126 Fun Facts About Halloween Trivia for Kids

What is the big iron pot in which a storybook witch brews her potions called?

A cauldron owes much of its spooky fame to Shakespeare: the witches in Macbeth chant 'Double, double toil and trouble' while stirring one.

The word Halloween is a shortened form of which older name?

All Hallows' Eve is the evening before All Saints' Day, a hallow being an old word for a saint; Scots speakers squeezed 'even' down to 'e'en', which gave Hallowe'en.

Why did people once set carved lanterns on their windowsills?

To keep harmful spirits out, people in Ireland and Britain set lanterns carved with grotesque faces on windowsills and by doors, hoping the fright would turn evil visitors away.

Botanically speaking, a pumpkin counts as which of these?

A berry, to a botanist, is a fleshy fruit grown from a single flower's ovary, so pumpkins and cucumbers count, as a hard-rinded kind called a pepo, while strawberries do not.

The champion pumpkin at California's Half Moon Bay weigh-off in 2023 weighed closest to which figure?

Close to 2,750 lb: the 2,749-pound winner was the heaviest pumpkin ever weighed at the time, and British growers have since pushed the record past 2,850 lb.

Wild pumpkins and the first farmed ones came from which part of the world?

North America is the pumpkin's home: its wild ancestors grew in what is now Mexico and the southern United States, and pictures of pumpkins reached Europe only after colonists had settled there.

Which 2017 Pixar film follows a boy named Miguel into the Land of the Dead?

Coco is set during Mexico's Day of the Dead: Miguel needs a family blessing to get home, and the dead fade away for good once nobody alive remembers them.

Which cakes were handed out to people who went door to door at Allhallowtide?

Soul cakes were given in exchange for prayers for the dead, and the custom is a likely ancestor of trick-or-treating.

The Halloween call children make at the door was first recorded in print in which country?

Canada has the earliest known print uses: an Ontario newspaper reported youngsters calling 'tricks or treats' at doors in 1917, well before the phrase spread south in the 1930s.

In apple bobbing, how are players supposed to get an apple out of the water?

Using only their teeth, hands behind their backs, players chase the bobbing fruit; the game may go back to Roman Britain, where the apple was the symbol of the fruit goddess Pomona.

Bats are the only mammals that can do which of these?

Fly under their own power is the bat's unique trick among mammals: flying squirrels, colugos and sugar gliders can only glide, while a bat truly flaps its wings.

Bats belong to which order of animals?

Chiroptera is Greek for hand-wing: a bat's wing is thin skin stretched between long finger bones.

How do most bats find insects and obstacles in the dark?

Echolocation means sending out ultrasonic squeaks and reading the echoes that bounce back, building a sound picture of the dark.

Candy corn is made in white, orange and which third colour?

The yellow, orange and white bands are meant to look like a kernel of corn on the cob, or the colours of the fall harvest.

Mexico's Day of the Dead is traditionally held on which dates?

Día de los Muertos runs on 1 and 2 November; in many towns 1 November honours children and 2 November adults, though celebrations can begin on 31 October.

What is an ofrenda?

A home altar for the dead, the ofrenda is laid with the favourite food, drink and photographs of relatives who have died, to welcome their spirits back for a visit.

Brightly decorated sugar skulls are known in Spanish by which name?

Calaveras simply means skulls; the sugar ones began as gifts for children to eat, and a name is often piped in icing across the forehead.

Which author wrote the Goosebumps series of spooky children's books?

R. L. Stine started out in comedy, publishing joke books as 'Jovial Bob Stine', before his first scary novel in 1986 set him on the road to Goosebumps.

In a 2025 US survey, which Halloween activity was the most popular of all?

Handing out candy led the National Retail Federation's 2025 survey: about two-thirds of people planned to do it, so more Americans meant to give sweets than to wear a costume.

In a 2025 US survey, which superhero was the top Halloween costume choice for children?

Spider-Man topped the National Retail Federation's 2025 list, with about 2.3 million children planning to dress as him, while grown-ups stuck with the classic witch.

Which company makes Reese's Peanut Butter Cups?

Hershey once employed H. B. Reese, who made sweets in his basement while working at its factory; his six sons merged the family firm into Hershey in 1963.

