These clever (and chilling) Halloween riddles will get your brain ready for Oct. 31
80 Scary-Good Halloween Riddles
Updated Oct. 05, 2024
Best Halloween riddles
1. I don’t have eyes, but once I did see. Once I had thoughts, but now I’m white and empty. What am I?
A skull.
2. I have no feet to dance, I have no eyes to see, I have no life to live or die, but yet I do all three. What am I?
Fire.
3. Who makes it, has no need for it.
Whoever buys it won’t use it.
Who uses it, won’t care.
What am I?
A casket.
4. I protect, I stand tall
my purpose is to strike fear in all.
What am I?
A scarecrow.
5. Poor people have it. Rich people need it. If you eat it you die. What is it?
Nothing.
6. I’m tall when I’m young, I’m short when I’m old, and once a year, I make heavy pumpkins light. What am I?
A candle.
7. I always leave a trace, so you can see where I’ve been. I have some extra legs, and I make people scream. What am I?
A spider.
8. What makes skeletons strong and black cats purr with delight?
Milk.
Easy Halloween riddles
24. When is it bad luck to see a black cat?
When you’re a mouse.
25. A man was shot in the heart. Nobody tries to save him and it doesn’t kill him. What happened?
He was already dead.
26. The more you take, the more of me there are. What am I?
Footsteps.
27. You can hear me, feel me and know that I’m there. But you’ll never ever ever find me. What am I?
The wind.
28. Each morning, I appear to lie at your feet. All day I will follow no matter how fast you run, yet I nearly perish in the midday sun.
A shadow.
29. Read me or write me, I’m good for a fright.
I can be spooky, but I’m best told at night.
What am I?
A scary story.
30. This is a common little bug
That many people fear
This fear has a special name
It’s arachnophobia
What am I?
A spider.
31. You can get your jack-o’-lantern here, or you can use it to fix a hole in your pumpkin. What is it?
A pumpkin patch.
32. This place has hardly any lights, but a lot of creaking floors. There are all kinds of strange noises and some random slamming doors. What is it?
A haunted house.
Halloween riddles about witches
33. What’s the problem with twin witches?
You never know which witch is which.
34. Often used by witches to cast their spell
a slimy creature am I, and ugly as well
What am I?
A toad.
35. What is red, juicy and delicious but could be poisonous that is offered by the wrong witch?
Snow White’s apple.
36. I’m thought to bring bad luck, I blend in the night and I’m known to mingle with witches. What am I?
A black cat.
37. It is thanks to this item
that you can sweep the floor
It’s also used by witches
So they can fly and soar.
What is it?
A broomstick.
38. Eye of newt and toe of frog
Wool of bat? Just a spot
These are all that witches brew
Inside this big black pot.
What is it?
A cauldron.
39. Oz had good ones from the north and south
And wicked ones from the east and west,
But flying around on a broomstick
Is probably how I’m known the best.
What am I?
A witch.
40. A group of witches are having a broomstick race. The witch in third place overtakes the witch in second place. Where is she now?
In second place.
41. What do the mummies, zombies, vampires, goblins and witches all have in common?
The letter “i.”
42. If the witch has a broom and the jack-o’lantern has a candle, then what does a vampire have?
A bloodhound.
Halloween riddles about vampires
43. I am a room in your house where you watch TV and have fun, but I’m the one room in which ghosts, ghouls and vampires will never, ever come. What am I?
The living room.
44. The person who built it sold it. The person who bought it never used it. The person who used it never saw it. What is it?
A coffin.
45. From the head down to toes, through every living being I flow. Vampires love me but some people might faint when they see me though! What am I?
Blood.
46. I sleep upside down and I fly through the night. I live in dark places and I don’t have good eyesight. What am I?
A bat.
47. A cloaked man went out to get his nightly drink but died soon after because his watch stopped. What happened?
Count Dracula’s watch said it was 3 a.m., but it was actually 3 p.m. in the afternoon. The vampire thinks the darkness is night, goes out for a drink, and gets caught in sunlight a few minutes later…which kills him.
48. Ghosts and vampires will come looking for me on a dark autumn night and, with a ding and a buzz, will eagerly wait with open arms for me. What am I?
Treats.
49. No matter what type you are, when I’m thirsty, I will come and find you no matter where you are. Who am I?
A vampire.
50. Dracula loves to draw this, as well as, put it in the bank. What is it?
Blood.
51. A vampire’s biggest fear,
But a chef’s favorite ingredient.
What is it?
Garlic.
52. With pointed fangs I sit and wait
With piercing force, I dole out fate
Over bloodless victims, I proclaim my might
I can eternally join with a single bite.
What am I?
Dracula, or a stapler.
Halloween riddles about monsters
53. What kind of makeup is a ghost’s favorite to wear?
Mas-scare-a.
54. You may see this hairy creature by the light of the moon.
You can start running but it will likely catch you soon.
You can hope for escape with the rising sun.
But you have a better chance with silver bullets and a gun.
What am I?
A Werewolf.
55. You’re in a room and there’s a ghost in the room, but you are the only one in the room. How is this possible?
You are the ghost.
56. Frankenstein’s father has three sons. The names of two of them are Snap and Crackle. What is the third son called?
Frankenstein.
57. I am present, but also past. I am wrapped, but not a gift. I am named after a parent, but have no children.
A mummy.
58. I have a body, arms, legs and a head, but I’m heartless and have no guts. What am I?
A skeleton.
59. What goes “Ha, ha, ha, THUD?”
A zombie laughing his head off.
60. Why don’t mummies take vacations?
They’re afraid they’ll relax and unwind.
