Halloween Trivia (Patreon)

We had a Halloween/Kenzie Birthday Party this weekend. I was asked to compile questions for a trivia contest. I didn't realize there would be only 10 questions. How about 150+?

I hope you you have a wonderful Halloween.

Oh! I'm planning to back on Weds for my Coffee show. Mark your calendar.

Let's go!

• What did Scottish women hang to see their future husbands on Halloween? Answer: Wet sheets in front of a fire.

• When is Halloween thought to have originated? Answer: 4000 B.C.

• What Celtic tradition led to modern-day trick-or-treating? Answer: For the celebration of Samhain, people would put treats or food out to pacify evil spirits.

• Who directed the movie version of Stephen King's “The Shining”? Answer: Stanley Kubrick

• According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, what is another name for an “ugly or grotesque sprite” that's evil and mischievous? Answer: A goblin

• Why did people start dressing up in Halloween costumes?

• Answer: Many Europeans, including the Celtics, dressed in costumes to repel spirits that they believed came back to Earth on what we now know as Halloween.

• What artist recorded the song "Ghostbusters"? Answer: Ray Parker Jr.

• What is the deadliest spider in the world? Answer: The funnel-web spider

• What New Hampshire city holds the Guinness World Record for the most lit jack-o'-lanterns on display in one place? Answer: Keene

• What is the name of the villain in the movie “The Nightmare Before Christmas”? Answer: Oogie Boogie

• What are the names of the three Sanderson sisters in the movie “Hocus Pocus”? Answer: Winifred, Mary and Sarah

• According to the Sheb Wooley song lyric, this creature is a one-eyed, one-horned, flyin' what? Answer: Purple People Eater

• Tom Cruise, Kirsten Dunst and Brad Pitt co-star in what 1994 horror movie? Answer: “Interview with the Vampire"

• Who penned the song “Monster Mash”? Answer: Bobby “Boris” Pickett

• What is the only mammal that can fly? Answer: A bat

• This popular cartoon ghost has appeared in dozens of films, tv series' and comic books. Answer: Casper the friendly ghost

• What real-life jelly beans notoriously boast the flavors earwax, grass, rotten egg, dirt, liver, earthworm and booger among others? Answer: Harry Potter Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans

• How many bones are in the average human skeleton? Answer: 206

• Which of the “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” played the role of Lindsey Wallace in the 1978 movie “Halloween?” Answer: Kyle Richards

• What's another name for a lycanthrope? Answer: A werewolf

• What year did Charles M. Schulz's classic Halloween TV special, “It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown,” first air? Answer: 1966

• What do you call a group of witches? Answer: A coven

• Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore star in what movie about the afterlife? Answer: “Ghost”

• From 1947 to 1969 the U.S. Air Force investigated unidentified flying objects, or U.F.O.s, as part of a project named what? Answer: Project Blue Book

• The 1962 novel “Something Wicked This Way Comes” was penned by what author? Answer: Ray Bradbury

• In 2023, Travis Gienger nabbed the Guinness World record for heaviest pumpkin. How much did it weigh? Answer: 2,749 pounds

• What is another name for a pumpkin seed? Answer: Pepita

• Which U.S. city hosts the world's largest Halloween parade? Answer: New York City, which puts on the Greenwich Village Halloween Parade annually

• What day does All Saints' Day fall on? Answer: Nov. 1

• What do call a man who practices witchcraft? Answer: A warlock

• What does a magician say when performing a magic trick? Answer: “Abracadabra”

• Edward Cullen is a vampire in what popular movie and book series? Answer: “Twilight”

• Who wrote the 1818 classic book “Frankenstein?” Answer: Mary Shelley

• What is another name for a large kettle or boiler? Answer: A cauldron

• What actor played Laurie Strode in the 1978 movie “Halloween?" Answer: Jamie Lee Curtis

• Vincent Price provides the spooky monologue at the end of what popular Halloween song? Answer: Michael Jackson's “Thriller”

• What percentage of Americans pretend they're not home on Halloween? Answer: One in five adults (21%) said they play pretend in a 2021 YouGov poll

• Which movie tops Rotten Tomatoes' list of the Scariest Horror Movies Ever? Answer: “The Exorcist”

• Why do some people wear their clothes inside out on Halloween? Answer: Superstitious folks believe they'll see a witch at midnight

• What actor played the vampire in the 1931 film "Dracula"? Answer: Bela Lugosi

• In the 1973 movie “The Exorcist,” what is the name of the spirit that communicates to Regan (Linda Blair) via the Ouija board? Answer: Captain Howdy

• Are pumpkins technically a fruit or vegetable? Answer: Fruit

• What movie serial killer is immortalized with a statue at the bottom of a Crosby, Minnesota lake? Answer: Jason Voorhees

• Which Halloween candy is considered the worst? Answer: Candy corn, followed by circus peanuts, according to a survey by CandyStore.com.

