9 Easy Halloween Nail Art Ideas That Anyone Can Do

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

Although there's no denying the mental health benefits of getting salon manicures, like getting to relax and interacting with others, sometimes our schedule and budget don't allow for such a luxury. Even so, that doesn't mean you need to stop getting your nails done. Instead, you need to learn how to do your nails yourself, including some basic nail art to keep your manis looking fresh and trendy.

With October underway, you've probably started thinking about on-trend manicures for fall 2025 to step up your nail game. Although important, have you considered what you'll be rocking as the month rolls on and Halloween arrives? After all, even if you don't have Halloween plans, that doesn't mean you can't give the best Halloween-inspired manicures for short nails a try or lean into some "Practical Magic" inspired nail ideas with impeccable autumn vibes.

If you can't imagine letting a Halloween pass without your nails matching the theme of the holiday, but you know you'll have to do it yourself this year, don't worry — we're here to help. With the right nail design tools, patience, and knowing how to prep your nails for the perfect polish application, you can give yourself one heck of a Halloween manicure. It's just a matter of sticking to fairly easy nail art ideas and, of course, not being afraid to make mistakes along the way.

If you want to get specific in your Halloween nails but don't have the ability or patience to go all out, you can easily pay homage to a classic by choosing specific designs. For example, an easy Frankenstein-inspired manicure — stitches and all, done by a liner brush — doesn't require a PhD in painting. What's interesting about "Frankenstein" is that although Mary Shelley's novel described the Creature as having yellow skin, pop culture decided he should be green. That said, you don't need to stick to this shade of green; experiment with the matcha and mint nail trend, or even make Shelley proud and go for a nice jaundice yellow.

As good as steel-gray cobwebs look on every nail, that's not the only way to rock a cobweb manicure. If you manage to create a perfect cobweb on one nail and don't want to mess with trying to create another perfect one, then don't. You'll have a super cool accent nail, and sometimes that's enough. When you've decided on the colors for the base and cobwebs, you'll definitely want to make sure you have nail art liner brushes in multiple sizes, so you can experiment with what cobweb thickness looks best.

If you want to elevate your Halloween manicure to make you look like a Francophile who longs for the heyday of Paris' Montmartre, you can't go wrong with a black cat. While trying the create the iconic black cat from the 19th-century cabaret, Le Chat Noir, would require high-level skills, a simple black cat manicure can easily be done with the blackest polish you can find — like Essie Licorice — and a thin liner brush to build the outline of the cat. If trying to add eyes proves difficult, you can skip that part and still have a cool, cat-inspired manicure.

As long as you keep things simple, a ghost manicure is both easy and allows for error, too. To make sure your ghosts are indeed white and not milky, reach for a thick white polish like OPI Alpine Snow and apply two or three coats, depending on what you're envisioning for your spooky little critters. Then use a liner brush or steel tool to create the eyes and mouths. What's great about this is that you don't need to make perfect circles or ovals for the features, hence the room for error.

It's near-impossible to think of Halloween without jack-o'-lanterns, so we would be remiss not to include this iconic imagery. Again, because we're dealing with spookiness, the face of the jack-o'-lantern doesn't need to be perfect. More than anything, it's about using the right colors. A bright pumpkin-orange polish, like OPI Rollerbabe, is fantastic for this pumpkin-themed manicure, and the stripes and facial features can be done in jet black by using a liner brush. You can do every nail like this, or complement the look with black matte nails. According to the black nail theory, black nails positively affect your confidence, so it never hurts to include a few in your manicure.

Before you freak out, know that dripping blood nails look harder to do than they actually are. First, grab your favorite shade of burgundy so you can make your dripping blood look legit — OPI Malaga Wine is an ideal shade for this. Choose which nails you want to be solid and paint them first. When those are dry and you're ready to dive into some "Psycho"-inspired blood, paint the tips of those nails and then gently drag the polish down with a dotting tool, ending the drop with a dot to make it look as realistic as possible. If it looks a little messy, that's okay. Fact: blood doesn't drip just one way.

While lettering isn't the easiest nail art design in the world, a simple manicure with a statement nail is simple, flirty, and festive. You can get in on the fun without having to spend a lot of time trying to create designs and images. Choose one color for your manicure, then another color to write "boo" on one of your nails. It may not be as spooky as other Halloween manicures, but it's sexy and an absolute conversation starter. If you want to simplify things even further, consider alphabet nail art stickers to customize your spooky saying with ease.

If you want to get away from all the black and orange, then turn to "Beetlejuice" for inspiration. With "Beetlejuice" nails, you're sticking to the spooky Halloween theme, but giving yourself the chance to play around with more colors — most notably shades of purple and bright green. When creating the black and white stripes that represent Beetlejuice's suit, you can use either a liner brush or a metal tool, depending on how thick you want them to be. To finish off your manicure and give it an extra kick, Diamond Shine Top Coat by Londontown will do exactly that.

Because painting an itty-bitty zombie on your nail for a Halloween manicure may not be part of your skillset, the next best thing is a mummy. While mummification may not look like what we've become accustomed to in pop culture, it's still a spooky concept widely used for Halloween and, for the sake of this article, easy nail art. All you need is a bold white nail polish and a selection of liner brushes, so you can experiment a bit in figuring out what thickness works for your mummies' bandages. For the eyes, two small dots with a dotting tool will do the trick — et voilà!