Traditions & History
The two colors that are most commonly associated with Halloween.
What are orange and black?
A mummy is traditionally wrapped in this.
What is linen or bandages?
Director of the 1978 film Halloween.
Who is John Carpenter?
He is the rival of Ichabod Crane in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
Who is Brom Bones?
This reflex makes your hairs stand on end when you’re cold or frightened.
What is piloerection? (“Goosebumps” is also acceptable.)
A shortened form of this phrase is Halloween's name.
What is All Hallows’ Eve?
This scientist creates the creature in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.
Who is Victor Frankenstein?
The name of the hotel in The Shining.
What is The Overlook Hotel?
The ship that brings Dracula to Whitby.
What is The Demeter?
This is the scientific term for light produced by a living organism, such as a glowing fungus.
What is bioluminescence?
This Christian observance falls on November 1, the day after Halloween.
What is All Saints’ Day?
In Greek mythology, this Gorgon is famous for having snakes instead of hair.
Who is Medusa?
The name of the Antarctic research station in John Carpenter’s The Thing.
What is Outpost 31?
He is the Arctic explorer whose letters frame Frankenstein.
Who is Captain Robert Walton?
The corpse flower’s rotten-meat scent attracts these two kinds of insects to pollinate it.
What are flies and carrion beetles?
This ancient Celtic festival is often linked to Halloween’s origins.
What is Samhain (often pronounced “SAH-win”)?
This famous vampire hunter can be found in Bram Stoker’s Dracula.
Who is Abraham Van Helsing?
The title of The Simpsons segment that parodies The Shining in Treehouse of Horror V.
What is The Shinning?
Detective C. Auguste Dupin first appears in this Poe story.
What is The Murders in the Rue Morgue?
This fungal genus infects ants and can cause them to grip vegetation before the fungus reproduces.
What is Ophiocordyceps?
Before candy became the standard treat, early trick-or-treaters might have received these three things.
What are fruit, nuts, and coins.
Samhain is associated with Halloween’s roots, and early trick-or-treaters sometimes received these small gifts.
In Irish folklore, this spirit is known for a wailing cry said to signal a death.
What is a Banshee?
Michael Myers’s mask in the original Halloween was modified from a mask of this Star Trek character.
Who is Captain James T. Kirk?
He is the author of the short story The Monkey’s Paw?
Who is W.W. Jacobs?
This “immortal” jellyfish can reverse its life cycle from its adult medusa stage back to a juvenile polyp stage.
What is Turritopsis dohrnii?