• Which first lady was the first to decorate the White House for Halloween? Answer: In 1958, Mamie Eisenhower decorated the White House for a Halloween luncheon

• Which U.S. president told a group of schoolkids that the White House was haunted by the ghost of Abraham Lincoln? Answer: In 1989, George H.W. Bush jokingly told a group of children that Lincoln was rumored to haunt the White House

• When did Halloween start? Answer: Though opinion varies, Halloween is thought to have started around 600 AD with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain

• Which actor said that “Hocus Pocus” was one of her favorite movie roles of all time? Answer: Bette Midler

• Which U.S. state produces the most pumpkins? Answer: Illinois

• Why are the Halloween colors orange and black? Answer: While there are competing theories, it’s thought that orange is for pumpkins and harvest, and black represents night, death or darkness

• Where was the majority of “Hocus Pocus” filmed? Answer: Salem, Massachusetts

• Where does the mask that Michael Myers wears in “Halloween" come from? Answer: It’s a modified Captain Kirk mask from “Star Trek”

• What does the word “Halloween” come from? Answer: Halloween was known as "All Hallows’ Eve” until 1773, when the Scots began referring to it as ‘Hallow-e’en’. The first known use of the word is in the poem “Halloween,” written in 1786

• What was the original title of the movie “Halloween"? Answer: “The Babysitter Murders”

• Who wrote “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”? Answer: Washington Irving

• What year was the song “Monster Mash” released? Answer: 1962

• What is the most popular Halloween costume for pets? Answer: Pumpkin (followed by hot dog, bat, bumblebee and spider) according to the NRF

• Where does the quote “Double, double toil and trouble” come from? Answer: William Shakespeare's “Macbeth”

• What was the most popular Halloween costume in the U.S. in 2023 according to Google? Answer: Barbie

• When was the first known guide on celebrating Halloween published? Answer: “Halloween: How to Celebrate It” was published in 1897

• According to the U.S. Census Bureau, how many potential trick-or-treaters are there? Answer: Approximately 41 million kids between the ages of 5 and 14 or 73.1 million children under the age of 18

• Where is Transylvania, otherwise known as home to Count Dracula, located? Answer: Romania

• What’s the most popular adult Halloween candy? Answer: M&M’s, according to YouGov's 2021 survey

• What’s the most popular kids' Halloween candy? Answer: Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, according to YouGov's 2021 survey

• Approximately how much money did Americans spend on candy in 2023? Answer: $3.6 billion, per the NRF

• How many minutes does Michael Keaton appear on screen in Beetlejuice"? Answer: Approximately 17

• What was the original working title of the movie “Beetlejuice?” Answer: “House Ghosts”

• Which two fears from his own childhood did Steven Spielberg reportedly incorporate into the 1982 movie, “Poltergeist?” Answer: A clown doll and the tree with long branches outside the window of his childhood home

• What actor and talk show host auditioned for a role in “Poltergeist” but ended up in “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” instead? Answer: Drew Barrymore

• How much candy does the average American consume each year? Answer: Roughly 8 pounds, according to a study published in Advances in Nutrition

• Which 1980s band did “The Nightmare Before Christmas” composer Danny Elfman perform in? Answer: Oingo Boingo

• How long did it take to make the movie “A Nightmare Before Christmas"? Answer: Three years

• What was the original title of the Michael Jackson song “Thriller”?Answer: “Starlight”

• Which film inspired Michael Jackson to collaborate with director John Landis on the “Thriller” video? Answer: “An American Werewolf in London”

• What is having a fear of Halloween called? Answer: Samhainophobia

• What did Americans use for Halloween decorations in the early 1900s? Answer: Crepe paper, cardboard cutouts, corn stalks, pumpkins, gourds and hay

• What's the top grossing horror movie of all time? Answer: According to Box Office Mojo, the 2017 Stephen King movie “It”

• Before pumpkins, which root vegetable did the Irish and Scottish carve on Halloween? Answer: Turnips

• Why do we carve jack-o’-lanterns? Answer: The tradition comes from the tale of “Stingy Jack,” a man who cheated the devil and was sentenced to carry a glowing ember in a hollowed-out turnip for eternity

• Why was Halloween nearly canceled as a holiday in the 1930s? Answer: Pranksters and vandals were causing millions of dollars of damage to U.S. cities on Halloween night

• Why do we trick or treat? Answer: Trick-or-treating is thought to have began as a way for homeowners to reward pranksters for not vandalizing their home on Halloween

• Which Halloween candy was originally referred to as “chicken feed?” Answer: Candy corn

• According to the U.S. Census Bureau, how many potential stops for trick-or-treaters were there in 2020? Answer: There were 126.8 million occupied homes for trick-or-treaters to visit

