A Halloween quiz is the easiest way to turn a room of people in costumes into a room of people competing. Below are 60 Halloween trivia questions, each with its answer, split into five rounds: history and traditions, spooky films and books, multiple choice for adults, an easy round for kids, and a horror movie round.
A good quiz mixes a few "I never knew that" history questions with film trivia everyone half-remembers, so that is how this one is built. Every question comes with its answer, and the key history facts link to their sources. Halloween is a safe bet for a group game: 74% of US consumers plan to celebrate it in 2026, according to the National Retail Federation's annual survey.
History answers checked against HISTORY and Guinness World Records; film facts checked against the sources listed under Round 5.
Quick facts
At a glance4 quick answers
How many questions are there?
Answer60, across five rounds
Are the answers included?
AnswerYes, straight after every question
Is it suitable for kids?
AnswerRound 4 is written for children; the rest suits teens and adults (the horror round suits older teens and adults)
Can I host it live?
AnswerYes, as a live quiz on AhaSlides with a join code and leaderboard
Round 1: Halloween history and traditions
Twelve questions on where Halloween came from, in three sets.
Our pick: question 6, the turnip one. Most people assume pumpkins came first, so it gets the room arguing.
Set 1: Origins and saints5 questions
1Halloween grew out of which ancient Celtic festival?
AnswerSamhain, according to HISTORY.
2On what date did the Celts celebrate their new year?
Answer1 November, with Samhain beginning on the night of 31 October, according to HISTORY.
3"Halloween" is a shortened form of which older name?
AnswerAll Hallows' Eve, the evening before All Saints' Day.
4Which pope moved the Christian feast honouring all saints to 1 November?
AnswerPope Gregory III, who moved it from 13 May to 1 November, according to HISTORY.
5On 2 November, Christians remember the faithful departed on which day?
AnswerAll Souls' Day, which the church set on 2 November in 1000 AD as a day to honour the dead, according to HISTORY.
Set 2: Lanterns and pumpkins4 questions
6Before pumpkins, which root vegetable did people in Ireland and Scotland carve into lanterns?
AnswerTurnips (in England people carved large beets).
7Which character from Irish folklore gives the jack-o'-lantern its name?
AnswerStingy Jack, who, the story goes, tricked the Devil and was left to wander with a coal in a carved turnip, as HISTORY's account of the legend tells it.
8Why did Irish and Scottish emigrants to America switch from turnips to pumpkins?
AnswerPumpkins are native to North America and much easier to carve.
9Which US city holds the Guinness World Record for the most lit jack-o'-lanterns on display?
AnswerKeene, New Hampshire, with 30,581 on 19 October 2013, per Guinness World Records.
Set 3: Treats and tricks3 questions
10Apple bobbing may come from the festival of which Roman goddess, whose symbol was the apple?
AnswerPomona, whose festival "likely explains" apple bobbing, according to HISTORY.
11Which farmyard name did Goelitz give candy corn when it began marketing it in 1898?
Answer"Chicken Feed". Corn was not seen as people food at the time, according to HISTORY.
12Which party spray is banned in Hollywood on Halloween?
AnswerSilly String. A Los Angeles Ordinance 176176 banned it in the LAPD's Hollywood Division during Halloween festivities when it was passed in 2004.
Round 2: Spooky films, books and TV
Fourteen questions from screen and page, in three sets.
Our pick: question 22, the room number in The Shining. Everyone half-remembers it, so the guesses get loud.
Set 1: Halloween Town and witches5 questions
13In what year was The Nightmare Before Christmas released?
Answer1993.
14Who directed The Nightmare Before Christmas?
AnswerHenry Selick (Tim Burton produced it and came up with the story).
15What is the name of Jack Skellington's ghost dog?
AnswerZero.
16In The Nightmare Before Christmas, what is the name of the town where Jack Skellington lives?
AnswerHalloween Town.
17Name the three Sanderson sisters in Hocus Pocus.
AnswerWinifred, Mary and Sarah.
Set 2: Family favourites4 questions
18In It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966), which character waits all night in the pumpkin patch?
AnswerLinus.
