Halloween trivia questions and answers
60 questions for a Halloween party, a class or a family night in, in seven rounds: history and origins, Halloween around the world, monsters and legends in books, movies and TV, candy and pumpkins, an easy round for kids and a harder one for adults. About a third have three choices to pick from. Tap Answer under a question to see it, or print the quiz with the answers on a page of their own.
Keep score for the quiz on your iPhone or iPad, team by team. Tallynight is free, with no ads.
Get TallynightHow to play Halloween trivia as a team game
Split into teams of two to six, and mix the ages so the kids and the grown-ups play together. One person hosts, in costume if they like. They read each question aloud twice, with its three choices where it has them, and each team agrees on an answer and writes it down.
Each right answer scores 1 point. After each round, teams swap answer sheets and mark each other's while the host reads the answers out. For a bonus round, make the harder round worth 2 points a question, or give each team a joker to double the round it feels best about.
Keep score in Tallynight on an iPhone or iPad, on the free online score keeper, or on the printed team score sheet. The trivia night guide has more on rounds, jokers and tie-breakers.
Halloween history and origins
Where the name comes from, and the old customs behind trick-or-treating and the jack-o'-lantern. Where historians disagree, the answer says so.
Halloween is a shortened form of which older name?
Answer
All Hallows' Eve, the evening before All Hallows' Day.
Which Christian feast day falls on 1 November, the day after Halloween? A) All Saints' Day B) Epiphany C) Candlemas
Answer
A) All Saints' Day, also called All Hallows' Day.
Which day comes next, on 2 November, when many Christians remember and pray for the dead?
Answer
All Souls' Day.
Which Gaelic festival, held around 1 November to mark the end of summer and the start of winter, is often named as one of Halloween's roots?
Answer
Samhain, said roughly sow-in. Historians still debate how much of today's Halloween comes from it.
Before pumpkins, what did people in Ireland and Scotland carve into lanterns at Halloween? A) turnips B) apples C) melons
Answer
A) Turnips. The pumpkin took their place in America.
In England, the poor once went door to door around All Souls' Day, promising to pray for each household's dead in return for small cakes. What were the cakes called?
Answer
Soul cakes. The custom was called souling.
In Scotland and Ireland, going from house to house in disguise and performing a song, a poem or a joke for a treat has an old name. What is it?
Answer
Guising, from disguise. The visitors are called guisers.
Many old Halloween games with apples, nuts and mirrors were meant to tell you what? A) tomorrow's weather B) who you would marry C) how the harvest would go
Answer
B) Who you would marry, or what your future husband or wife would be like.
In the 1800s, which group of immigrants, many leaving a famine at home, helped spread Halloween across the United States? A) Irish B) Italian C) Swedish
Answer
A) The Irish, many of them leaving the Great Famine of the 1840s.
Since 1950, many American children have collected coins at Halloween for which children's charity, often in a small orange box?
Answer
UNICEF. Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF began in Philadelphia.
Halloween around the world
Festivals for the harvest, the dead and the end of autumn, from Mexico to Japan. Several are holidays of their own, not versions of Halloween.
In Mexico, on 1 and 2 November, families welcome back the spirits of loved ones who have died, with home altars, flowers and their favourite foods. What is this holiday called?
Answer
Día de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead. It's a holiday of its own, with Indigenous and Catholic roots, not a Mexican Halloween.
Which orange flower, called cempasúchil in Mexico, is laid on the altars and graves for Día de los Muertos? A) the marigold B) the tulip C) the sunflower
Answer
A) The marigold. Its colour and scent are said to guide the spirits home.
In Ireland, a fruit loaf eaten at Halloween has a ring baked inside, and whoever finds it is said to be the next to marry. What is the loaf called?
Answer
Barmbrack, from the Irish báirín breac.
On the Isle of Man, children carry carved turnips from house to house on 31 October, singing an old Manx song. What is the night called?
Answer
Hop-tu-Naa. The turnip lanterns are called moots.
Which festival is celebrated across Britain with bonfires and fireworks on 5 November, five days after Halloween?
Answer
Bonfire Night, also called Guy Fawkes Night.
In Sumpango and Santiago Sacatepéquez, in Guatemala, what giant handmade things are raised on 1 November to honour the dead? A) kites B) lanterns C) puppets
Answer
A) Kites, made of tissue paper on bamboo frames. The biggest can be more than 20 metres across.
Which Japanese summer festival welcomes the spirits of ancestors home, with lanterns and dancing? A) Obon B) Hanami C) Setsubun
Answer
A) Obon, held in July or August depending on the region.
Monsters and legends in books
The folk tales, novels and poems behind the monsters.
In an Irish folk tale, which man tricks the Devil and is left to wander the night with an ember in a carved turnip, giving the jack-o'-lantern its name?
Answer
Stingy Jack.
Who wrote Frankenstein, first published in 1818?
Answer
Mary Shelley.
In the novel, Frankenstein is the scientist, not the creature he makes. What is his first name?
Answer
Victor.
Which Irish writer created Count Dracula?
Answer
Bram Stoker.
In which region of Europe is Count Dracula's castle? A) Transylvania B) Bavaria C) Tuscany
Answer
A) Transylvania, now part of Romania.