• Besides horror, what other genre did “Dracula” author Bram Stoker publish books under? Answer: Romance

• What's the name of the fictional town in the movie “The Lost Boys?” Answer: Santa Clara, aka the “Murder Capital of the World”

• What ghoulish 1984 song returned to the charts on Billboard's “Hot 100” in October of 2023? Answer: Michael Jackson's “Thriller”

• When selling a house, is the homeowner obligated to disclose that it's haunted? Answer: No. A majority of states don't require sellers to disclose paranormal activity or any other dubious stigmas like murder or ghosts

• What historic weather event occurred on Halloween in 1991?Answer: The “Halloween Blizzard” of 1991, which dumped three feet of snow and two inches of ice across parts of the Midwest

• What dance was allegedly a "graveyard smash" that "caught on in a flash"?  Answer: "The Monster Mash"

• Who is the main villain in the horror franchise named after this holiday? Answer: Michael Myers. The franchise is Halloween.

• How many pounds did the world's largest pumpkin pie weigh? Answer: It weighed 3,699 pounds!

• Which famous person died on Halloween: Audrey Hepburn, Harry Houdini, Aretha Franklin, or Edgar Allen Poe? Answer: Harry Houdini

• The Halloween tradition of bobbing for apples stemmed from a courting ritual: true or false? Answer: True. One version of the ritual was as follows: Girls would mark their names on their respective apple before dropping them into barrels of water. Potential suitors would bob for the apples, and picking the name of a girl would indicate the possibility of their future relationship.

• Why are black cats associated with Halloween? Answer: In Medieval Europe, it was believed that devils and witches could disguise as black cats.

• What is the name of the Gothic novel about a scientist who creates a monster? Answer: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. While the name "Frankenstein" is often associated with the name of the famous monster, it is actually last name of the scientist who creates the monster. 

• When was the first citywide Halloween celebration held in the US? Answer: 1921 in Anoka, Minnesota

• Which animal will shelters not allow people to adopt on Halloween? Answer: Black cats. In the late 1980s, a woman in Chicago adopted a black cat as a part of her Halloween costume and days later, the animal was found dead. So in the years that followed, it became policy for shelters to refuse black cat adoptions on Halloween to prevent ritual sacrifices of black cats.

• Where can you be fined for using Silly String on Halloween?  Answer: Hollywood. If you use Silly String on Halloween in Hollywood, you could receive up to a $1,000 fine.

• Which US state produces the most pumpkins? Answer: Illinois

• Which celebrity is known for throwing epic Halloween parties? Answer: Heidi Klum

• Jack-o'-lanterns are literally named after a guy named Jack: true or false? Answer: True. According to a 17th century Irish Legend, "Stingy Jack" was a cranky old man who tricked the Devil into doing a number of things. When Jack died, as punishment for his trickery, the Devil sent him into the night with only a burning coal, which Jack put into a carved-out turnip, to light his path. He has been roaming the earth ever since; the Irish called the ghost, “Jack of the Lantern,” or “Jack O’Lantern.”

• The color orange stands for harvest, and the color black signifies death: true or false? Answer: True

• How long were Adam and Barbara waiting to speak to Juno in Beetlejuice? Answer: Three months

• What is the name of the island the gang goes to in the 2002 Scooby-Doo movie? Answer: Spooky Island

• What was the last ingredient the Sanderson witches added to their cauldron in Hocus Pocus? Answer: A bit of their own tongue

• What card did Pugsley offer Joel in trade for his Debbie card in Adams Family Values? Answer: Amy Fisher

• In Hotel Transylvania, what color is Frankenstein? Answer: Blue. While the monster is commonly thought to be a shade of green, there's no reason for this. In fact, in the book, the monster is described as yellow and translucent.

• What is the name of the large green ghost Ray first encounters in Ghostbusters? Answer: Slimer

• According to ancient legend, seeing a spider on Halloween means what? Answer: A loved one is watching over you and protecting you

• Candy corn was originally made by hand: true or false? Answer: True. Now, machines are able to do the work, but before machines, workers called "stringers" mixed the main ingredients (literally just sugar, water and corn syrup) in large kettles. Then they added fondant and marshmallow, to help with smoothness. Then the workers had to walk backwards three times, pouring out each color into the mold. 

• Why was the iconic "I see dead people" scene in The Sixth Sense was almost changed? Answer: Because the film's producer, Frank Marshall, was scared that people would figure out the ending.

• Why did Alfred Hitchcock shoot Psycho in black and white? Answer: So that the shower death scene wouldn't look as gory! It's believed that Alfred Hitchcock also opted for black and white to recreate the style of the 1954 French film, Les Diaboliques.

