Halloween charades: 300+ spooky ideas for kids, teens and adults
Halloween charades is classic charades with a spooky word list: costumes, monsters, horror movies and creepy actions. One player acts out "zombie" or "The Exorcist" without speaking, everyone else guesses. Below are big ready-to-use lists, sorted for kids and for teens and adults, plus ideas for running it at a Halloween party.
Halloween is made for charades. Half the words already come with a famous move: the vampire’s cape, the zombie shuffle, the mummy’s stiff arms, Michael Myers walking slowly behind you. Guests in costume are already in character, the lights are low, and nobody needs a board or cards. All you need is a good list, which is what this page is for.
How to play Halloween charades
Halloween charades uses the normal charades rules. Split into two teams. One player gets a word, acts it out in silence for 60 seconds, and their team guesses. A correct guess scores a point, then the other team goes. Play until everyone has acted at least twice, or set a target like 10 points.
- Pick the lists.Kids’ lists for a family party, the horror movie list for teens and adults, or mix everything.
- Prepare the words.Write them on slips and drop them in a plastic cauldron or a carved pumpkin. Or skip the prep and use a phone (see below).
- Agree on signals.Crank an old film camera for a movie, hold up fingers for the number of words, tug your ear for "sounds like".
- Set a timer.60 seconds for adults, up to 90 seconds for younger kids.
- Count points in candy.Each correct guess earns a piece for the team bowl. It is Halloween, after all.
Halloween costume charades ideas
Costumes are the easiest Halloween charades category because everyone knows what they look like. Start with the classics, then move on to pop culture costumes for older players.
- witch
- ghost
- vampire
- mummy
- zombie
- werewolf
- skeleton
- pirate
- black cat
- scarecrow
- pumpkin
- devil
- angel
- clown
- cowboy
- ninja
- princess
- knight
- astronaut
- superhero
- robot
- bat
- spider
- fairy
- grim reaper
- Frankenstein’s monster
- Dracula
- headless horseman
- mad scientist
- witch on a broom
- Wednesday Addams
- Beetlejuice
- Edward Scissorhands
- Jack Skellington
- Ghostface
- Freddy Krueger
- Jason Voorhees
- Michael Myers
- Chucky
- Pennywise
- M3GAN
- Annabelle
- Sanderson sisters
- Harry Potter
- Darth Vader
- Spider-Man
- Elsa
- Barbie
- Ghostbusters
- Scooby-Doo
- the Addams Family
- Willy Wonka
- the Joker
- Morticia Addams
Monsters and creatures
Monsters give actors the most room to ham it up. Allow growls and howls for kids; play silent with adults so the body has to do the work.
- vampire
- werewolf
- zombie
- mummy
- ghost
- poltergeist
- banshee
- goblin
- troll
- gargoyle
- Bigfoot
- swamp monster
- sea monster
- Loch Ness Monster
- Medusa
- Cyclops
- dragon
- giant spider
- haunted doll
- possessed person
- evil twin
- alien
- blob
- invisible man
- Frankenstein’s monster
- the Bride of Frankenstein
- Count Dracula
- zombie dog
- killer clown
- creepy twins
Spooky actions to act out
Actions are great for mixed ages because even a five-year-old can do "stirring a cauldron". They also make good warm-up rounds before the harder movie titles.
- carving a pumpkin
- trick-or-treating
- bobbing for apples
- stirring a cauldron
- riding a broomstick
- casting a spell
- rising from a coffin
- wrapping a mummy
- howling at the moon
- walking like a zombie
- biting someone’s neck
- getting lost in a corn maze
- walking through a spider web
- telling a ghost story
- hiding under the blanket
- creaking a door open
- screaming in a haunted house
- running from a chainsaw
- digging up a grave
- reading a spell book
- eating too much candy
- putting on face paint
- jumping at a jump scare
- lighting a jack-o’-lantern
- handing out candy
- turning into a werewolf
- a séance
- falling into quicksand
- jack-o’-lantern
- broomstick
- cauldron
- candy corn
- coffin
- tombstone
- cobweb
- crystal ball
- magic wand
- witch’s hat
- skull
- candy bucket
- haunted house
- full moon
- black cat
- Ouija board
- scarecrow
- chainsaw
- garlic
- wooden stake
- flashlight
- mask
- caramel apple
- fog machine
Horror movies for Halloween charades
Horror movie titles are the best Halloween charades ideas for teens and adults. Many have one scene everyone remembers: the shower in Psycho, the shark in Jaws, the red balloon in It, the twins in the hallway in The Shining. Act that scene and the title usually falls fast.