Which advertising slogan belongs to Skittles?

'Taste the rainbow' came from an American ad agency; the sweets themselves started out in Britain and were imported to the United States before American production began in 1982.

In the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, what makes the Wicked Witch of the West melt?

A bucket of water does it by accident: Dorothy throws it to put out the Scarecrow's burning arm, and the splash that reaches the Witch melts her away.

Which word describes animals, such as bats and owls, that are active mainly at night?

Nocturnal animals lean on sharp hearing, smell and night vision; pet cats, often called nocturnal, are really crepuscular, busiest at dawn and dusk.

Which day comes immediately after All Saints' Day?

All Souls' Day is for praying for the dead; in many countries families spend it visiting graves, lighting candles and leaving flowers.

Which ancient Gaelic festival, marking the start of winter, is usually said to be the root of Halloween?

Samhain, held around 1 November, marked the end of harvest and the start of winter across the Gaelic world, including the Isle of Man, a night when the otherworld was thought to draw near.

In Ireland, finding the ring baked into a Halloween barmbrack loaf is said to promise what?

Marriage within a year is the ring's promise; other charms baked into the loaf told other fortunes, such as a coin for riches and a rag for hard times.

Before pumpkins, what vegetable did Halloween pranksters in Ireland and Britain hollow out for lanterns?

Turnips were hollowed out and carved with faces in Ireland and Britain; when the custom crossed the Atlantic, the pumpkin proved bigger and softer to carve, and took over.

What are the traditional colours of Halloween?

Black and orange are the traditional pair, with purple sometimes joining them: orange is the colour of the autumn harvest, and black suits a night given over to ghosts.

What is a baby bat called?

A pup is usually an only child: most bat mothers raise just one a year, which makes bats some of the slowest-breeding mammals of their size.

What is the old Scottish name for going house to house in costume for treats?

Guising, going about in disguise, comes with a duty: Scottish children are expected to earn each treat by singing a song, telling a joke or reciting a poem at the door.

Under what name was candy corn sold in its early days?

Chicken Feed made sense when most Americans saw corn as food for hens and pigs, not people; the boxes even carried a rooster.

What kind of plant is a pumpkin?

A pumpkin is a winter squash, a Cucurbita fruit harvested mature with a hard rind; there is no strict botanical definition, so many round orange squashes get called pumpkins.

Which character waits in the pumpkin patch in It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown?

Linus believes the Great Pumpkin rises from the most sincere pumpkin patch with toys for children who believe, so he skips the Halloween party to keep watch all night.

In which town do the Hocus Pocus witches come back to life?

Salem, Massachusetts is famous for its real witch trials of 1692, and the film crew went there too: the daytime street scenes were shot in the town itself.

The Halloween song Monster Mash was recorded in 1962 by which singer?

Bobby 'Boris' Pickett was a would-be actor whose horror-film voice impression delighted his band's audiences, so a bandmate urged him to build a whole song around it.

Why did the BBC ban Monster Mash from the radio in 1962?

The BBC judged the song too morbid for airplay in 1962; the ban was lifted for its 1973 re-release, when it reached the UK top three.

By one old account, why did people wear Halloween masks?

People dressed up so wandering ghosts would not recognise them, since souls of the dead were believed to roam until All Saints' Day looking for old enemies.

Which famous magician died on Halloween in 1926?

Harry Houdini died that Halloween aged 52; for years afterwards his widow Bess held seances, listening for a secret code only the two of them knew.

What is a carved, glowing pumpkin with a face called?

A jack-o'-lantern in 1600s England meant a night watchman or the eerie lights over marshes; carved pumpkins only took the name in the 1830s.

In the Irish tale of Stingy Jack, whom did Jack trick into climbing a tree?

The Devil was trapped up the tree by the sign of the cross until he struck a bargain with Jack; when Jack died, neither heaven nor hell would take him in.

What is a group of witches traditionally called?

A coven is a cousin of the word 'convent': both come from a Latin word for a gathering, and Scots began using this spelling for a meeting of witches in the 1600s.

Who wrote the 1820 story The Legend of Sleepy Hollow?

