Halloween trivia questions, with answers

Twenty-five spooky quiz questions about monsters, horror films, witches and the history of Halloween. Think of your answer first, then tap to check it.

Play the Halloween quiz The Halloween quiz on a phone: question 1 of 20, with a field to type the answer

Where Halloween comes from

Halloween is older than most people think. It grew out of the Celtic festival of Samhain, which marked the end of the harvest and the start of winter, and people believed that the line between the living and the dead was thin on that night. Later the Christian church placed All Saints' Day on 1 November, and the evening before it became All Hallows' Eve, shortened over the centuries to Halloween.

Many of today's traditions are echoes of that history: carved lanterns to scare away spirits, costumes to hide from them, and treats left out for the dead, which turned into trick-or-treating. The questions below mix that history with the films, books and legends that keep the night so popular.

How to use these questions

Read each question, say your answer out loud, and then open the answer underneath. The list is built for a Halloween party, a classroom or a quiet evening: twenty-five questions run from easy warm-ups about pumpkins and black cats to a few that only horror fans will get.

If you want to play against the clock or against friends, the full Halloween quiz on Trivvy has twenty different questions, you type the answers yourself, and small spelling mistakes are forgiven. It is free and you do not need an account.

Turn it into a party game

To run these as a live quiz, read one question at a time, give everyone a minute to write down an answer, and score a point for each correct one. A bonus round with the hardest questions makes a good tie-breaker. Or skip the paper: create a room on Trivvy, share the four-character code, and everyone answers on their own phone while the app keeps score.

Which silent film star, nicknamed the Man of a Thousand Faces, played the Phantom in the 1925 film The Phantom of the Opera?
Show answer
Lon Chaney
In which US state is Sleepy Hollow, the village haunted by the Headless Horseman in Washington Irving's story?
Show answer
New York
What is a carved pumpkin with a candle inside called?
Show answer
A jack-o'-lantern – The name comes from an old Irish folk tale about a man called Stingy Jack.
What is the name of the caretaker's cat at Hogwarts in the Harry Potter books?
Show answer
Mrs Norris
Which 1872 novella by Sheridan Le Fanu features a female vampire and inspired Dracula?
Show answer
Carmilla
In which fictional Illinois town does the 1978 film Halloween take place?
Show answer
Haddonfield
Who directed and scored the 1978 horror film Halloween?
Show answer
John Carpenter – He wrote the famous piano theme himself.
Which American magician, famous for escapes, died on Halloween in 1926?
Show answer
Harry Houdini
Which animal is traditionally believed to be a witch's companion?
Show answer
A black cat
What is the name of the disembodied hand in The Addams Family?
Show answer
Thing
In which year did the Salem witch trials begin?
Show answer
1692
Which creature of legend is said to transform under a full moon?
Show answer
A werewolf
Which metal are werewolves traditionally said to be vulnerable to?
Show answer
Silver
In which small town is the film Gremlins set?
Show answer
Kingston Falls
Who wrote the 1954 vampire novel I Am Legend?
Show answer
Richard Matheson
Which 1987 horror film written and directed by Clive Barker features a puzzle box that summons the Cenobites?
Show answer
Hellraiser
Which 1973 British horror film ends with a giant burning wooden figure on a remote Scottish island?
Show answer
The Wicker Man
Which orange flower, called cempasúchil in Mexico, decorates altars for the Day of the Dead?
Show answer
The marigold
Which ghost is the house ghost of Gryffindor in the Harry Potter books?
Show answer
Nearly Headless Nick
In Tim Burton's 2005 film Corpse Bride, what is the name of the nervous groom?
Show answer
Victor – Victor Van Dort.
Which Greek hero beheaded the gorgon Medusa?
Show answer
Perseus
Which name do you say three times to summon the ghost in Tim Burton's 1988 film?
Show answer
Beetlejuice
In Hocus Pocus, what is the name of the boy the Sanderson sisters turned into an immortal black cat?
Show answer
Thackery Binx
Which German director made the 1922 silent vampire film Nosferatu?
Show answer
F. W. Murnau
Which horror film series features a killer with a glove of blades who haunts people's dreams?
Show answer
A Nightmare on Elm Street

Play the Halloween quiz

Halloween trivia questions, with answers

Where Halloween comes from

How to use these questions

Turn it into a party game

Related reading

More ways to play