- Jaws
- Psycho
- Scream
- It
- Halloween
- The Exorcist
- The Shining
- Saw
- Alien
- Carrie
- The Ring
- Child’s Play
- Gremlins
- Poltergeist
- The Birds
- Friday the 13th
- A Nightmare on Elm Street
- Dracula
- Frankenstein
- Final Destination
- The Conjuring
- Annabelle
- Get Out
- A Quiet Place
- The Silence of the Lambs
- Rosemary’s Baby
- Night of the Living Dead
- The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
- The Blair Witch Project
- The Cabin in the Woods
- Paranormal Activity
- Insidious
- Hereditary
- Midsommar
- The Babadook
- Talk to Me
- Smile
- Barbarian
- Nope
- Us
- The Black Phone
- Longlegs
- Shaun of the Dead
- An American Werewolf in London
- Interview with the Vampire
- Pet Sematary
- I Know What You Did Last Summer
- Five Nights at Freddy’s
For more titles outside the horror genre, our movie charades list has 250+ films sorted by difficulty.
Kid-friendly Halloween charades
For younger kids, keep it silly rather than scary. Stick to costumes, friendly monsters and actions, and swap the horror list for family Halloween movies. Most of these are rated G or PG, but check what your group is comfortable with.
- Hocus Pocus
- Casper
- Monsters, Inc.
- Hotel Transylvania
- The Nightmare Before Christmas
- Coraline
- Ghostbusters
- The Addams Family
- Scooby-Doo
- Halloweentown
- Goosebumps
- Frankenweenie
- Corpse Bride
- ParaNorman
- Monster House
- It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
- The Witches
- Beetlejuice
- Ages 4-6: ghost, witch, black cat, pumpkin, bat, spider, skeleton, trick-or-treating, carving a pumpkin. Allow sounds ("boo!" counts).
- Ages 7-10: mummy, werewolf, vampire, scarecrow, haunted house, bobbing for apples, Hocus Pocus, Casper.
- Tweens: pop culture costumes, Ghostbusters, Beetlejuice, Coraline, walking through a spider web.
Little ones who cannot read yet can play with picture cards in Guessy Kids. More age-sorted words are in charades for kids.
Halloween charades for teens and adults
Grown-up groups can go darker and harder: slasher villains, recent horror, and phrases that need several clues. For a cheeky late-night round, combine these with our charades for adults list.
- final girl
- jump scare
- don’t go in the basement
- the call is coming from inside the house
- here’s Johnny
- they’re here
- we all float down here
- do you like scary movies
- splitting up to look for the killer
- the car won’t start
- cursed videotape
- creepy music box
- slasher villain
- found footage
- zombie apocalypse
- exorcism
- sleepwalking
- the last one alive
Halloween party setup ideas
- Costume round. Each guest acts out someone else’s costume; the room guesses whose it is.
- Flashlight round. Lights off, one flashlight on the actor. Everything looks scarier and funnier.
- Monster style. Draw an ordinary word ("brushing teeth") and act it as a zombie, a vampire or a ghost. The team guesses both.
- Pumpkin bowl. Put the word slips in a hollow pumpkin. Whoever draws "jump scare" has to do it to the nearest guest.
- Candy scoring. Points are candy in the team bowl; the winning team picks first from the leftovers.
- Mix the ways to play. Act one round, describe the next, draw the third on a whiteboard, and hum horror theme tunes (Jaws, Halloween, Psycho) in the last.
For games that are not charades, like a costume contest or murder mystery, see these more Halloween party games on our sister site. For the general party flow, read charades party games.
Halloween charades on your phone
No time to write slips? The Guessy app has a free Horror Movies topic with 96 titles, from Psycho and The Exorcist to Smile, M3GAN and Longlegs. Hold the phone to your forehead, your friends act, describe, draw or hum, and you tilt down for correct, up to pass. The timer and the score run on their own. The free Act It Out and Movies topics fill out the night. You can also pull random titles in the browser with the free charades generator set to Horror Movies, or browse all charades categories.
Free Horror Movies topic, a built-in timer and tilt-to-score. dozens of topics, several free, on iPhone and Android.
Download freeFrequently asked questions
What are good Halloween charades ideas?
Witch, vampire, mummy, zombie, werewolf, ghost, carving a pumpkin, trick-or-treating, bobbing for apples, stirring a cauldron, and horror movies like Jaws, Psycho, Scream and It. Each has an obvious move that is fun to act.
How do you play Halloween charades?
Like normal charades: two teams, one actor at a time, 60 seconds to act out a Halloween word without speaking while their team guesses. Score a point per correct guess and alternate teams.
What are easy Halloween charades for kids?
Ghost, witch, black cat, pumpkin, bat, spider, skeleton, scarecrow, trick-or-treating and carving a pumpkin. Let kids under 7 use sounds, and pick family movies like Hocus Pocus or Casper instead of horror films.
What horror movies are good for charades?
Movies with one famous scene: Jaws, Psycho, The Shining, It, Scream, The Exorcist, Carrie, The Ring, Saw and Alien. For harder rounds try Hereditary, The Babadook or The Silence of the Lambs.
Is there an app for Halloween charades?
Yes. Guessy for iPhone and Android has a free Horror Movies topic with 96 titles, plus free Act It Out and Movies topics, a timer and automatic scoring.