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Halloween Word Search
Find every word hidden in the grid. Words go across and down.
0 of 16 words found
WPRSRBWITCHCZAE
SBYPNRTYIDAAGND
IYSOIOSISOUUPEI
OXHEKOGBGPNLEMN
EVHEBMMMHPTDREJ
IAZDAOCTOBERIIW
TMOATNMASKDOLVG
TPMSESPATPFNUGC
UIBWCTRICKRHSQA
FRITIESPIDERHGN
DEEAORRLLIUYCID
RTGANDZFIIGYTEY
TCVNRNLGWUMPIAZ
HITPWPUHPUMPKIN
KSDTIIYCOBWEBHN
This grid is wider and taller than its box. Slide it to see every letter.To drag, hold the first letter for a moment, then slide.Keyboard: Tab to the grid, arrow keys to move, Enter on the first and last letter.
GHOST
ZOMBIE
VAMPIRE
MONSTER
BAT
SPIDER
COBWEB
CANDY
TRICK
MASK
HAUNTED
WITCH
CAULDRON
BROOM
PUMPKIN
OCTOBER
16 of 24 words from the Halloween Favorites list.
Tap or click the first letter of a word, then its last letter. Or drag across the word. On a touch screen, hold the first letter for a moment before you drag. On a keyboard, the arrow keys move, Enter marks the first and the last letter, and Escape clears a first letter.
BonesThe hard white parts that hold a body up. A grown-up has about 206 of them.
BooWhat you shout when you jump out to surprise somebody.
GargoyleA stone creature on an old building whose spout throws rainwater clear of the walls. The name is from a French word for throat.
GhostThe spirit of a dead person in a spooky story, often drawn as a floating white sheet.
GoblinA small, ugly, mischief-making creature of European folk tales.
MonsterAny big, frightening make-believe creature, such as the one hiding under the bed.
MummyA body dried and wrapped in layers of linen. Ancient Egyptians did the drying with a salt called natron.
OgreA huge, grumpy giant in fairy tales.
PhantomAnother name for a ghost, or for something seen that is not really there.
PoltergeistA noisy ghost that throws things about. The name joins the German words for rumble and ghost.
ScarecrowA figure in old clothes set in a field to keep birds off the crops. In Scotland it is a tattie bogle.
Show all 100 words (89 more)
Ghosts and Monsters, continued
SkeletonThe frame of bones inside a body. A baby has about 270 and a grown-up about 206, because some join together.
SkullThe bony case that protects the brain. A human one is made of 22 separate pieces.
SpecterA ghostly shape or vision. This is the American spelling; in Britain the last two letters swap places.
TrollA being of Nordic folklore that lives among rocks, caves and mountains. Sunlight is said to turn it to stone.
VampireA night creature in tales that spread from southeastern Europe in the 1700s. Garlic is said to keep it away.
WerewolfA person in folklore who changes shape into a hairy, howling beast. The Old English name means man-wolf.
ZombieA walking dead body in scary stories. The idea comes from the folklore of Haiti.
Creatures of the Night 18
BatThe only mammal that truly flies. It finds insects in the dark by listening for echoes, and it sleeps upside down.
CatA black one means bad luck in much of Europe but good luck in Britain, Ireland and Japan.
CobwebA dusty old net of silk left in a corner of the ceiling.
DarknessWhat is left when every light goes out.
DuskThe last dim light of the day, when trick-or-treating usually begins.
FogA cloud that sits on the ground and hides the path ahead.
HootThe call of an owl in the night.
MidnightTwelve o'clock at night, known in old tales as the witching hour.
MoonIt lights the night sky. The full one that falls in October is usually the hunter's one.
NocturnalAwake and active at night and asleep by day, like most owls.
OwlA night bird of prey that flies almost silently and can turn its head as far as 270 degrees.
RavenA large, glossy black bird with one of the biggest brains of any bird. A group is called an unkindness.
ShadowThe dark shape you cast when you stand in front of a light.
SpiderAn eight-legged spinner of silk. Most kinds have eight eyes as well.
TarantulaA big hairy spider. Some kinds can live for more than 20 years.
ToadA kind of frog with short legs and dry, bumpy skin, often dropped into a storybook potion.
TwilightThe soft glow left in the sky between sunset and full dark.
WolfThe biggest wild animal in the dog family. It howls to gather its pack, not at the moon.
Trick or Treat 22
BucketA pail with a handle, often shaped like a pumpkin, for carrying the night's haul.
CandySweets. A striped kind shaped like a kernel of corn dates from the 1880s and was first called Chicken Feed.
CapeA sleeveless cloak that hangs from the shoulders of a hero or a storybook count.
CaramelSugar cooked until it turns golden brown and chewy. It coats apples on a stick in the fall.
