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Trivia Questions Digest

Halloween trivia questions

Twenty questions on where Halloween came from, the books and films that shaped it, and the customs that go with it, from turnip lanterns to candy corn.

By Eren ŞimşirUpdated Answers checked How we write questions

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  1. Question 1

    Halloween's roots are usually traced to which Celtic festival?

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    Samhain

    Samhain, around November 1, marked the end of harvest and the start of winter. Beltane, in May, marked the start of summer.

  2. Question 2

    What were jack-o'-lanterns first carved from in Ireland and Scotland?

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    Turnips

    Irish and Scottish immigrants brought the custom to America, where the bigger, easier-to-carve pumpkin took over.

  3. Question 3

    Who wrote the 1897 novel Dracula?

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    Bram Stoker

    Stoker was Irish and never visited Transylvania. Stevenson wrote Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

  4. Question 4

    Who wrote Frankenstein?

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    Mary Shelley

    Mary Shelley began it during a ghost-story contest with Lord Byron in 1816 and published it in 1818. She was 20.

  5. Question 5

    Which famous escape artist died on Halloween in 1926?

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    Harry Houdini

    Houdini died of peritonitis after a burst appendix. Fans still hold séances for him every October 31.

  6. Question 6

    The name Halloween comes from the evening before which holiday?

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    All Saints' Day

    Halloween is a shortening of All Hallows' Eve. "Hallows" means saints, and All Saints' Day is November 1.

  7. Question 7

    What is the name of the masked killer in John Carpenter's Halloween (1978)?

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    Michael Myers

    Jason is from Friday the 13th and Freddy from A Nightmare on Elm Street. Jamie Lee Curtis made her film debut in Halloween.

  8. Question 8

    Which Washington Irving story features the Headless Horseman?

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    The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

    Irving published it in 1820. Schoolteacher Ichabod Crane is the horseman's victim. The other two titles are by Poe.

  9. Question 9

    In which town is Hocus Pocus (1993) set?

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    Salem, Massachusetts

    The Sanderson sisters are hanged in Salem in 1693 and brought back on Halloween 300 years later. Haddonfield is the town in Halloween.

  10. Question 10

    Who is the Pumpkin King in The Nightmare Before Christmas?

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    Jack Skellington

    Tim Burton wrote the original story and produced the 1993 stop-motion film; Henry Selick directed it.

  11. Question 11

    Día de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead, is traditionally celebrated in which country?

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    Mexico

    It is held on November 1 and 2. UNESCO lists it as intangible cultural heritage.

  12. Question 12

    Which 1938 Halloween-eve radio broadcast is said to have panicked some listeners?

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    The War of the Worlds

    Orson Welles's Mercury Theatre adapted H. G. Wells's novel as fake news bulletins on October 30, 1938. Historians think the panic was smaller than newspapers claimed.

  13. Question 13

    Which actor played the title role in the 1931 film Dracula?

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    Bela Lugosi

    Lugosi had already played Dracula on Broadway. Karloff played the monster in Frankenstein the same year.

  14. Question 14

    Botanically, what is a pumpkin?

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    A fruit

    Pumpkins grow from the flower and carry seeds, so botanists call them a fruit, a kind of berry. Cooks treat them as a vegetable.

  15. Question 15

    Which horror film star performs the spoken passage in Michael Jackson's "Thriller"?

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    Vincent Price

    Price recorded the closing rap for the 1982 song. The 14-minute video was directed by John Landis.

  16. Question 16

    In which TV special does Linus wait all night for the Great Pumpkin?

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    It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

    It first aired on CBS in October 1966. Linus waits in the pumpkin patch he thinks is the most sincere.

  17. Question 17

    What is a group of crows called?

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    A murder

    A murder of crows dates back to the 15th century. A parliament is a group of owls.

  18. Question 18

    Candy corn was first sold under what name?

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    Chicken Feed

    It dates to the late 1800s, when about half of Americans worked on farms, and boxes showed a rooster.

  19. Question 19

    Which fear has the name samhainophobia?

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    Fear of Halloween

    It's named after Samhain, the Celtic festival. Fear of the dark is nyctophobia.

  20. Question 20

    Which famous author of "The Raven" is a Halloween reading staple?

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    Edgar Allan Poe

    Poe published "The Raven" in 1845. Its refrain is "Quoth the Raven, 'Nevermore.'"

Key numbers

Questions
20
Format
Multiple choice, 4 options
Explanations
Every question
Answers
Hidden until you open them

From Samhain to trick-or-treat

Halloween's roots run back to the Celtic festival of Samhain and to All Hallows' Eve, the night before All Saints' Day. Irish and Scottish immigrants brought customs like carved lanterns to America, where the pumpkin replaced the turnip. A few questions here trace that path.

Horror classics

Dracula, Frankenstein, the Headless Horseman and "The Raven" are the stories behind half our costumes. The film questions run from Bela Lugosi in 1931 to John Carpenter's Halloween and Hocus Pocus. None of the questions are gory, so the set works for a mixed-age party.

A note on Día de los Muertos

The Day of the Dead, on November 1 and 2, is sometimes called "Mexican Halloween," but it's a separate tradition for remembering family members who have died. We include it because people often ask about the two together, and the explanation says how they differ.

A spooky round in ten minutes

Pick ten questions: two on origins, four on books and films, two on customs and two from the animal and candy questions. Read them by candlelight or with the lights low, and use the samhainophobia question as a bonus for anyone who gets the word right.

Planning a seasonal quiz? The round ideas guide has a costume round, and the Thanksgiving and Christmas sets carry the season forward.

Questions people ask

What are good Halloween trivia questions for kids and adults together?

What jack-o'-lanterns were first carved from, what a group of crows is called, and who the Pumpkin King is. None of the questions in this set are gory.

Where did Halloween come from?

Its roots are usually traced to the Celtic festival of Samhain, combined with All Hallows' Eve, the night before the Christian feast of All Saints on November 1.

Is the Day of the Dead the same as Halloween?

No. Día de los Muertos, celebrated in Mexico on November 1 and 2, is a separate tradition for honoring family members who have died, though the two are close in the calendar.

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