skeletonFind to reveal
An adult human skeleton has 206 bones, but a newborn has about 300; many fuse together as a child grows.
Halloween Word Search
Find familiar words. Discover something unexpected.
Puzzle10 words · 11×11 grid · Medium · Answer key included
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cauldronFind to reveal
Denmark's ancient Gundestrup cauldron was made of silver and found in a peat bog, with elephants and lions decorating its enormous sides.
werewolfFind to reveal
In some werewolf stories, unbuckling a magic belt could reverse the transformation, giving a fearsome creature a surprisingly ordinary way back.
pumpkinFind to reveal
The first jack-o'-lanterns were carved from turnips and beets in Ireland; Irish immigrants switched to bigger, softer American pumpkins.
vampireFind to reveal
Vampire bats share blood meals with hungry companions, making an animal named for a frightening monster surprisingly cooperative with its neighbors.
costumeFind to reveal
Scottish guisers traditionally earned Halloween treats by performing songs or tricks in costume, turning the doorstep visit into a little show.
monsterFind to reveal
The word monster comes from the Latin monstrum, an omen or warning, something thought to reveal a sign from the gods.
lanternFind to reveal
The name jack-o'-lantern once meant a night watchman carrying a lamp, long before it described a carved, glowing pumpkin.
ghostFind to reveal
The word ghost comes from the Old English gast, meaning breath or spirit, the same root behind aghast.
witchFind to reveal
Old witch-trial records include men as well as women, despite the familiar Halloween image of a woman in a pointed hat.
True stories · Half Moon Bay, California
A pumpkin as heavy as two cows
At the 2023 world championship weigh-off in Half Moon Bay, California, a Minnesota grower named Travis Gienger rolled out a pumpkin so vast it set the world record at the time at 2,749 pounds, heavier than two grown cows. He nicknamed the giant Michael Jordan. Growing it took a long spring and summer of constant care, with the gourd packing on dozens of pounds on its best days. Champion growers shade their pumpkins from the sun, bury the vines to feed extra roots, and guard against cracks that can disqualify a fruit overnight. After the trophy, many of these record pumpkins are carved into enormous jack-o'-lanterns or floated as boats, then composted back into the soil.
Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble.
William Shakespeare, Macbeth
Trivia
What ancient Celtic festival marking summer's end is one historical influence on Halloween?
Samhain.
Halloween falls the night before which Christian feast that honors the saints?
All Saints' Day (All Hallows' Day, November 1).
In folklore, the carved lantern is named after a man who tricked the devil. What was his nickname?
Stingy Jack.
Which 1897 novel by Bram Stoker shaped the popular image of the vampire?
Dracula.
What is the irrational fear of the number 13 called, often linked to bad luck?
Triskaidekaphobia.
Trivia · 1 / 5
What ancient Celtic festival marking summer's end is one historical influence on Halloween?
Samhain.
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The turkey got its name by mistake, confused with African fowl traded through Turkey.
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Snow traps air, so a well-built igloo can be much warmer inside than the air outdoors.
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Reindeer are the only deer in which both sexes grow antlers.
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New year Word Search
Before gunpowder firecrackers, burning bamboo made loud cracks that were believed to scare off evil spirits in China.
Play →or printTrue stories · Keene, New Hampshire
The town lit by thirty thousand pumpkins
In October 2013 Keene, New Hampshire, glowed with 30,581 lit jack-o'-lanterns. The pumpkins stood in rows and on towers, turning the city's festival into a vast display of carved faces. The total reclaimed a Guinness World Record, with contributions from residents and visitors adding up to something far beyond a single porch decoration. The festival had begun in 1991 to draw people downtown. Its record night made a striking picture of that purpose: thousands of separate lanterns gathered into one shared spectacle. Each pumpkin was small enough to carry, but together they lit a citywide memory.
There is something haunting in the light of the moon; it has all the dispassionateness of a disembodied soul.
Joseph Conrad, Lord Jim
Find pumpkin, ghost and witch among the words hidden in this puzzle. Play free online or print the puzzle with its answer key.
Is this halloween word search free to print?
This halloween word search is a free printable puzzle with 10 hidden words in an 11×11 grid. Find words like SKELETON, CAULDRON, WEREWOLF hidden across, down, and diagonally. You can play it right here in your browser — tap the first and last letter of a word — or download it as a printable PDF with the full answer key on page two. It's free for personal and classroom use, so teachers can print copies for a whole class with no sign-up and no account. Word searches like this one are a proven way to build vocabulary, spelling, and word-shape recognition, which is why they're a favourite with ESL learners, elementary classrooms, and anyone who likes a quiet puzzle with their coffee.
Print this Halloween word search
Sources: Heaviest pumpkin (Guinness World Records) · Keene 30,581 lit jack-o'-lanterns (NHPR) · Origins of Halloween traditions (Library of Congress) · Song of the Witches, Macbeth (Poetry Foundation)
Word list, facts & trivia researched and compiled by Sam Letterman — spotted a mistake? Tell us and we’ll fix it.