Boo! Cool! Your first Halloween party! Wow, this is my first day on this forum, but I have already posted a bunch of party and decorating ideas on some of the other threads, so I don't want to repeat them here. I hope you'll bump into them.

I want to recommend that you prepare ahead of time by making yourself a Halloween scrapbook or photo album, so you'll be ready to put all those great pictures in it that you're going to remember to take!

I would say to make sure you decorate everywhere, even if it's only one thing in each place, for instance, you can hang a skeleton in every closet, (leave doors cracked open to encourage guests to peek) and don't forget to hide something (ghost or monster) in the shower too! You never know who'll get an extra surprise. Start preparing way ahead of time, because it takes a lot of time, especially if you're making decorations....i.e. stuffing bodies, etc. If you know anyone who has large stuffed animals, they make great bodies. Put some old clothes on them, and a mask, and plop them around here and there. I like to go with black lights and candles, but with that many peeps, you'd better have enough light so people aren't tripping over things. You can get a lot of mileage out of black construction paper or black poster board cut into bats and spiders (I posted this elsewhere, but it's worth mentioning again, because it's a cheap way to add a lot of decor).

A meat and cheese tray is easy, and can be prepare ahead of time. Any food that you can prepare ahead of time is ideal. You don't want to spend the entire time in the kitchen.
Take advantage of crockpots and slow cookers. Garlic mashed potatoes with cream cheese and ranch dip mix (MONSTER MASH) was a big hit at one party, and was made ahead of time and kept hot in a slow cooker. If I remember correctly, I partially cooked the potatoes the day before, then finished them a few hours ahead of time and kept them hot in the slow cooker.

I've cooked butternut squash in a slow cooker. If it's cold in your area, you might consider pumpkin soup, or just cooked pumpkin or squash (i.e. "PUMPKIN GUTS"), unless you're just doing finger foods of course. To cook the squash, I peeled it, cut it into large chunks and plopped it into the slow cooker with some butter on High. After it got hot, I turned it down to about 3, and let it go for about 3 hours and it was done. No fuss, no muss, and it will hold for hours in the crockpot. You can cut up the squash a day or 2 in advance and keep it in the fridge. Then just start it in the slow cooker about 4 or 5 hours before the party. I haven't tried it in a regular crock pot.

Cold tortilla rollups can be made a day or so in advance, wrapped in plastic wrap, and sliced whenever you need them. I posted my favorite version elsewhere, but you can put anything you like inside. You can make a variety, and they will fill a nice sized tray quickly and easily.

Popcorn balls always remind me of Halloween, but they're not so easy to eat. Homemade carmel corn is yummy, easier to eat, and can be made ahead of time. You can place it in bowls or plastic pumpkins all around the house.

Of course there's candied apples or carmel apples, but those would be difficult to serve without them turning brown, but you could try some sort of carmel apple pie done in 9x13 pans.

Don't forget to save your pumpkin seeds and roast them! Not everyone likes them, but someone will!

I'm sure someone else will have lots of great food ideas for you!
Hope your party is a blast!