• Who did Tim Burton want to cast as Betelgeuse in Beetlejuice? Answer: Sammy Davis Jr.. The role eventually went to Michael Keaton.

• Snickers are the most popular candy in the US: true or false? Answer: False. As of 2023, the most popular candy is the US is Reece's Cups, followed by Skittles and M&Ms.

• Why does candy corn have its corn shape? Answer: Because ~nature~-inspired candy was all the rage in the 1880s.

• In what year was the original Nightmare on Elm Street released? Answer: 1984.

• What is the highest-grossing horror film of all time? Answer: It (2017).

• What is the most popular Halloween costume for adults? Answer: Witches.

• In what state is it illegal to dress up as a priest or nun on Halloween? Answer: Alabama.

• Where was the term "trick or treat" first used? Answer: Canada.

• What day of the week is Halloween most likely to fall on? Answer: Saturday.

• What is the origin of the word "bonfire"? Answer: It comes from the words "bone fire," as bones were burned to ward off spirits.

• When did Halloween first start being celebrated in the United States? Answer: In the mid-1800s, brought by Irish immigrants.

• Which European city hosts the largest Halloween celebration? Answer: Derry, Northern Ireland.

• What country celebrates Halloween by carving radishes instead of pumpkins? Answer: Mexico, during the "Night of the Radishes."

• Where did the real Ichabod Crane live? Answer: Believe it or not, it wasn't Sleepy Hollow, New York, but actually Staten Island.

• What ancient Roman goddess is said to be honored on Halloween? Answer: Pomona, the goddess of fruit and trees—many believe bobbing for apples on Halloween stemmed from Roman traditions to honor her.

• What was The Munsters' address? Answer: 1313 Mockingbird Lane

• How many pieces of candy does the average house give to each trick-or-treater? Answer: Two pieces.

• What horror movie was the first American film ever to show a toilet on screen? Answer: Psycho.

• According to legend, what type of tree is a witch's broom made of? Answer: Either birch or hazel wood.

• What supernatural creature (often associated with Halloween) can be killed with a silver bullet? Answer: A werewolf.

• What character in the Addams Family is known for her long braids and stoic personality? Answer: Wednesday Addams.

• What famous ghost is said to haunt the Tower of London? Answer: Anne Boleyn.

• What is the name of the Scottish spirit that preys on travelers at night? Answer: The Banshee.

• What is a fear of ghosts called? Answer: Phasmophobia.

• If you say "Bloody Mary" three times in a mirror on Halloween night, what type of creature appears? Answer: A ghost or specter.

• What is the name of the ghost ship that haunts the coast of North Carolina? Answer: The Queen Anne's Revenge.

• Which character waits for the "Great Pumpkin" every Halloween? Answer: Linus van Pelt from Peanuts.

• What phrase is commonly inscribed on tombstones used for Halloween decorations? Answer: "R.I.P." (Rest in Peace).

• Which classic horror movie features the line "They're here..."? Answer: Poltergeist (1982).

• What movie had an opening scene with Dan Aykroyd saying, "Wanna see something really scary? Answer: Twilight Zone the Movie

• How many bones are in the average human skeleton? Answer: Most humans have 206 bones, although the body has 270 at birth that subsequently fuse to become 206.

• What is the name of the town in Hocus Pocus where the Sanderson sisters were resurrected? Answer: Salem, Massachusetts.

• According to folklore, what are the three main ingredients of a witch's brew on Halloween night? Answer: The eye of a newt, the toe of a frog and the wool of a bat.

• How is the "mystery flavor" of Dum Dums lollipops made? Answer: Rather than clean the machines out between flavor batches, the company will take the leftovers of flavor A and the leftovers of flavor B and combine them to make the mystery flavor. They then use a wrapper with question marks design to signify its mysterious flavor profile.

• What is "souling" and what do people ask for door to door? Answer: Soul-cakes. The tradition of going door to door and singing and collecting soul-cakes (small little cakes to commemorate the dead) began in the 15th century. This activity didn't involve any costumes or threats to trick but likely influenced our modern day tradition of "trick-or-treating."

• Where did the Headless Horseman originate? Answer: American author Washington Irving created the character in his 1820 short story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." The horseman was the ghost of a soldier decapitated in the Revolutionary War.

• What ghost is said to haunt the White House? Answer: The ghost of Abraham Lincoln.

• Which country holds the record for the largest pumpkin ever? Answer: Italy! Grown in 2021, the pumpkin weighed in at a whopping 1,226 kilograms (just shy of 2,702 pounds) and measured 11 feet 8 inches in diameter.

• What is it called when you have an irrational fear of spiders? Answer: Arachnophobia.

• What city in the United States is considered the most haunted? Answer: New Orleans, Louisiana.

•  Which 1984 film involves a group of kids battling a monster who haunts them in their dreams? Answer: Nightmare on Elm Street