you’ll need to visit a professional nail artist for this one, seeing as drawing the design requires a bit of skill in the visual arts department.
23. Jack Skellington – Black Nail Ideas
Despite the fact that Jack Skellington is the star of Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas, which makes it basically a Christmas movie character, little people seem to shy away from proudly placing it at the center of the metaphorical mantlepiece that is Halloween. In other words, despite the fact that it starred in a film that was a Christmas story, many people adopted Jack and turned it into a Halloween item, whether it’s in the form of an outfit, a drawing, a cutout, or, as you can see in this guide, a design for one’s fingernails. This one from @pretty.fake.nails on Insta is awesome.
Well, it makes sense why you’d want Jack Skellington as a Halloween decoration. In fact, despite that it’s the main character of the movie, Jack is actually sort of a villain. On top of that, he’s basically a skeleton, and a highly recognizable one, too, for that matter. Thus, getting its mischievous grin painted on top of your nails this Halloween might just bring you several glances from all the partygoers. You are heading to a Halloween party, right?
If you want to go with the simplified version of this design, things are quite simple: you just paint your nails all black, then pick one and paint Skellington’s adorable lifeless face on it in plain white. After doing so, you can switch back to black and fill in Jack’s eyes, nose, and grin. However, if you look carefully at the photo above, you’ll see that our example has some shadows and gradients and if you want those, you might need to pay a visit to your local nails salon.
24. Pop Art Zombie – Cute Nail Ideas
If you’re a fan of old-school horror flicks, you’ll agree that after all these years, zombies are still one of the most important symbols of Halloween. You simply can’t pass a cemetery and not shudder thinking about zombies coming to life during Halloween and going on a frenzy in your city, so why not take that irrational fear and wear it right on your sleeve this year? Well, not on your sleeve, but on your fingernails, but we were pretty close from a spatial standpoint.
Obviously, we’re talking about choosing a zombie-inspired design for your nails and then using it to decorate your fingernails like the ones above from @glambytricia. The one we’ve attached in the picture above is neither scary, nor goofy, and it will look incredible if you pair it with an awesome outfit at your next Halloween party. While there’re no actual zombies painted on your fingernails, the elements included in the design above will certainly send the right message to your peers, so that they’re gonna understand the reference.
If you’re a visual artist and know your way around acrylic paints, then good for you! You’ll be able to save quite some money (and probably even make a quick buck) this year by doing your own nails! The pattern isn’t incredibly complicated, but it requires a steady hand and some experience with acrylic paints so that each layer will come out looking clean, and the paints won’t mix on your fingernails and look not-so-hot.
If you can’t find the balance to paint straight on your fingernails, we suggest you buy blank fake nails and place them either on a stable surface or on a hand model, paint them there, and then apply them over your real nails. It’s much easier than painting straight on your opposite hand, and the best thing is that you’ll be able to use your dominant hand to paint on all of the nails, instead of using one hand at a time to paint the opposite one.
25. Black And Red – Spooky Nails
These nails actually look like tiny claws, so you might want to make sure that your holster discipline is on fleek before attending a Halloween party while wearing these. Obviously, these nails are fake ones that you can apply over your real ones, which makes them all the most dangerous, especially if you’ve never worn fake nails before. As far as the patterns, colors, and designs applied to them, it’s entirely up to you, but we found that the black and red combination from @black.cat.claws on Insta is entirely satisfying.
Notice how in the example photo we’ve attached, no two nails are the same, so make sure to follow the guidelines of this ‘recipe’ if you want similar results at your fingertips. As with other models we’ve included in our guide, it’s not a must to use the same color or draw the same patterns, seeing as the photo should serve just as a guide to give you a general idea of how to decorate your fingernails stylishly.
For instance, do you notice how both the pinky fingernails have spider webs painted on them? You can replace that design with anything you could think of, including a cat, some stars, a waxing or waning crescent, a spider, or even a set of vampire’s teeth if you feel like it. The same goes for the colors; it’s entirely up to you what color palette you’re gonna stick with for this design, but whatever it is, make sure to check twice if it plays nice with your outfit. We wouldn’t want to risk ruining your aesthetic by mixing brightly colored nails with a non-complementary costume, now would we?