Washington Irving wrote this very American ghost story while living in Birmingham, England, and published it in the same collection as Rip Van Winkle.

What is the job of Ichabod Crane in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow?

Ichabod Crane is the lanky, superstitious schoolteacher of Sleepy Hollow, boarding with his pupils' families in turn and courting the heiress Katrina Van Tassel.

In The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, which ghostly rider chases Ichabod Crane home from the party?

The Headless Horseman hurls his 'head' at Ichabod, who vanishes; next morning only his hat and a smashed pumpkin are found, hinting that a rival played the ghost.

Which candy takes its name from 'Pfefferminz', the German word for peppermint?

PEZ began in Vienna in 1927 as a peppermint for grown-ups, sold in small tins; the toy-headed dispensers that made it a children's favourite came decades later.

Which company was the biggest maker of candy corn in the early 2020s?

Brach's is the biggest maker and now shares an owner with an older one: Ferrara, its parent, bought Jelly Belly in 2023, the former Goelitz firm that has made the sweet since about 1898.

In parts of the United States, what is the night before Halloween called?

Mischief Night falls on 30 October, a night of soaped windows and trees draped in toilet paper; the date is also National Candy Corn Day.

What nickname is given to the red-and-green Christmas version of the classic tri-colour candy?

Reindeer corn swaps the usual colours for red, green and white; makers recolour the same sweet for other holidays too, as pink-and-red Cupid corn and pastel Bunny corn.

Which groups started trunk-or-treating in the 1990s as a safer alternative to going door to door?

Churches began inviting families to their car parks, where children go from one decorated car boot to the next instead of walking dark streets.

In Edgar Allan Poe's spooky 1845 poem, which bird keeps repeating the word 'Nevermore'?

A raven it had to be: Poe wanted a creature that could speak without reasoning, and chose it over a parrot because it suited the poem's gloomy tone.

What do people in the United Kingdom call the farm attraction cut through a cornfield?

Britons call it a maize maze, because in British English 'corn' means any cereal crop and the American plant is called maize.

What are candy apples called in France?

Candy apples are pommes d'amour, 'apples of love', in France, sold at fairs and Christmas markets with a hard red sugar shell.

Why do apples float when you bob for them?

They are less dense than water because the flesh holds tiny pockets of air between its cells, so even a big apple bobs at the surface.

What is apple bobbing called in Scotland?

Dooking is Scots for ducking; at the same Halloween parties, scones smeared with treacle dangle from the ceiling on strings as a second, stickier challenge.

In the SpongeBob Halloween episode 'Scaredy Pants', who accidentally swallows an apple while bobbing for one?

Mr. Krabs briefly chokes on his catch at the Halloween party, which SpongeBob then crashes dressed as the Flying Dutchman, only for the real ghost to turn up, insulted by his costume.

Hulled pumpkin seeds are sold under which Spanish-derived name?

Pepitas is the name the seeds go by in Mexico; some pumpkins are bred to grow seeds with no hard shell at all, and are raised just for these green kernels.

Pumpkins, beans and corn are grown together in a traditional planting method called what?

In the Three Sisters method, corn gives the beans a pole to climb, beans fix nitrogen for the soil, and the sprawling pumpkin leaves shade out weeds and keep the ground moist.

At some autumn festivals, racers hollow out giant pumpkins and climb inside to use them as what?

Boats: the races began in 1999 in Windsor, Nova Scotia, after pumpkin farmer Danny Dill realised his giants would float, and paddlers have since raced them at festivals across the United States.

Pumpkin pie spice blends cinnamon, ginger, cloves and which other warm spice?

Nutmeg completes the classic blend, which contains no pumpkin at all: it is named for the pie it seasons, and McCormick has sold it ready-mixed since 1934.

Which cat breed is always black?

The Bombay was created by Kentucky breeder Nikki Horner, who crossed sable Burmese with black American Shorthairs to make a 'miniature black panther' for the living room.

In the UK and Ireland, a black cat crossing your path is thought to be what?

Good luck is the British and Irish reading, the opposite of the American one; fishermen's wives even kept black cats at home, hoping to keep their husbands safe at sea.

Owls can swivel their heads about 270 degrees, but why do they need to?