ChocolateA brown sweet made from roasted cacao beans, the prize at the bottom of the bag.
CostumeThe outfit that turns you into somebody else for the night.
DisguiseClothes and face paint that hide who you are. Scottish guisers take their name from it.
DoorbellYou press it on the front step and wait to see who answers.
DragonA fire-breathing beast of legend with wings and scales.
FairyA tiny magical being with wings and a wand.
FlashlightA hand-held lamp that runs on batteries and shows the way along a dark sidewalk.
KnockA rap on the door with your knuckles.
LollipopA hard sweet on a stick.
MaskA cover for the face. In Ireland and Scotland the Halloween kind was called a false face.
PillowcaseA cover from the bed that doubles as a very big sack for sweets.
PirateA sea robber of old. The outfit needs an eye patch, a big hat and a treasure map.
PorchThe covered step by the front door. A light left on there means the house has sweets to give.
SuperheroA caped crime fighter with special powers.
TreatsThe sweet half of the bargain that children offer on the doorstep on October 31.
TrickA prank. The door-to-door phrase that starts with this word was first printed in Ontario, Canada, in 1917.
WigFalse hair for the head that finishes off an outfit.
WrapperThe paper or foil around a sweet. It belongs in the bin, not on the sidewalk.
Witches and Haunted Houses 22
AtticThe dusty room under the roof where the floorboards seem to walk by themselves.
BroomA brush on a long handle for sweeping the floor, or for flying if the stories are true.
CandleA stick of wax with a wick. One goes inside a hollowed pumpkin to make the face glow.
CauldronA big iron pot hung over a fire, just right for a bubbling brew.
CemeteryA burial ground. Spellers beware: every vowel in this word is an e.
CoffinA long wooden box with a lid. In stories a squeaky one opens by itself.
CreakThe slow squeak of an old door or a loose stair.
CreepyGiving you a shivery, uneasy feeling.
EerieStrange in a way that makes the hair on your neck stand up.
GraveyardA burial ground beside a church, the setting of many a ghost story.
HauntedSaid to be visited by ghosts, like the old house at the end of the street.
LanternA lamp you can carry. The kind named after Jack was cut from turnips before pumpkins.
MysteriousStrange and hard to explain, like footsteps in an empty room.
PotionA magic drink stirred up in a storybook kitchen.
ScaryCausing fear, like a sudden noise in a dark room.
ScreamA loud, high cry of fear or surprise.
SpellMagic words said aloud to make something happen.
SpookyFrightening in a fun, ghostly way.
TombstoneA carved stone that marks a grave. Foam ones sprout on front lawns in October.
WandA thin stick waved to work magic.
WitchA woman in fairy tales who casts spells, stirs a cauldron and rides a broomstick.
WizardA man in stories who works magic, often in a pointed hat and a long robe.
Halloween History 20
BlackOne of the two main colors of Halloween, the shade of night and of a witch's hat.
BobbingLifting a floating apple from a tub of water using only your teeth. Scots call the game dooking.
BonfireA big outdoor blaze. Special ones were lit at the old festival of Samhain.
CarveTo cut a face into a pumpkin. Keene, New Hampshire, lit 30,581 of them at once on October 19, 2013.
CelticOf the old peoples of Ireland, Scotland and their neighbors, whose harvest festivals are thought to have shaped Halloween.
EveThe day before a holiday. October 31 is the one before All Saints' Day.
FolkloreThe old stories, customs and beliefs that a people hands down.
GuisingGoing from door to door in costume for food or coins, recorded in Scotland since the 1500s.
HallowsAn old word for saints or holy people. The night before their day, November 1, gave October 31 its name.
HayrideA bumpy trip in a wagon piled with dried grass, a farm outing each fall.
ImmigrantsPeople who move to a new country to live. Irish and Scottish ones carried Halloween to North America in the 1800s.
IrelandAn island country where Samhain opened the winter and lamps with faces were once cut from turnips.
OctoberThe tenth month. Halloween falls on its last day, the 31st.
OrangeOne of the two main colors of Halloween, the shade of pumpkins and autumn leaves.
PumpkinA big orange squash native to North America. Newcomers from Ireland found it larger and softer to cut than a turnip.
PurpleA mix of red and blue, sometimes counted as the third color of Halloween.
SamhainThe Gaelic festival at the end of harvest and the start of winter, a root of Halloween. Say it SAH-win.
ScotlandHere children have gone guising since the 1500s, and ducking for apples is called dooking.
SoulingAn old custom of calling at houses for soul cakes as November began, known since the 1400s.
TurnipA round root vegetable. Glowing faces were cut into it in Ireland and Scotland long before pumpkins.
