Halloween quiz questions and answers

Free Halloween quiz questions with answers: horror films, folklore, monsters and the origins of the night itself, for an October quiz that is not just pumpkins.

Last reviewed 14 September 2026

A Halloween round that is about something

Most Halloween quizzes are ten questions about pumpkins and one about a Michael Jackson video. It is a category with far more in it than that.

The three seams worth mining are horror film history, which is genuinely rich; folklore and the origins of the night itself, which most people have never looked into; and the monsters, which everybody knows and nobody knows the details of.

One practical note: horror splits a room harder than almost any category. Plenty of people have never seen a horror film on purpose, so keep the film questions to the famous end and lean on folklore for the rest.

Easy

Monsters, traditions and the famous end of horror. Accessible to a room that does not watch horror.

1
What vegetable was traditionally carved before pumpkins in Britain and Ireland?
Answer: The turnip
2
What is a group of witches called?
Answer: A coven
3
Which Transylvanian count is the most famous vampire in fiction?
Answer: Dracula
4
What do children say when they knock on doors at Halloween?
Answer: Trick or treat
5
What is the fear of spiders called?
Answer: Arachnophobia
6
Which animal is most associated with witches?
Answer: The cat, particularly a black cat
7
What is the name of the pumpkin lantern carved at Halloween?
Answer: A jack-o'-lantern
8
On which date is Halloween?
Answer: 31 October
9
Which creature turns into a bat and drinks blood?
Answer: A vampire
10
What is the name of the monster created by Victor Frankenstein commonly called?
Answer: Frankenstein's monster
11
What is the fear of the dark called?
Answer: Nyctophobia
12
Which film features a group of ghost-hunting scientists in New York?
Answer: Ghostbusters

Medium

Folklore, origins and horror history. The body of the round.

13
Halloween derives from which ancient Celtic festival?
Answer: Samhain
14
Who wrote the novel Dracula?
Answer: Bram Stoker
15
What does the word 'Halloween' literally mean?
Answer: All Hallows' Eve, the evening before All Saints' Day
16
Which 1978 film features the character Michael Myers?
Answer: Halloween
17
What is the name of the killer's mask in the Scream films?
Answer: Ghostface
18
Which country is the tradition of Day of the Dead from?
Answer: Mexico
19
Who directed the 1960 film Psycho?
Answer: Alfred Hitchcock
20
In folklore, what is said to kill a werewolf?
Answer: A silver bullet
21
What is a phobia of the number 13 called?
Answer: Triskaidekaphobia
22
Which novel features a character called Dr Jekyll?
Answer: Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
23
What is the name of the haunted hotel in The Shining?
Answer: The Overlook
24
In Irish folklore, what is a banshee's wail said to foretell?
Answer: A death

Hard

For a tie-break or the end of a Halloween round.

25
In which year was the first Halloween film released?
Answer: 1978
26
What is the name of the demon in The Exorcist?
Answer: Pazuzu
27
Which Massachusetts town is famous for its 1692 witch trials?
Answer: Salem
28
Who wrote the short story 'The Tell-Tale Heart'?
Answer: Edgar Allan Poe
29
What is the term for the study of ghosts and the paranormal?
Answer: Parapsychology
30
Which 1922 German film was an unauthorised adaptation of Dracula?
Answer: Nosferatu
31
In folklore, what must a vampire be invited to do before entering a home?
Answer: Enter, they cannot cross the threshold uninvited
32
What is the name of the Mexican festival held on 1 and 2 November?
Answer: Día de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead
33
Which author wrote the horror novels Carrie, It and The Shining?
Answer: Stephen King
34
What was the profession of the original Jack in the jack-o'-lantern legend?
Answer: A blacksmith, Stingy Jack

The format that suits October

A Halloween quiz is one of the few nights where a themed whole quiz works rather than a single themed round, because the room has turned up for it.

Five rounds: monsters, horror films, folklore and origins, a picture round of famous villains, and a music round of songs that get played every October. It writes itself and it is a complete night.

Keep it fun rather than genuinely frightening

A pub on Halloween has families in it until about eight. Graphic horror questions land badly and the round does not need them, the folklore is more interesting anyway.

The exception is a late-night horror quiz advertised as one, where the audience has self-selected. Then go as dark as you like.

Run a themed night

Pick your rounds and set the question count when you start the session. The first one is free.

Start free, no card needed