Jack-o'-lanterns, candy corn, slasher movies and ancient Celtic rituals. How deep does your Halloween knowledge really go?
You've carved the pumpkins and picked the costume, but do you know where any of it comes from? 10 questions covering the legends, the candy and the horror classics. No peeking behind the curtain.
Pick your level
Halloween might be the one night of the year when the whole neighborhood shows up at your door, but most of us never stop to ask why. Why pumpkins? Why costumes? Why is a guy named Jack wandering around with a lantern? The answers go back over 2,000 years, to a Celtic festival where the dead were believed to walk among the living.
This quiz covers the whole spread: the Irish legend behind the jack-o'-lantern, the candy that started out as chicken feed, the two-dollar mask that became the face of horror, and the witches of Salem's favorite movie. Perfect for testing your friends between doorbell rings on October 31st.
All ten easy level questions, with the answer and the reasoning behind it.
Correct answer: October
October, on the 31st.
Correct answer: Casper
Casper, who is really only after a friend.
Correct answer: A broomstick
A broomstick, with no need for parking.
Correct answer: Count Dracula
Count Dracula, who keeps irregular hours.
Correct answer: Scooby-Doo
Scooby-Doo, usually with a Scooby Snack, and it is always the caretaker.
Correct answer: Wednesday
Wednesday, who recently got her own series.
Correct answer: Ghostbusters
Ghostbusters, as Ray Parker Jr. keeps reminding you.
Correct answer: A black cat
A black cat, though in Britain it is sometimes thought lucky.
Correct answer: Orange
Orange, on the outside at least.
Correct answer: Apples
Apples, floating in a tub of water, and your hair will get wet.
Want to warm up before playing or double-check something? Open any question to reveal the correct answer and a short explanation.
Correct answer: Samhain
Samhain marked the end of the harvest and the start of winter. The Celts believed the barrier between the living and the dead grew thin that night, letting spirits cross over.
Correct answer: Turnips
Irish and Scottish families carved scary faces into turnips to frighten off evil spirits. Pumpkins only entered the picture when immigrants reached America and found them bigger and easier to carve.
Correct answer: Stingy Jack
Stingy Jack tricked the Devil one too many times. Turned away from both Heaven and Hell after his death, he was left to wander with a coal glowing inside a hollowed-out turnip.
Correct answer: Chicken Feed
Invented by George Renninger of the Wunderle Candy Company, candy corn was first marketed as Chicken Feed. It only became a Halloween staple once trick-or-treating boomed in the 1950s.
Correct answer: William Shatner
The crew bought a Captain Kirk mask for about two dollars, painted it white and widened the eyes. John Carpenter loved how emotionless it looked, and horror history was made.
Correct answer: The 1920s
The phrase popped up in North America in the 1920s, but the tradition only truly exploded after World War II, once sugar rationing ended and candy makers saw their opportunity.
Correct answer: Jack Skellington
Jack Skellington rules Halloween Town until he stumbles into Christmas Town and decides to run the holiday himself. The 1993 film was directed by Henry Selick from Tim Burton's story.
Correct answer: Transylvania
Stoker set his vampire's castle in the Transylvanian mountains, yet he never visited Romania himself. He built the whole setting from books and library research.
Correct answer: The scientist who creates the creature
Victor Frankenstein is the scientist. Shelley never named the creature at all, calling it "the creature", "the wretch" or "the daemon". Hollywood mixed the two up for good in the 1930s.
Correct answer: Hocus Pocus
Hocus Pocus (1993) brings Winifred, Sarah and Mary Sanderson back to life in Salem, Massachusetts, 300 years after their execution. A modest hit in theaters, now an October ritual.
Stuck on one, or just curious how nasty it gets? Every hard mode question is here with its answer and the reasoning behind it.
Correct answer: Washington Irving
Washington Irving, in 1820.
Correct answer: John Carpenter
John Carpenter, who also wrote the unnerving piano theme.
Correct answer: Nevermore
Nevermore, which does little to help the narrator's state of mind.
Correct answer: Bobby 'Boris' Pickett
Bobby 'Boris' Pickett, doing his best Boris Karloff impression.
Correct answer: Bela Lugosi
Bela Lugosi, whose accent set the pattern for decades.
Correct answer: Boris Karloff
Boris Karloff, under hours of make-up by Jack Pierce.
Correct answer: Bran Castle
Bran Castle in Transylvania, despite very thin links to Vlad the Impaler.
Correct answer: Camp Crystal Lake
Camp Crystal Lake, where staff turnover is very high.
Correct answer: Pamela Voorhees
Pamela Voorhees, Jason's mother. He takes over from the second film.
Correct answer: Harry Houdini
Harry Houdini, of peritonitis from a ruptured appendix, in Detroit.