Dungeon Donuts Trunk or Treat

Well hello, there my pretties! Welcome to Dungeon Donuts, the spookiest, most delicious Trunk of Treat stop in the whole parking lot! We want to treat you to delectable Halloween pastries and give you a tour of our charmingly ghoulish dungeon. Don’t be shy now! Come in and greet our guests! Maybe you’d like to stay for a spell?!

The Trunk or Treat Tradition

Our family adores the annual Trunk or Treat activity at our church, and in the past, we’ve done some really spectacular trunks (see Pirate Ship, Rotten Candy Carnival, and Black Hat Bakery). However, this donut theme trunk was our most spectacular and beloved to date. Our clever Dungeon Donuts Trunk or Treat Shop was absolutely mobbed by “customers.” After all, who doesn’t love fresh donuts?! And our skelton-filled dungeon was just creepy enough to carry the atmospheric theme.

Choosing a Decoration Theme

The trick to creating an amazing Trunk or Treat entry is to figure out a way to incorporate the wide open space of the trunk into your theme. Mouths and caves are popular. So are haunted rooms and animal faces. But my mom and I wanted to figure out a way to make donuts (apparently a really popular Trick or Treat item back in the 60s) the star of our show. 

Dungeon Inspiration

Using alliterative wordplay (a nod and a wink to Dunkin’ Donuts), we settled on Dungeon Donuts for the name of our “bakery shop.” It’s always fun to imagine that you are creating a real brand. Consequently, I created a logo and envisioned what a real dungeon-decorated donut shop would look like. The cavernous space at the back of our SUV was perfect for creating a dungeon chamber. For some extra inspiration, I relied on scenes from the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at DisneyWorld.

My clever husband rigged up a set of jail bars using PVC pipe and a simple frame that fit in the mouth of the trunk. We disguised the car with gray stone bulletin board paper and some tattered cobwebs made from black cheesecloth. From there it was easy to complete the dungeon effect with some creepy lighting and manacled skeletons. Of course, we added rats, cobwebs, giant spiders, and mood music to complete the trunk theme.

Don’t Forget to Decorate the Outside Too

Never satisfied with decorating just the trunk we added a few extras around the car. We used an old garbage can wrapped in wood grain bulletin board paper and strapped with silver duct tape to create an old water cask. On top, I stacked donuts and added a couple of rats and crows. Our store sign and menu were created by cutting out the logo on my Cricut machine. I even added the logo to black aprons to add to the “real business” illusion. A few pumpkins, some extra skeletons, a rusted bird cage, and a decrepit chair or two completed the effect.

“Donut” Ya Know We Have the Best Treats

Although we considered making our own donuts, we eventually decided it was too much work. Plus they wouldn’t be as fresh (or decadent) as bakery pastries. I ordered 15 dozen donuts from our favorite donut shop a couple of days ahead.  I kept it simple: just glazed donuts and chocolate frosted donuts.

However,  I did order a dozen fancy ones for display purposes. I used these at the end of the event to reward some of the young girls who had begged to be “hired” to work in the shop. Mostly we just gave customers donuts straight out of the big bakery boxes, but I did create a few donut displays around the shop using some donut stands I had ordered online, and a repurposed ring toss that was perfect for hanging up the exotic ones.