Their eyes cannot move: an owl's eyes are tubes fixed in the skull, so it swivels its head instead, helped by 14 neck bones, twice as many as ours.

What is a group of owls called?

A parliament of owls is usually traced to C. S. Lewis, whose Narnia book The Silver Chair has talking owls gather for a meeting by that name.

Which is the smallest owl in the world?

The elf owl, about 13 centimetres long and 40 grams, is the world's smallest owl; it nests in old woodpecker holes in saguaro cacti of the American Southwest and Mexico.

Spiders, with their eight legs, belong to which group of animals?

Arachnids take their name from arachne, the Greek word for spider, which is also the name of the weaver in Greek myth who was turned into one.

What do spiders use to make silk?

Spinnerets on the spider's abdomen release silk as a liquid, and it hardens into thread as it is pulled out, not by drying in the air.

Which spider is known for the red hourglass mark on the underside of its body?

The black widow is named for the female's occasional habit of eating her mate; her bite is painful but rarely fatal to healthy people.

How many bones are in an adult human skeleton?

206 bones make up the adult skeleton, and none of them is dead scaffolding: living bone is constantly broken down and rebuilt, about a tenth of it every year.

Babies are born with far more bones than adults have, so what happens to the extra ones?

They fuse together: a newborn's 270 or more bones, many still soft cartilage, join up over the years, which is why the soft spots on a baby's skull close.

What is a hard outer skeleton, like a crab's shell, called?

An exoskeleton does not grow with its owner, so crabs and insects must shed it and form a larger one each time they outgrow it.

Which group of mammals alone has more species than bats?

Rodents outnumber every other mammal group in species; their front teeth never stop growing, so mice, rats and squirrels have to keep gnawing.

Which bat, at about two grams, is the world's smallest?

The bumblebee bat, also called Kitti's hog-nosed bat, lives in limestone caves in Thailand and Myanmar and was unknown to science until a Thai zoologist found it in the 1970s.

Which are the biggest bats?

Flying foxes are giant fruit bats whose wings can span more than 1.5 metres; they find food by sight and smell, and help forests regrow by spreading seeds.

Who wrote the 1897 vampire novel Dracula?

Bram Stoker first named his villain Count Wampyr, then found the name Dracula in a history book and swapped it in.

Where is Count Dracula's castle in the famous 1897 vampire novel?

The castle stands in Transylvania, in the Carpathian mountains near the Borgo Pass, from where Dracula ships himself in boxes of earth to Whitby in England.

Which strong-smelling food is famous in folklore for keeping vampires away?

Garlic could be worn, hung in windows or rubbed on chimneys and keyholes to keep vampires out; some corpses were even buried with it in their mouths.

Who wrote the 1818 novel that introduced Frankenstein's monster?

Mary Shelley began Frankenstein at 18, after Lord Byron challenged his rain-trapped guests at Lake Geneva to each write a ghost story.

Which actor wore the flat-headed make-up of Frankenstein's monster in 1931?

Boris Karloff wore a look credited to make-up artist Jack Pierce; in the novel the creature has flowing black hair and no flat head.

The word 'werewolf' comes from Old English words meaning what?

Man-wolf: Old English wer meant 'man' and wulf 'wolf'; the same wer hides inside 'world', which began as a word meaning 'the age of man'.

In modern films, what usually makes a werewolf transform?

The full moon as the trigger is largely a movie invention: 1943's Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man made it standard, while older folklore blamed a curse or a wolfskin belt.

Zombie stories originally come from the folklore of which country?

Haiti's folklore tells of a sorcerer, the bokor, raising the dead as mindless workers; William Seabrook's 1929 book The Magic Island helped carry the idea to Western readers.

Which pop star's 1983 music video famously featured dancing zombies?

Michael Jackson's 14-minute Thriller video, directed by John Landis, was played so often on MTV that it helped make Thriller the best-selling album of all time.

Egyptian embalmers pulled a mummy's brain out through the nose, but which organ did they leave in place?

The heart stayed because Egyptians believed it did the thinking and would be needed in the afterlife; the liver, lungs and stomach were stored in special jars.

Which cartoonist created Peanuts, the comic strip behind the Great Pumpkin Halloween special?