19Which member of the Addams family is Wednesday?
AnswerThe daughter of Gomez and Morticia.
20Which giant sugary villain stomps through New York at the end of Ghostbusters (1984)?
AnswerThe Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.
21In Pixar's Coco, which famous musician does Miguel idolise?
AnswerErnesto de la Cruz.
Set 3: Horror classics and books5 questions
22In Stanley Kubrick's The Shining, which hotel room number is Danny warned about?
Answer237.
23Who wrote the 1897 novel Dracula?
AnswerBram Stoker.
24Who wrote Frankenstein, first published in 1818?
AnswerMary Shelley.
25Who wrote "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow", home of the Headless Horseman?
AnswerWashington Irving.
26What is the name of the masked killer in John Carpenter's Halloween (1978)?
AnswerMichael Myers.
Round 3: Halloween multiple-choice questions for adults
Twelve four-option questions, in three sets, for players who like to guess.
Our pick: question 35, the Pennywise one. Two famous actors played him, so it rewards the film fans.
Set 1: Customs and culture5 questions
27In which present-day country is Transylvania, the home of Count Dracula in the novel?
28Which country is widely considered the birthplace of Halloween?
29Which ancient people celebrated the festival Halloween grew out of?
30Día de los Muertos (the Day of the Dead) is most closely associated with which country?
31Which of these is not a traditional Halloween decoration?
Set 2: Films4 questions
32Which horror anthology film, released by Warner Bros. in October 2009, is named after the Halloween doorstep greeting?
Trick 'r Treat, which Warner Bros. dates to October 2009.
33Who directed Beetlejuice (1988)?
34Who played Freddy Krueger in A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)?
35Who played Pennywise in the 2017 film It?
AnswerBill Skarsgård (Tim Curry played him in the 1990 TV adaptation).
Set 3: Colours, feasts and wizards3 questions
36Which two colours are most associated with Halloween?
37Which Christian feast falls the day after Halloween?
38In Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, what creature gets loose in the castle on Halloween?
Round 4: Easy Halloween questions for kids
Twelve easy questions for children, in three sets.
Our pick: question 46, Room on the Broom. It is a read-aloud favourite, so younger players often beat the adults.
Set 1: Spooky basics4 questions
39Which fruit do we carve into jack-o'-lanterns?
AnswerA pumpkin.
40Which ancient civilisation is famous for its mummies?
AnswerAncient Egypt.
41Which animal can vampires supposedly turn into?
AnswerA bat.
42What do witches fly on?
AnswerA broomstick.
Set 2: Creatures and characters4 questions
43Which animal is a witch's traditional companion?
AnswerA black cat.
44Where do vampires sleep in stories?
AnswerIn a coffin.
45Which Halloween character is made entirely of bones?
AnswerA skeleton.
46Who wrote the picture book Room on the Broom?
AnswerJulia Donaldson (illustrated by Axel Scheffler).
Set 3: Trick or treat4 questions
47What do children say at the door when they go out on Halloween?
Answer"Trick or treat!"
48What is the name of the friendly ghost from the cartoons and the 1995 film?
AnswerCasper.
49What is a group of bats called?
AnswerA colony.
50What do you put inside a jack-o'-lantern to make it glow?
AnswerA candle (or a battery tea light).
Round 5: Horror movie trivia
For the film fans in the room, here are ten horror questions, from the classics to recent releases. They stay on well-known films, so nobody needs a strong stomach. Want to play it as a ready-made quiz? The Halloween Trivia Night template below mixes true or false, picture and fill-in-the-blank questions, spooky films included, and you can copy and host it. Want even more? Our horror movie trivia and quiz has 60 more questions on different films.
Our pick: question 58, Nosferatu. It links a 1922 silent film to a 2024 remake, so film fans get a real moment.
Set 1: Classics5 questions
51Which 1960 Alfred Hitchcock film is famous for its shower scene?
AnswerPsycho.
52In which 1973 film is a girl named Regan possessed by a demon?
AnswerThe Exorcist, directed by William Friedkin.
53What is the name of the killer doll in Child's Play (1988)?
AnswerChucky, whose human name was Charles Lee Ray.