As before, the design is not exactly complicated, which enables you to paint it on your own at home, but if you’re not entirely sure of your visual arts skills and/or experience painting nails, you should definitely ask a nail artist to do them for you. However, if you feel like taking some risks, you could try to buy blank fake nails, place them on a stable surface, paint them carefully, then apply them over your real ones. Even if they’re not perfect, you might still have a sense of accomplishment and wear them proudly at your next Halloween party.
25 More Halloween Nails to Try
We know you loved the first 25 ideas we listed, so why not get 25 more? You can never have enough inspiration for the next Halloween so you can get into the spirit of the holiday.
26. Metallic Halloween Nails
This first Halloween nails manicure has a subtle Halloween feel to it, with a dark metallic color scheme and a painterly “scribbled” sort of design. Don’t forget to wear a plastic spider ring to compliment the look! Head over to Love Maegan to check out the full tutorial and more photos.
27. Halloween Nail Designs – Candy Corn Manicure
While our first pick was subtly, Halloween themed, there’s nothing subtle about this one! This brightly colored candy corn manicure is super festive and will surely garner compliments at your next Halloween party. Check out the tutorial over at Lacquered Lawyer.
28. Vampire Halloween Nail Design
A classic black mani with a ring finger accent is always a good bet. This one has a vampire theme Halloween nails, with a set of jaws painted on using white and red on top of the black. Make your way over to Swell Mayde to find out all the details about this fun Halloween nail art.
29. Orange and Black EasyHalloween Nails
This crackle texture has a wonderfully spooky feel to it, especially in the orange and black color scheme. The ring fingernail has a black skull painted on… and lucky for us, the shakier it looks, the more creepy it seems, so we don’t have to worry about our drawing skills. Read more here.
30. Mixed Design Halloween Nails
If you’re the type who likes to try all the trends at once, give this mixed design mani a try! The common theme is black, white, and orange, but each of the patterns varies. Make your way over to Lacquered Lawyer to find out how to recreate this Halloween nails look on your own nails.
31. Jack Skellington Halloween Nail Design
This eye-catching manicure is made with black and white polish and two different designs… bold stripes and a skull motif on one nail. So if you’re not a fan of traditional orange nails for Halloween, give this a try! Check out this and others over at Nenuno Creative.
32. Ombre Apple Halloween Nail Design
This non-traditional manicure still has a distinctly spooky vibe without being overtly “Halloween.” The ombre design fades from red to black, creating a red apple sort of look which is reminiscent of the Disney classic Snow White. Head over to Regilla on Tumblr to check it out.
33. Curious Eyes Halloween Nail Art
This crazy manicure is perfect for Halloween if you like to indulge your goofy side. Each nail looks like it has a pair of googly eyes on it… and they’re made simply by putting tiny dots of black over larger dots of white. Kids will love this one! Found here.
34. Dripping Blood Halloween Nails
Thismanicurehas a dark, spooky vibe, thanks to a base of black covered with a dripping red polish at the tip of each nail. Glitter in the red polish helps add some serious sparkle to an otherwise terrifyingly bloody look. Found over at Penelope Luz’s Flickr page.
35. Spider Web Accent Halloween Nails
These eye-catching nails are a great choice for Halloween, with their darker colors and spider web detail. The black Halloween nails are glammed up with some lighter speckles, giving them a big of a galactic feel. The web is put on a white background to make it stand out. Found here.
36. Zombie Halloween Nails
These zombie’s nails are super creepy, with a layered look that is lighter on the nail bed and dark red on the tip. The red polish is applied haphazardly, creating the visual effect of dripping blood. Make your way over to Samarium’s Swatches to read more about it.
37. Easy Halloween Nails – Stripes
If completely terrifying isn’t the look that you’re going for, give this more crowd-friendly look a try. It is a play on a classic french manicure, with an orange and black stripe added to each nail. And a bit of glitter on the black stripe adds some sparkle. Found here.
38. Pumpkin Manicure Nail Design
Paint your Halloween nails to look like pumpkins with this simple idea. Just paint all of your nails a bold orange color, then add a jack-o-lantern face to one nail using a black polish. So fun, right?! Head over to Emerald Sparkled to learn how to get this look yourself.
39. Claws Halloween Nails
This clever manicure gives the effect of being claws, thanks to the pointy dark shapes that punctuate the center of the nails. The top corners are painted a nude shade so that they blend into your skin. So if you’re planning to dress as a black cat for Halloween, try this! Read morehere.