Charles Schulz wrote and drew all 17,897 Peanuts strips himself over nearly 50 years, refusing help even when a tremor made his lines shaky.

In the Great Pumpkin special, what does Charlie Brown get instead of Halloween candy?

Rocks are all Charlie Brown gets, house after house; after the special aired, sympathetic children across America reportedly mailed him candy.

Who dresses as a World War I flying ace in the Great Pumpkin Halloween special?

Snoopy imagines his doghouse is a Sopwith Camel in an air battle with the Red Baron; shot down, he has to make his way back on foot across enemy lines.

Which little sister of Charlie Brown misses the Halloween fun and demands 'restitution' in the Great Pumpkin special?

Sally gives up a night of candy and parties to wait for the Great Pumpkin, then shouts that she is owed restitution when it never shows.

What is the family name of the three witches in Hocus Pocus?

The Sanderson sisters, Winifred, Mary and Sarah, are hanged in 1693, but Winifred's dying curse promises that they will rise again one Halloween night.

In Hocus Pocus, which zombie does Winifred raise from his grave to chase the children?

Billy Butcherson, poisoned by Winifred in 1693, turns out to be no villain: he cuts open his stitched mouth and sides with the children.

What does Max light in Hocus Pocus that brings the witches back?

The Black-Flame Candle brings the witches back for one night only: unless they steal a child's life before sunrise, they will turn to dust.

What is Jack Skellington's title in The Nightmare Before Christmas?

Jack Skellington is the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town, bored of frights, who stumbles into Christmas Town through a door in a tree and decides to run Christmas himself.

What does Jack Skellington mistakenly call Santa Claus?

Sandy Claws is Jack's mangled version of the name; he has Santa kidnapped and delivers the presents himself, until the army shoots his sleigh out of the sky.

Which trio is sent to kidnap Santa in The Nightmare Before Christmas?

Lock, Shock and Barrel are ordered by Jack to keep Santa away from their master Oogie Boogie, but the mischievous trio disobey and hand him over.

How was The Nightmare Before Christmas animated?

Stop-motion: Henry Selick's crew moved real puppets by hand, frame by frame; Tim Burton, whose name sits above the title, produced the film but did not direct it.

Who provided Jack Skellington's singing voice?

Danny Elfman wrote the film's songs and sang Jack's parts himself, while actor Chris Sarandon spoke the character's lines.

What are Casper the Friendly Ghost's troublemaking uncles called?

The Ghostly Trio, called Stretch, Stinkie and Fatso in the 1995 film Casper, love to scare people, the very thing their friendly nephew refuses to do.

According to Joe Oriolo, why was Casper created?

To calm his daughter's fear of the dark, Oriolo said, he hung a cardboard cut-out of a friendly ghost in a backyard tree to show her that not all ghosts are bad.

How high did Monster Mash climb on the US singles chart just before Halloween 1962?

Number one for two weeks in the autumn of 1962, Monster Mash was no one-off: re-released in 1973, it climbed back into the US top ten.

How was the sound of a bubbling potion on the record Monster Mash created?

Blowing through a straw into a glass of water made the bubbles, and the creak of the coffin lid was a rusty nail being pulled out of a board.

The Mashed Potato, which lent Monster Mash its name, was what kind of early-1960s craze?

A dance: the Mashed Potato was a hit step of 1962, and Monster Mash fans copied its footwork while adding stiff Frankenstein-style arms.

In Halloweentown, which relative arrives on Halloween wanting to train Marnie as a witch?

Her grandmother, Aggie, warns that Marnie must begin training before she turns 13 or lose her powers; Marnie's mother wants the children raised as ordinary mortals.

How do the kids in Halloweentown get to the town of monsters?

On a magical bus: Marnie, Dylan and little Sophie sneak aboard behind Aggie, even though their mother never lets them go out on Halloween.

In Coraline, what do the 'Other' parents have instead of eyes?

The Other Mother and Other Father have shiny black buttons sewn where their eyes should be, and the Other Mother wants to sew buttons onto Coraline's eyes too.

Who wrote the book Coraline is based on?

Neil Gaiman, a fan of The Nightmare Before Christmas, invited its director Henry Selick to film Coraline before the book had even been published.

