Halloween for Hangman 🎃

Clues for every answer

A one-line clue for every answer, easy to hard. They're the same clues the game's 💡 Hint shows, so you can read them out when you run your own game.

Ghost

In folklore, the spirit of a dead person that some people believe can appear to the living.

Witch

Person in stories who uses magic powers, often to cause harm; black cats have long been linked with them.

Bat

Winged mammal, the only kind of mammal that can truly fly; most come out at night.

Spider

Eight-legged creature that spins silk; most kinds have fangs that can inject venom.

Pumpkin

Round orange winter squash, often carved into a lantern to decorate for Halloween.

Sweets

Sugary treats such as chocolates and lollies, which children collect when trick-or-treating.

Broom

Brush with a long handle for sweeping floors; witches in films fly about on one.

Skull

The bony case around the brain; pictures of it are a common sight at Halloween.

Fangs

Long, pointed teeth, linked to venom glands in snakes; a defining feature of vampires in stories.

Moon

Earth's only natural satellite; in werewolf films a full one often sets off the change.

Web

Silk trap that many spiders build to catch insects to eat.

Spell

Magic words, or a set formula, that are supposed to have magical powers.

Owl

Mostly night-hunting bird of prey with big forward-facing eyes; it can turn its head as far as 270°.

Mask

Face covering worn for disguise or fun; at Halloween in Ireland and Scotland, ones worn by guisers are called "false faces".

Ghoul

Monstrous human-like being from folklore, often linked with graveyards.

Tomb

Place, above or below ground, where the remains of the dead are kept.

Grave

Place where a dead body is buried, usually in a special area such as a cemetery.

Cloak

Loose, almost always sleeveless garment worn over clothes; Dracula is famous for wearing one.

Raven

Large all-black bird that can copy human speech; some old traditions saw it as a bird of ill omen.

Crypt

Underground stone vault, the kind of chamber that typically holds coffins.

Skeleton

Frame of bones and cartilage holding up a human body; images of it are classic Halloween decorations.

Vampire

Folklore creature with a human-like look that feeds on people, usually by drinking their blood.

Zombie

Legendary undead being, a dead body brought back to life, often seen in horror films.

Goblin

Small, ugly and often nasty creature from European folklore, known for playing pranks.

Cobweb

Spider silk tangle that looks old, dusty and abandoned; in some places soft brooms sweep them off walls.

Cauldron

Large pot for boiling over an open fire; in Western culture it is most linked with witchcraft.

Costume

Outfit or disguise worn as fancy dress, like the vampires and witches seen at Halloween.

Haunted

Of a place: visited by ghosts, like an old house believed to have spirits living in it.

Wizard

Someone, usually a man, who uses magic; a common figure in fantasy books and games.

Mummy

Dead body of a human or animal preserved so it does not rot; some were wrapped in linen.

Monster

Imaginary creature from stories and horror, very often dangerous with a strange or grotesque look.

Shadow

Dark area on a surface where an object blocks the light.

Midnight

The moment one day turns into the next, exactly 12 hours away from noon.

Lantern

Light, often portable, with a protective case that once usually held a candle or an oil wick.

Potion

Drink that contains medicine, poison or something supposed to have magic powers.

Banshee

Female spirit of Irish folklore who warns of a death in the family, usually by wailing or shrieking.

Phantom

A ghostly figure; also something seen or heard that has no real physical existence.

Warlock

Traditionally a man who practises sorcery; in old Scots, the male version of a witch.

Tombstone

Marker, usually upright, set over a grave and generally showing the person's name and dates of birth and death.

Scarecrow

Figure, often human-shaped and usually in old clothes, set in fields to keep birds off seeds and crops.

Werewolf

Shapeshifter of folklore; in films the change is often triggered by the full moon and spread by a bite.

Graveyard

Patch of land where the dead are buried; another word for a cemetery.

Apparition

Eerie, unexpected sighting of a ghost or phantom, or the ghostly figure itself.

Poltergeist

Noisy spirit of German folklore, blamed for loud bangs and objects being moved or broken.

Supernatural

Beyond the normal laws of the world, like magic, levitation or seeing the future.

Frankenstein

1818 Gothic novel by Mary Shelley about a young scientist who builds a living creature from body parts.

Transylvania

Region of central Romania; Bram Stoker used it as a setting for his vampire novel Dracula, so it's linked with vampires.

Jack O Lantern

Pumpkin or turnip hollowed out, carved with a face and lit inside, a classic Halloween decoration.

Trick Or Treat

What children in costumes say as they go from house to house at Halloween, hoping for sweets.

Nightmare

Unpleasant bad dream, typically scary, that often wakes the sleeper up feeling upset.

Gargoyle

Carved figure on a building, usually a fantastical animal, that spouts rainwater away from the walls.

Sarcophagus

Coffin, most commonly carved in stone and usually displayed above ground; Egyptian pharaohs had the earliest stone ones.

Necromancer

Magic-user in stories who calls up the spirits of the dead to learn hidden secrets or the future.

Cemetery

Place where the remains of many dead people are buried; its name comes from Greek for 'sleeping place'.

Spectre

A ghost (this is the British spelling); also a frightening thought of something bad that might happen.

Lycanthrope

Another word for a werewolf, from Greek words meaning 'wolf-human'.

Diabolical

Extremely wicked or cruel; in slang it can also mean cunning and devious.

Malevolent

Having or showing ill will and wishing harm on others, like a wicked villain.

Reanimation

Bringing a dead body back to life, the way zombies are made in legend and horror stories.

Will O' The Wisp

Ghostly light seen by travellers at night, especially over bogs and marshes, said to mislead or guide them.