How this list was compiled: Word list written for this page: 100 Halloween words in five themed lists, with 24 marked as favorites, 36 short words of 3 to 5 letters and 25 long words of 8 to 11 letters. No book or film characters, no candy brands and nothing gory. Dates, places, customs and animal facts were checked on 2026-09-19 against https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween (held on 31 October, the eve of All Hallows' Day on 1 November; one theory that Celtic harvest festivals, Gaelic Samhain above all, influenced many customs; special bonfires; apple bobbing, called dooking in Scotland, using only the teeth; turnips carved in Ireland and Scotland and the larger, softer native pumpkin used by immigrants in North America; black, orange and sometimes purple as the traditional colors; Irish and Scottish immigrants brought many customs across to North America in the 1800s; hayrides, corn mazes and haunted houses), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samhain (end of harvest and start of winter; pronounced SAH-win), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trick-or-treating (the phrase first recorded in The Sault Daily Star, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, on November 1, 1917; guising on record in Scotland from the 16th century on; souling for soul cakes from the 15th century; masks that Ireland and Scotland call false faces; it typically begins at dusk; a porch light left on signals a house with candy), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack-o%27-lantern (turnip, mangelwurzel or pumpkin; 30,581 lit jack-o'-lanterns in Keene, New Hampshire, on October 19, 2013), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candy_corn (from the 1880s, first called Chicken Feed), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bat (the only mammals that can truly fly and keep flying; echolocation; roost upside down), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider (eight legs, most with four pairs of eyes, silk from spinnerets; tarantulas can live more than 20 years), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owl (mostly nocturnal birds of prey, silent flight, heads turn up to 270 degrees), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_skeleton (about 270 bones at birth, about 206 in adults, 22 in the skull), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mummy (natron and layers of linen), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poltergeist (German poltern, to rumble, and Geist, ghost), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gargoyle (a spout that carries roof water clear of the walls; French gargouille, throat), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_cat (bad luck in much of Europe, good luck in Britain, Ireland and Japan), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Werewolf (Old English werwulf, man-wolf), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zombie (Haitian folklore gave us the term), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vampire (the modern figure arose in southeastern Europe early in the 18th century; garlic as a protection), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troll (Nordic folklore; rocks, caves and mountains; turned to stone by sunlight), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarecrow (dressed in old clothes to keep birds off crops; tattie bogle in Scotland), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_raven (among the largest brains of any bird; the collective noun unkindness), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolf (largest wild member of the dog family; howls to assemble the pack and across great distances; does not howl at the Moon), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toad (frogs with short legs and dry, leathery, bumpy skin) and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full_moon (the hunter's moon follows the harvest moon and usually falls in October). The spellings Specter (American spelling of spectre), Guising and Souling were checked on Wiktionary the same day. Licence: own work
How it works
Nothing in this Halloween word search for kids is gory. The first grid hides 16 words every child knows, Ghost, Pumpkin and Cobweb included. Seven more lists, under Start from a list, reach all 100, up to Poltergeist and Tarantula.
Read the full guide
Monsters, night creatures, treats and history
Ghosts and Monsters and Creatures of the Night have 18 words each, and Trick or Treat has 22. For a spooky word search printable with no sweets in it, choose Witches and Haunted Houses. Each list makes its own word search printable: Halloween History has 20 words. For first grade, Easy Halloween keeps the 36 words of 3 to 5 letters, such as Bat, Boo and Wig.
A hard grid for fifth grade
For a Halloween word search hard enough for fifth grade, choose Hard Halloween and press Hard. Its 25 words of 8 to 11 letters may then read backwards. The grid grows by itself when a long word needs room. For harder still, set Word list there to Hide the words (letter counts only).
Samhain, in Halloween History, trips up every reader: its clue says to say it SAH-win.
At a class party, make the Halloween word search puzzle one station. Press New puzzle between prints for fresh grids.
No Halloween at school? The fall word search has a Harvest and Farm list: pumpkins and scarecrows, not one ghost.
Questions and answers
Can I save a Halloween word search printable PDF, and is the hard list free?
Yes to both. Press Print or save as PDF and choose Save as PDF. The Halloween word search PDF keeps its key on page 2, so send page 1 alone. The hard Halloween word search printable, free like every list here, saves the same way.
Where did trick-or-treating come from?
From customs of calling at houses for food. Souling, asking for soul cakes as November began, is known since the 1400s, and guising is recorded in Scotland since the 1500s. The phrase trick or treat was first printed in Ontario, Canada, in 1917.
Why do we carve pumpkins at Halloween?
The custom began with turnips: glowing faces were cut into them in Ireland and Scotland long before pumpkins. Newcomers from Ireland found the pumpkin larger and softer to cut. Keene, New Hampshire, lit 30,581 carved pumpkins at once on October 19, 2013.