In Washington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, which schoolteacher is chased by the Headless Horseman?
Answer
Ichabod Crane.
In Robert Louis Stevenson's story of 1886, which respectable doctor turns himself into Mr Hyde?
Answer
Dr Jekyll, Henry Jekyll.
In Edgar Allan Poe's poem The Raven, what one word does the raven keep saying?
Answer
Nevermore.
Halloween movies and TV
Films and TV specials families watch every October.
In It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966), who waits all night in the pumpkin patch for the Great Pumpkin?
Answer
Linus.
In the same special, what does Charlie Brown keep finding in his trick-or-treat bag?
Answer
A rock.
Hocus Pocus (1993) brings three witch sisters back to life in which Massachusetts town? A) Boston B) Salem C) Plymouth
Answer
B) Salem. The witches are the Sanderson sisters.
In The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), what is Jack Skellington called in Halloween Town?
Answer
The Pumpkin King.
In Ghostbusters (1984), what giant figure stomps through New York near the end? A) the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man B) a giant pumpkin C) King Kong
Answer
A) The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.
In Monsters, Inc. (2001), what powers the city of Monstropolis at the start of the film?
Answer
Children's screams. By the end, laughter powers it instead.
In E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), how do the children get E.T. out of the house on Halloween?
Answer
Dressed as a ghost, under a sheet.
What are The Simpsons' yearly Halloween episodes called?
Answer
Treehouse of Horror.
Candy and pumpkins
The candy in the bowl and the pumpkin on the step.
Candy corn has been made since the late 1800s. What was it sold as in early boxes? A) Chicken Feed B) Harvest Gold C) Sunny Kernels
Answer
A) Chicken Feed, by the company now called Jelly Belly, from 1898.
How do most Americans eat a piece of candy corn, according to the National Confectioners Association's surveys? A) in one bite B) the white tip first C) the wide yellow end first
Answer
A) In one bite. Of the rest, more start with the white tip.
Botanically, is a pumpkin a fruit or a vegetable?
Answer
A fruit. It grows from the flower and holds the seeds, though it's cooked like a vegetable.
Pumpkins belong to the same plant family as which of these? A) potatoes B) cucumbers C) carrots
Answer
B) Cucumbers. Both are in the gourd family, with melons and squash.
Where were pumpkins first grown? A) the Americas B) Europe C) Africa
Answer
A) The Americas, where people have grown squash for thousands of years.
About how much of a raw pumpkin is water? A) a quarter B) half C) nine-tenths
Answer
C) Nine-tenths, a little over 90 per cent.
In Mexican cooking, what are pepitas?
Answer
Pumpkin seeds, usually with the shell taken off.
An easy round for kids
Ten easy questions, several with three choices to pick from. Let the youngest at the table answer first.
What do children say at the door when they go trick-or-treating?
Answer
Trick or treat.
What do you call a pumpkin carved with a face and lit from inside?
Answer
A jack-o'-lantern.
How many legs does a spider have? A) 6 B) 8 C) 10
Answer
B) 8.
Which animal hangs upside down to sleep? A) a bat B) a cat C) an owl
Answer
A) A bat.
In stories, what does a witch fly on? A) a broomstick B) a bicycle C) a carpet
Answer
A) A broomstick.
On which date is Halloween?
Answer
31 October.
Do pumpkins grow on trees or on vines?
Answer
On vines that spread along the ground.
In which party game do you try to catch apples floating in a tub of water, using only your teeth?
Answer
Bobbing for apples.
What three colours are the stripes on candy corn?
Answer
Yellow, orange and white.
What kind of animal is Scooby-Doo? A) a cat B) a dog C) a horse
Answer
B) A dog, a Great Dane.
A harder round for adults
Ten harder questions for the grown-ups. Play it as a bonus round, worth 2 points a question.
Which Scottish poet wrote a long poem called Halloween in 1785, describing the night's fortune-telling customs?
Answer
Robert Burns. It was published the next year, in his first book.
Mary Shelley began Frankenstein in 1816, during a ghost-story contest with friends at a villa beside which lake? A) Lake Geneva B) Lake Como C) Loch Ness
Answer
A) Lake Geneva. Lord Byron set the challenge.
What is the subtitle of Frankenstein?
Answer
The Modern Prometheus.
Tim Burton produced The Nightmare Before Christmas and came up with its story. Who directed it?
Answer
Henry Selick.
Which escape artist died on Halloween in 1926, in Detroit?
Answer
Harry Houdini.
On 30 October 1938, the night before Halloween, which actor and director broadcast a radio play of H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds?
Answer
Orson Welles, with the Mercury Theatre on the Air.
In 1996, the village of North Tarrytown, New York, voted to change its name. What did it become?
Answer
Sleepy Hollow, after Washington Irving's story.
Which 1922 German silent film told the story of Dracula without permission from Bram Stoker's widow, who sued?
Answer
Nosferatu, directed by F. W. Murnau. The count is renamed Count Orlok.
Who sang Monster Mash, a No. 1 hit in the US in October 1962?
