50 free The Black Phone trivia questions with answers — entertainment quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
The Black Phone started as a short story by Joe Hill, sat on Scott Derrickson's shelf for years while he made Sinister and Doctor Strange, and finally became a 2021 Blumhouse hit built out of the director's own memories of a violent 1970s Denver childhood. This The Black Phone trivia quiz covers the film, the story and the 2025 sequel: Finney and Gwen Blake, the Grabber and his three-piece mask, the ghost callers Bruce, Billy, Griffin, Vance and Robin, Gwen's dreams, Max, Samson the dog, and the return trip to Alpine Lake Camp. Easy questions ask who plays the Grabber and what the phone is; harder ones ask which special-effects legend built the masks, what the shoot's fake title was, which state's tax credit helped pay for it, and which video game the Grabber joined in 2025. Black Phone 2 gets a full section, from Ernesto to Lake Maru. Every answer has been checked against a source and each question shows its citation and a short explanation once you answer. Answer it. It's for you.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Who directed The Black Phone?
Scott Derrickson
He co-wrote it with C. Robert Cargill, his partner from Sinister, after quitting the Doctor Strange sequel over creative differences.
Q 02The film is based on a 2004 short story by which author?
Joe Hill
He is Stephen King's son, writing under a shortened form of his middle name Hillström so he could succeed on his own merits.
Q 03In which short-story collection did 'The Black Phone' first appear?
20th Century Ghosts
The collection was reissued under the title The Black Phone in December 2021 as a lead-in to the film.
Q 04Which actor plays the masked child-killer known as the Grabber?
Ethan Hawke
He was wary of villain roles for fear of typecasting, but the mask idea and his Sinister experience with Derrickson won him over.
Q 05Who plays Finney Blake, in his film debut?
Mason Thames
He was found only after months of agency searches and an open call, and impressed with his ability to emote and take direction.
Q 06Which actress plays Finney's psychic younger sister Gwen?
Madeleine McGraw
Filming was pushed back months so she could finish Disney's Secrets of Sulphur Springs first.
Q 07In which year and city is the film set?
1978, North Denver
Derrickson grew up in suburban Denver and drew on the everyday violence of his working-class neighbourhood.
Q 08How did Finney and Gwen's mother die?
By suicide after disturbing psychic dreams
Black Phone 2 later reveals the Grabber killed her and staged it to look self-inflicted.
Q 09Which friend of Finney's fends off the school bullies before being abducted himself?
Robin
His final call from the phone tells Finney to fight back by packing the receiver with dirt.
Q 10What is the first ghost caller Bruce's advice to Finney?
Remove a floor tile and dig a tunnel
The foundations prove too deep, but the pit he digs becomes the trap that finishes the Grabber.
Q 11When the Grabber leaves the basement door unlocked, what does Billy warn is really happening?
The killer waits upstairs to beat him with a belt
It is part of the killer's 'naughty boy' game; Billy suggests the hidden cable to the window instead.
Q 12What is the name of the eccentric man the detectives question, who turns out to be living in the Grabber's house?
Max
James Ransone plays the brother who finally realises the truth and dies by axe for it.
Q 13What is the name of the Grabber's dog, whose barking foils one escape?
Samson
Q 21In which North Carolina city was the film shot in early 2021?
Wilmington
EUE/Screen Gems' local studio housed the basement sets, and the shoot ran under a fake title.
Q 22Under what fake working title did the production shoot?
Static
The real title stayed under wraps while filming ran from 9 February to 27 March 2021.
Q 23Roughly what was the film's production budget?
$16–18 million
A $4.7 million transferable North Carolina tax credit covered part of it, and the film went on to gross nearly ten times that.
In what film format were Gwen's dream sequences shot?
Finney later distracts him with a steak from the freezer on his way out.
Q 14Which ghost caller, a juvenile delinquent, tells Finney to break through to a freezer?
Vance
The freezer door is locked, but the debris from that attempt goes into Finney's final trap.
Q 15How does Finney finally kill the Grabber?
He breaks his neck with the phone cord
First he traps him in the pit and beats him with the dirt-packed receiver while the ghosts of past victims taunt the killer.
Q 16Where does the Grabber's house turn out to be, relative to the house the police raid?
Directly across the street
Gwen's vision sent the police to the house where the bodies were buried; the killer had been holding Finney a few yards away.
Q 17What does Finney tell his crush she can call him in the final scene?
Finn
Now regarded as a hero at school, he takes the seat next to her with new confidence.
Q 18Which production company, run by Jason Blum, made the film with Derrickson and Cargill?
Blumhouse
Universal handled distribution, and part of the budget came from a North Carolina tax credit.
Q 19Which Marvel film did Derrickson leave before returning to The Black Phone?
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
He had directed the first Doctor Strange; Sam Raimi took over the sequel.
Q 20Which two films did Derrickson study for their portrayal of resilience among children?
The 400 Blows and The Devil's Backbone
He was also processing his own childhood trauma in therapy when the semi-autobiographical idea took shape.
Super 8
It is a Derrickson signature; the crew used Bolex cameras and Kodak Vision3 stocks.
Q 25Cinematographer Brett Jutkiewicz had just finished which 2022 horror film when he got the script?
Scream
Derrickson had also admired his work on the satirical horror Ready or Not.
Q 26Which special-effects legend co-founded the studio that built the Grabber's masks?
Tom Savini
His Pittsburgh studio Callosum, run with Jason Baker, made up to 30 masks from life casts taken in Hawke's New York home office.
Q 27What did Derrickson add to the original script's pair of smiling and frowning devil masks?
A mouthless mask
He wanted part of Hawke's face visible at times; the three pieces echo the tragic and comic masks of Greek theatre.
Q 28Which 1928 silent film's grinning character was a reference for the masks?
The Man Who Laughs
Conrad Veidt's Gwynplaine also inspired the Joker; Mr. Sardonicus and antique dolls were other references.
Q 29Who composed the synthesizer-heavy score?
Mark Korven
He built the Grabber's motifs from abrasive strings and the friction of mallets rubbed on rough surfaces.
Q 30At which festival did the film premiere in September 2021?
Fantastic Fest
The sequel premiered at the same Austin festival four years later.