From mid to late October, thousands of homes across America play host to Halloween parties.

Some of these parties are for kids, and others are geared toward adults, but one thing is true of both types: if you don't have great Halloween party games ... you don't have a great party. Here are a few to help you get your Halloween party started.

Halloween Party Games for Kids

• Eyeball Bounce -- Purchase a few packs of regular Ping-Pong balls and paint them to resemble a variety of eyeballs. Next, line up decorated cups or plastic pumpkins (with an open top) and have the kids try to bounce their "eyeballs" into them.

• Pass the Pumpkin -- This game follows the same rules as "Hot Potato." The kids pass the small pumpkin or gourd to each other until the music stops. The one left holding the pumpkin is out.

• Create a Halloween Story -- For this game, each child speaks one sentence of his or her own creation to form a unique, free-flowing Halloween story. A parent can start the game off by saying "It was a dark and stormy night." Then each child adds his or her line to the story.

Halloween Party Games for Adults

• Mousetrap Fishing -- This game requires plenty of room to play. Set up a bunch of mousetraps (new, clean ones, please) at one end of the room. For the rod, use a stick with a string tied to it, with a rubber mouse on the other end of the string. Cast the mouse into the traps and see how many you can "catch."

• Monster Soup -- Make a few big bowls of cold oatmeal and insert one item in each, like Ping-Pong eyeballs, gummy worms, or other Halloween toys of your choosing. Contestants can only use their mouths to find the item, and the first one to find it wins. Have clean towels at the ready for this one!

• Mummy Maker -- Assemble two teams of three. One member on each team will be the "mummy." The other two will have to completely wrap their mummy in toilet paper. The first team to finish wins.