40. Halloween Nail Idea Skulls
This mani has a series of skulls on each nail, made with black and white polish… giving it a Dia De Los Muertos feel. The shapes would be relatively simple for anyone to DIY, and everyone is sure to be impressed! See the original image here, and find out how to do it yourself here.
41. Crimi-Nails Halloween Nail Ideas
These “crimi-nails” might be the most genius concept of the bunch. Beginning with a white base on the nails, a red fingerprint is added over the top to create the look of bloody fingerprints at a crime scene. Head over to Nails Mag to find out how it was done.
42. Skeleton Halloween Nails
This skeleton nail art is another clever idea… on the right hand is a set of sculls, while on the left hand there is a set of skeletal rib cages so that when you put them together, they form half of a skeleton. Head on over to Natsy Alencar’s Flickr page to check it out.
43. Black Cat Halloween Nails
This leans more toward cute than spooky, with a Halloween black cat theme. Three of the nails have cat paw prints, one has the body of a cat and the pointer has the cat’s face with bright yellow eyes. Head on over to Popular Ladies to check out the full tutorial.
44. Subtle Black and Gray Halloween Nails
If literal Halloween references aren’t your thing, give this more subtle black and gray-themed manicure a try. Each nail has a different shade of gray or texture, with a pop of glitter on the pointer fingers. And matte black adds some serious style to the pinkies. Found here.
45. Geometric Halloween Nails
Here’s another great way to show off your Halloween spirit without being too literal. This look hits all the trends, with ageometric design and the use of negative space. And those black triangles give it an edgy little twist. Check it out over at Refinery 29.
46. Glossy Black Halloween Nails
Here’s another great way to add some serious Halloween spirit to your hands without painting pumpkins all over them. Grow them out and file them up to a point so that they look almost claw-like, then paint them with a super glossy black polish. Found here.
47. Halloween Nails – Mummies and Ghosts
Add a little something to your classic french manicure with these fun nail art images on the ring fingers. One has a pair of eyeballs poking out of mummy wrappings, while the other has a scary little ghost yelling “boo.” Check out this and lots of other ideas here.
48. Eyeballs Halloween Nail Art
This eye-catching look (pun intended) is a fun one to do yourself, and it’s a nice departure from the typical halloween oranges and blacks. Make your way over to Shakeshakee to find out how to recreate this bloodshot eyeball look on your own nails.
49. Halloween Nails – Witch Symbols
If you prefer witches to ghosts and goblins, then this might be the manicure for you. Begin by painting all of your nails with a smooth matte black polish, then add these witchy nail symbols to the pointer, middle and ring fingers. Head over here to check out this and many others.
50. French Zombie Halloween Nails
This is a fun play on the traditional french manicure, with an added twist. Simply do your french manicure as usual, then top it with black scar lines like the ones above. And voila, you have a french zombie manicure! Check out the full tutorial over at Cosmopolitan.
Final Words on Halloween Nails
All things considered, if you’ve been looking for various ways to enhance your Halloween experience this year, whether you’re hosting a party or attending one, then you’ve probably been overlooking one of the most important aspects: your nails. And we’re not talking about simply making sure they’re neatly cut, adjusted, and painted with a boring layer of nail polish, either; no, we’re talking about going crazy and picking a design that fits the mood in a more appropriate manner.
For instance, if you’re going as a witch this Halloween, you might want to make sure that your fingernails are passing the vibe check. This doesn’t mean that you should stop caring for them two lifetimes ago and let them grow all over the place as a textbook witch would, but instead, apply some fake nails, paint them in dark or crazy colors, draw some interesting witch patterns on them or something, anything to add a splash of uniqueness to your outfit.
Fortunately, Halloween is a pretty inclusive holiday, which means that you could dress up as virtually anyone and anything you like, and while this sounds more outfit-related than nail-related, it’s actually good news for your nails, too! The fact that you’re free to throw any piece of clothing on you and create the ultimate Halloween costume gives you a lot of elbow room as far as nail decorations are concerned. As far as you mix them up well, you could try on any design you can dream of.
Short on ideas? Well, that’s why we’re here, now isn’t it? We’ve created and put together this special guide comprising 50 of the best nail designs you could try on this Halloween, as well as a bunch of tips here and there that could help you match them better with your outfit. While some of the nail designs included in our guide are simple enough that you can do them by yourself, from the comfort of your home, others are a bit on the artsy side, which basically means that you may need to seek a professional nail artist and let them handle it for the best results. Happy Halloween!