Answer
Bobby 'Boris' Pickett and the Crypt-Kickers.
Which horror film actor recites the spoken part in Michael Jackson's Thriller?
Answer
Vincent Price.
Tie-breaker
If teams are tied for first, each writes down a number. The closest answer wins, over or under.
In what year was Bram Stoker's Dracula first published?
Answer
1897.
More games for Halloween
When the quiz is done, keep the party going. Our Halloween games has party games for kids and adults, a costume contest with a scored vote, and 40 charades and Pictionary prompts.
Answers
- All Hallows' Eve, the evening before All Hallows' Day.
- A) All Saints' Day, also called All Hallows' Day.
- All Souls' Day.
- Samhain, said roughly sow-in. Historians still debate how much of today's Halloween comes from it.
- A) Turnips. The pumpkin took their place in America.
- Soul cakes. The custom was called souling.
- Guising, from disguise. The visitors are called guisers.
- B) Who you would marry, or what your future husband or wife would be like.
- A) The Irish, many of them leaving the Great Famine of the 1840s.
- UNICEF. Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF began in Philadelphia.
- Día de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead. It's a holiday of its own, with Indigenous and Catholic roots, not a Mexican Halloween.
- A) The marigold. Its colour and scent are said to guide the spirits home.
- Barmbrack, from the Irish báirín breac.
- Hop-tu-Naa. The turnip lanterns are called moots.
- Bonfire Night, also called Guy Fawkes Night.
- A) Kites, made of tissue paper on bamboo frames. The biggest can be more than 20 metres across.
- A) Obon, held in July or August depending on the region.
- Stingy Jack.
- Mary Shelley.
- Victor.
- Bram Stoker.
- A) Transylvania, now part of Romania.
- Ichabod Crane.
- Dr Jekyll, Henry Jekyll.
- Nevermore.
- Linus.
- A rock.
- B) Salem. The witches are the Sanderson sisters.
- The Pumpkin King.
- A) The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.
- Children's screams. By the end, laughter powers it instead.
- Dressed as a ghost, under a sheet.
- Treehouse of Horror.
- A) Chicken Feed, by the company now called Jelly Belly, from 1898.
- A) In one bite. Of the rest, more start with the white tip.
- A fruit. It grows from the flower and holds the seeds, though it's cooked like a vegetable.
- B) Cucumbers. Both are in the gourd family, with melons and squash.
- A) The Americas, where people have grown squash for thousands of years.
- C) Nine-tenths, a little over 90 per cent.
- Pumpkin seeds, usually with the shell taken off.
- Trick or treat.
- A jack-o'-lantern.
- B) 8.
- A) A bat.
- A) A broomstick.
- 31 October.
- On vines that spread along the ground.
- Bobbing for apples.
- Yellow, orange and white.
- B) A dog, a Great Dane.
- Robert Burns. It was published the next year, in his first book.
- A) Lake Geneva. Lord Byron set the challenge.
- The Modern Prometheus.
- Henry Selick.
- Harry Houdini.
- Orson Welles, with the Mercury Theatre on the Air.
- Sleepy Hollow, after Washington Irving's story.
- Nosferatu, directed by F. W. Murnau. The count is renamed Count Orlok.
- Bobby 'Boris' Pickett and the Crypt-Kickers.
- Vincent Price.
- 1897.
Keep score for the quiz in Tallynight
Choose Something else, then Rounds, and under Who wins pick Highest. Add each team as a player, then tap Start game.
After each round, type every team's score on one keypad, with any joker already doubled. The table keeps the totals and who's in front, and you can tap any round to fix a marking mistake.
- Every team's round on one keypad
- Running totals and who's in front
- Tap any round to fix a marking mistake
- A winner card for the group chat
Questions
How many questions do you need for Halloween trivia?
For a family game or a class, three or four rounds of 10 is plenty. For a Halloween party, plan on six rounds or so. This page has 60 questions in seven rounds, so pick the rounds that suit your crowd.
Is there a printable version?
Yes. Tap Print the questions and answers below the last round. The questions print first and the answers come on a separate page, so the host can keep them out of sight. Most browsers can save it as a PDF from the same window.
Is there Halloween trivia for kids?
Yes. The easy round for kids has 10 questions about pumpkins, bats, spiders and trick-or-treating, several with three choices. Put a child on each team, or let the kids play that round on their own.
Is there Halloween trivia for adults?
The harder round for adults covers Robert Burns, Harry Houdini, Orson Welles's radio play and the silent film Nosferatu. Play it as a bonus round worth 2 points a question.
Are there multiple choice Halloween trivia questions?
Yes. About a third of the questions have three choices, marked A, B and C, with some in every round. Read the choices aloud with the question.
How do you run Halloween trivia at work?
Play in teams of four to six, by desk or by department, with one host. Two or three rounds fit a lunch break. Put the scores on the meeting room screen with the free online score keeper, and the trivia night guide covers half points, jokers and tie-breakers.
Where do the answers come from?
Each answer was checked against museum, library and reference sources, among them the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian, the National Museum of Ireland, UNESCO, Britannica, History.com and the USDA. Where historians disagree, as on how much Halloween owes to Samhain, the answer says so.