In Monster House, what is scary about the house across the street?

It is alive: the house devours people who stray too close, two police officers included, as Halloween draws near.

What is the name of the grumpy old neighbour in Monster House?

Mr. Nebbercracker, voiced by Steve Buscemi, frightens children off his lawn and confiscates their toys; when an ambulance takes him away early in the film, the kids face the house alone.

In Frankenweenie, what kind of pet does Victor bring back to life?

Victor's dog, a bull terrier, is killed by a car and brought back to life with lightning in the attic, in homage to Frankenstein.

What is the name of Victor's pet in Frankenweenie?

Sparky is jolted back to life by lightning in a story Tim Burton first filmed as a short in 1984; Disney fired him afterwards, calling it too scary for children.

In which city do the Ghostbusters run their ghost-catching business?

New York supplied only the outside of the Ghostbusters' firehouse, a real station in Tribeca; the scenes inside were filmed in an old fire station in Los Angeles.

Which giant food mascot stomps through the city at the end of Ghostbusters?

The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man appears because Gozer makes the team choose the form of their destroyer, and one of them cannot help picturing a mascot he loved as a child.

Who sang the hit Ghostbusters theme song?

Ray Parker Jr.'s 'Ghostbusters' topped the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks in August 1984; Huey Lewis later sued over its resemblance to 'I Want a New Drug'.

In Beetlejuice, what book helps the Maitlands realise they are ghosts?

Handbook for the Recently Deceased turns up after the Maitlands' car plunges into a river; with no reflections in the mirror either, they realise they drowned.

Who plays Betelgeuse in the 1988 film Beetlejuice?

Michael Keaton played Betelgeuse for director Tim Burton, who then cast him as Batman in his own next film, to the dismay of many comic fans.

Which sound punctuates the famous theme tune of the 1960s Addams Family TV series?

Finger snaps were improvised by composer Vic Mizzy as he pitched the tune; when the studio would not pay for singers, he sang it himself, overdubbed three times.

What is Thing in the Addams Family?

Thing is a disembodied hand, usually popping out of a box; in the 1960s TV series the hand belonged to Ted Cassidy, and in the 1991 film it scampered around on its own.

What is the name of the Addams Family butler?

Lurch was meant to be mute, but actor Ted Cassidy ad-libbed a deep 'You rang?' and the line went down so well that the butler was given more to say.

Which 2022 Netflix series follows a teenage Addams at Nevermore Academy?

Wednesday stars Jenna Ortega, who choreographed her character's routine at the school ball herself; fan copies of the scene then went viral on TikTok.

In Room on the Broom, which three animals join the witch and her cat?

Dog, bird and frog each hand back something the witch has dropped, her hat, her bow and her wand, and are given a seat on the broom until it snaps in two.

Who wrote the picture book Room on the Broom?

Julia Donaldson wrote songs for children's television before she wrote books, and her first picture book grew out of the words of one of those songs.

What kind of dog is Scooby-Doo?

A Great Dane, but a deliberately wrong one: designer Iwao Takamoto asked a breeder what a prize-winning Dane looks like, then drew the opposite, with bowed legs and a sloping back.

What is the name of the van the Scooby-Doo gang drives?

The Mystery Machine carries a gang first imagined as a pop group: in early drafts they were the Mysteries Five, a band that solved spooky cases between gigs.

Which charity have trick-or-treaters collected coins for since 1950?

Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF began in 1950 in Philadelphia, when children collected coins in decorated milk cartons; the first year raised about $17.

Which Disneyland ride carries its guests in vehicles nicknamed 'Doom Buggies'?

The Haunted Mansion's ballroom ghosts are an old stage trick called Pepper's ghost: hidden figures reflected in a pane of glass.

On what date do people in Britain light bonfires for Guy Fawkes Night?

5 November marks the failure of a 1605 plot to blow up the House of Lords: Guy Fawkes was caught guarding barrels of explosive beneath it.

Which orange flowers decorate Day of the Dead altars in Mexico?

Marigolds, called cempasúchil in Mexico, are the 'flower of the dead'; their bright orange petals and scent are said to guide spirits back to the family altar.