54In The Blair Witch Project (1999), which US state are the student filmmakers in when they get lost in the woods?
AnswerMaryland, near the town of Burkittsville.
55Who directed Scream (1996)?
AnswerWes Craven.
Set 2: Recent releases5 questions
56In Jordan Peele's Get Out (2017), what is the hypnotic void that Chris is sent into called?
AnswerThe Sunken Place.
57In A Quiet Place (2018), a family must avoid making what to survive the creatures that hunt them?
AnswerAny sound, because the creatures hunt by hearing. John Krasinski directed the film and co-stars in it.
58Robert Eggers directed a 2024 remake of which 1922 silent vampire film?
AnswerNosferatu, originally directed by F. W. Murnau.
59In The Substance (2024), which actor plays Elisabeth Sparkle?
AnswerDemi Moore.
60Which 2025 vampire film, directed by Ryan Coogler, is set in Mississippi in 1932?
AnswerSinners.
Sources for the film facts: Psycho (BFI), The Exorcist (AFI), Child's Play (AFI Catalog), The Blair Witch Project (HISTORY), Scream (BFI), Get Out (NPR), A Quiet Place (Smithsonian), Nosferatu (Focus Features), The Substance (BFI) and Sinners (BFI).
How to host a Halloween quiz on AhaSlides
Reading 60 questions aloud works for a family around the table, but for a party, a classroom or an office social it helps when everyone answers at once and the scores add themselves up. Here is how to set it up.
- Sign up for free. Create an AhaSlides account; the free plan covers up to 50 players and five quiz questions per presentation, so a full 60-question night needs a paid plan.
- Start from a template. Open the template library, search for "Halloween" and pick one of the ready-made quizzes below, or build your own with the live quiz maker.
- Add your rounds. Paste in the questions above. Use Pick Answer for the multiple-choice round and Type Answer for the history and film questions. Add a Word Cloud ("what scares you most?") or an Open Ended slide between rounds, and a Rating Scale to score the costumes. If you only want a short night, pick two or three rounds.
- Share the join code. Players join on their phones, no app needed, and answer while the questions show on the big screen.
- Reveal the leaderboard. Show the scores after each round to keep the competition going until the last question.
Want a warm-up before the quiz? A Spinner Wheel filled with Halloween characters is a quick way to decide who goes first, or to hand out costume dares.
Five ways to make your Halloween quiz more fun
With 74% of US consumers planning to celebrate Halloween and 42% watching scary movies, most of your group already has a favourite spooky film or tradition. Use that.
- True or False. Turn any history answer into a statement and let the room vote, such as "Jack-o'-lanterns were first carved from turnips" (question 6).
- Photo Share. Every player sends a photo from their own phone, which makes a quick costume contest. Add a Photo Share slide to the Halloween Costume Contest template, which already has the voting slides.
- Draw Answer. Everyone sketches their answer on their phone, for prompts such as "draw a witch's hat from memory".
- Fill in the Blanks. Remove the key words from a famous line or a history fact and let players complete it.
- Duck Race. Everyone who joins becomes a duck, so a race makes a light-hearted tie-breaker between rounds.
Free Halloween quiz templates
Ready-made quizzes3 templates
Planning more than a quiz? For more themed rounds, try our Disney trivia or guess the movie questions.
Frequently asked questions
Where did Halloween come from?
Halloween grew out of Samhain, the Celtic festival that marked the end of the harvest and the start of the new year on 1 November. When the Christian feast of All Saints moved to 1 November, the night before became known as All Hallows' Eve, and eventually Halloween.
How many questions should a Halloween quiz have?
For a party, 20 to 30 questions in three or four rounds takes roughly 30 to 45 minutes, which leaves time for costumes and food. Use all 60 above for a full quiz night.
What are good Halloween questions for kids?
Keep them visual and familiar: pumpkins, bats, black cats, broomsticks, skeletons and favourite films. Round 4 above is written for primary-school children.
How do you host a Halloween quiz online?
Build it on AhaSlides, share the join code and let players answer on their phones while you show the questions on a screen or video call. The steps are in the hosting section above.