61. What is wicked, homeless, white and goes up and down?
A ghost in an elevator.
62. Day and night my bones are white. What am I?
A skeleton.
63. I am wrapped but I am not a gift, I am kept neatly in a chamber and Archeologists find me as a great treasure. What am I?
A mummy.
64. I wander around, although I am dead
I like to eat the brains in your head.
What am I?
A zombie.
65. Where do ghosts, mummies and zombies love to swim?
The Dead Sea.
66. What’s big, scary and has three wheels?
A monster riding a tricycle.
67. Pearly and white, spooky alright, playing with children every night. Who am I?
Casper the Friendly Ghost.
68. Often buried with fabulous wealth
an undead creature am I
all wrapped up in myself
What am I?
A mummy.
69. Made out of different body parts
Brought to life by electricity
Bolts in my neck and yellowish skin
Why can’t people show me some pity?
Who am I?
Frankenstein.
70. What do you call a skeleton that makes you laugh and giggle when you’re sad?
A funny bone.
Long Halloween riddles
71. Mrs. Smith had less than 20 pieces of candy left to give to trick or treaters and she wanted to give them all away. Two trick-or-treaters arrived and she wanted to share the candy evenly between them, but when she tried to do this, there was one piece left over. A third trick-or-treater arrived, so Mrs. Smith decided she would share the candy between all three of them. But when she tried to share them evenly, there was still one piece left. Finally, a fourth trick-or-treater arrived and Mrs. Smith attempted to share the candy between all four children. But she still had one piece left over! How many pieces of candy did Mrs. Smith have?
13
72. It is Halloween and your friends dare you to go into a haunted house. You creep up to the door, a little scared, wondering what is behind the door. You go in and there is a long hallway leading out into a dark musty room with three doors. You’re kind of scared once you are inside. You try to turn back, to get back outside, but when you turn around the door is closed and locked. You yell for help but there is only silence. The room is dark and you look for a light source. You see a light switch and try to turn it on. Sadly the power is out. You are terrified but have no choice but to follow the long hallway to the three doors in pitch black. Behind one door is a bottomless pit with no end. Behind another door is an electric chair which you must sit in. Behind the last door is a pool full of acid. You must go into one of the rooms. Which one should you go through?
The electric chair. Since the power is out, when you sit in the chair the electricity will have no effect on you.
73. There is a woman who goes out drinking every night. She stays out until the early morning hours but no matter how much she drinks, she never gets hungover. Her favorite drink is well-known, rarely consumed, and often served warmly directly from the source. The woman can’t live without drinking and she’s a sucker for a free drink, so she has never considered quitting. What does she drink?
She’s a vampire who drinks blood.
74. Sometimes in the dark when it’s late at night.
I like to float around and give everyone a fright.
I’m a shadow of the living, a specter of the dead.
People often fear me when they are lying in their bed.
I float, I wail, I go through walls, I like to use your sheets.
I’m also transparent, you see.
What am I?
A ghost.
75. In a hotel, a man was sleeping when he heard a knock on the door. He shifted the blanket and stepped down from the bed. He walked to the door and opened it to find a stranger standing outside. Upon opening the gate, that stranger said, “Pardon me, I must have made a mistake. I thought this was my room.” The stranger then walked the corridor and climbed down the stairs. The man closed the door and immediately called security. He asked them to arrest that stranger immediately. Why did he ask them to arrest that stranger? What made him suspicious?
The stranger said he thought the room was his. If so, he would have had the key to the room, and thus he would not have knocked.
76. Two men are walking in a graveyard. The first man walks to a grave. The second man says, “Who is in that grave?” The first man points to the grave and says, “Brothers and sisters I have none. But that man’s father is my father’s son.” Who is in the grave?
“That man’s father is my father’s son” refers to the speaker. Since he’s pointing to the grave, it means he’s in the grave.
77. There is a woman who goes out drinking every night. She stays out until the early morning hours but no matter how much she drinks, she never gets hungover. Her favorite drink is well-known, rarely consumed, and often served warmly directly from the source. The woman can’t live without drinking and she’s a sucker for a free drink, so she has never considered quitting. What does she drink?
She’s a vampire who drinks blood.
78. A young woman is attending her mother’s funeral. While there, she meets a man she has never seen before and falls in love immediately. After the funeral, she tries to find him but cannot. Several days later she kills her sister. Why does she kill her sister?
She killed her sister hoping to see this man at her sister’s funeral.
79. I have a name but it isn’t mine
You don’t think about me while in your prime
People cry when I’m in their sight
Others lie with me all day and night.
What am I?
A tombstone.
80. Two girls ate dinner together.
They both ordered iced tea.
One girl drank them very fast and had finished five in the time it took the other to drink just one.
The girl who drank one died while the other survived.
All of the drinks were poisoned.
How is that possible?
The poison was in the ice.
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Reader’s Digest has been telling jokes for more than 100 years, curated and reviewed over the last 20 years by Senior Features Editor Andy Simmons, a humor editor formerly of National Lampoon and the author of Now That’s Funny. We’ve earned prestigious ASME awards for our humor—including comical quips, pranks, puns, cartoons, one-liners, knock-knock jokes, riddles, memes, tweets and stories in laugh-out-loud magazine columns such as “Life in These United States,” “All in a Day’s Work,” “Laughter, the Best Medicine” and “Humor in Uniform,” as well as online collections such as short jokes, dad jokes and bad jokes so bad, they’re great. You can find a century of humor in our 2022 compendium, Reader’s Digest: Laughter, the Best Medicine. Read more about our team, our contributors and our editorial policies.
Additional reporting by Kelly Kuehn.
Originally Published: October 15, 2020
