35 Halloween riddles with answers
Halloween riddles about pumpkins, ghosts, witches and costumes, fun rather than frightening. Easy ones for kids come first, then word riddles, then a harder set for teens and adults.
Updated
Easy riddles for kids
I have no face until someone carves one, and then I grin on the porch all night. What am I?
easy
A jack-o'-lantern.
A jack-o'-lantern is a pumpkin with a face cut into it and a light inside.
You can see right through me, and I never need to open a door. What am I?
easy
A ghost.
In stories, ghosts are see-through and float straight through walls and doors.
I'm inside you right now, holding you up. On Halloween you'll see me dancing on front lawns. What am I?
easy
A skeleton.
Your skeleton is all the bones in your body, and plastic skeletons are a popular Halloween decoration.
I sweep the kitchen floor all year, but on Halloween night a witch rides me past the moon. What am I?
easy
A broomstick.
In stories, witches fly on broomsticks.
I leave the house empty and come home heavy, full of chocolate and candy. What am I?
easy
A trick-or-treat bag.
Children carry a bag or bucket from door to door and fill it with treats.
I'm corn, but no farmer ever grew me. I'm striped yellow, orange and white, and bags of me show up every October. What am I?
easy
Candy corn.
Candy corn is a sugary candy shaped like a kernel of corn, with three stripes of color.
I'm a net, but nobody uses me to catch fish. A creature with eight legs spins me. What am I?
easy
A spider web.
Spiders spin webs from silk to catch insects.
On one night of the year, I'm three words that make doors open and candy appear. What am I?
easy
"Trick or treat!"
On Halloween, children say "trick or treat" at the door and get candy.
Once a month, when the moon is full, I need a lot more brushing. Who am I?
easy
A werewolf.
In stories, a werewolf grows fur when the moon is full.
I have a face, but there's no head behind me until you put me on. What am I?
easy
A mask.
A mask is a face you wear over your own.
I'm little bumps on your skin, but no goose gave me to you. A spooky story can give you a whole armful. What am I?
easy
Goosebumps.
Goosebumps are the tiny bumps that pop up on your skin when you're cold or scared. They got their name because they look like the skin of a plucked goose.
On Halloween night I get pressed more than on any other night of the year. What am I?
easy
A doorbell.
Trick-or-treaters ring doorbells all evening.
People pay to get into me, and then they can't wait to run back out. What am I?
easy
A haunted house.
A haunted house at a fair or farm is built to scare visitors, so people hurry through it.
I'm a patch, but you won't find me on your jeans. I'm a field full of orange things waiting to be picked. What am I?
easy
A pumpkin patch.
A pumpkin patch is a field where pumpkins grow.
Harder riddles for kids
Change the first letter of BAT, and you get something you wear on your head. What is the new word?
medium
HAT.
Swap the B in BAT for an H and you get HAT.
Add one letter to the front of WITCH, and you get the thing that turns on the lights. What is the new word?
medium
SWITCH.
S plus WITCH makes SWITCH.
Which word for the price of something is hiding in COSTUME?
medium
COST.
COST-UME: the first four letters spell COST.
Take the H out of what ghosts do to an old house, and you get a member of your family. What is the word?
medium
HAUNT, which becomes AUNT.
Ghosts haunt houses, and HAUNT without the H is AUNT.
Take away my first letter and I become the person throwing the party. What am I?
medium
A ghost.
GHOST without the G is HOST.
Add one letter to what a ghost says, and you get something you read. What is it?
medium
BOOK.
BOO plus K is BOOK.
Which bird is hiding inside the sound a wolf makes at the moon?
medium
An OWL.
The sound is a HOWL, and H-OWL has OWL inside.
Take the first letter off something a witch rides, and you get a place in your house. What are the two words?
medium
BROOM and ROOM.
BROOM without the B is ROOM.
Which word for what your heart does is hiding in PUMPKIN?
medium
PUMP.
PUMP-KIN: the first four letters spell PUMP.
Which number is hiding in the word BONES?
medium
ONE.
B-ONE-S: the middle letters spell ONE.
Which kitchen container is hiding in the word POTION?
medium
A POT.
POT-ION: the first three letters spell POT.
Which word for a long passage in a school is hiding in HALLOWEEN?
medium
HALL.
HALL-OWEEN: the first four letters spell HALL.
I'm a word some children use for their mother, and I'm also a monster wrapped in bandages. What am I?
medium
Mummy.
In British English, children often call their mother Mummy.
Riddles for teens and adults
Rearrange the letters of SCARE to get a word for pieces of farmland.
hard
ACRES.
SCARE and ACRES use the same five letters.
Rearrange the letters of SPIDER to get groups of lions.
hard
PRIDES.
A group of lions is a pride, and SPIDER and PRIDES use the same six letters.
Which unit of electric current is hidden inside the word VAMPIRE?
hard
AMP.
V-AMP-IRE: an amp, short for ampere, measures electric current.
Rearrange the letters of MONSTER to get people who guide and advise someone younger.
hard
MENTORS.
MONSTER and MENTORS use the same seven letters.
I sound exactly like the word you use to ask about a choice, but I ride a broomstick. Who am I?
hard
A witch.
WITCH sounds the same as WHICH.
Ava, Ben and Cleo went trick-or-treating as a ghost, a witch and a vampire. Ava wasn't the vampire. Ben was the ghost. What was Cleo?
hard
The vampire.
Ben was the ghost, so Ava, who wasn't the vampire, was the witch. That leaves the vampire for Cleo.
Which unit of length is hiding in the word GRAVEYARD?
hard
A YARD.
GRAVE-YARD: a yard is three feet.
Which part of an ear of corn is hiding at the start of COBWEB?
hard
The COB.
COB-WEB: the cob is the hard middle of an ear of corn.
Plan the round and team scores
8 turns × 60 seconds = 8 minutes of play, plus instructions and breaks.
60
These are adjustable house rules. Pause whenever the group needs more time.
Team 1: 0
Team 2: 0
Use this set with a group
Read a prompt, allow thinking time, then invite an answer or a pass. For a timed round, choose a turn length before starting. A host can keep the printed answers out of view until the round ends.