Twenty-five questions on horror films, from Psycho in 1960 to Hereditary in 2018, in four rounds. The answers sit under each round, folded away, so the host can open them when the pens go down and nobody at the party sees them early.

It is a free sampler of the quiz in our Horror Movie Night Kit, pitched for a Halloween night with mixed company: family favourites like Hocus Pocus and Ghostbusters sit alongside proper scares, and each round ends with a hard one.

How to run it

  • Play in teams of two to five. A spooky pun for your team name is compulsory.
  • One point for every correct answer. In round two, take a bonus point for naming the character who says the line. That makes 31 points in all.
  • Spelling does not count, as long as the host can tell what you mean. The host's decision is final, though bribes of sweets may be considered.
  • Phones face down. Anyone caught searching has to perform their best scream-queen scream.

Round 1: Name the film

The host reads a very helpful, slightly cheeky plot description. Name the film.

  1. An island police chief who is scared of the water tries to close the beaches before the Fourth of July weekend. The mayor says no.
  2. A teenager who has just moved to Salem lights a very old candle on Halloween night and brings back three witch sisters after 300 years.
  3. Three scientists lose their university jobs and open a ghost removal business in an old New York firehouse.
  4. A London sales assistant fails to notice the zombie apocalypse until two zombies turn up in his garden, so he decides to wait it all out at his favourite pub.
  5. A devout police sergeant flies to a remote Scottish island to find a missing girl, and the locals seem far too excited about May Day.
  6. A photographer's weekend meeting his girlfriend's parents gets very awkward, and a teacup turns out to be the scariest thing there.
  7. A bullied 12-year-old in a Stockholm suburb in the early 1980s makes friends with the mysterious new kid next door.
Round 1 answers
  1. Jaws (1975). Most of the minor roles were played by residents of Martha's Vineyard, where the film was shot.
  2. Hocus Pocus (1993). It opened in US cinemas in July 1993 and was a box-office flop at first, before it became a Halloween favourite.
  3. Ghostbusters (1984). The firehouse is real: Hook & Ladder Company 8 in Tribeca, New York.
  4. Shaun of the Dead (2004). Nick Frost, who plays Shaun's best friend Ed, made his film debut here.
  5. The Wicker Man (1973). Sergeant Howie travels by seaplane to the fictional Hebridean island of Summerisle.
  6. Get Out (2017). Jordan Peele's debut passed $100 million in the US just three weeks after release.
  7. Let the Right One In (2008). Lina Leandersson, who plays Eli, answered an advert seeking a 12-year-old who was "good at running".

Round 2: Who said it?

The host reads a famous line, with accents and dramatic pauses encouraged. Name the film, then take a bonus point for naming the character who says it.

  1. "I see dead people."
  2. "Here's Johnny!"
  3. "Do you like scary movies?"
  4. "I, myself, am strange and unusual."
  5. "We all go a little mad sometimes."
  6. "Stay on the road. Keep clear of the moors."
Round 2 answers
  1. The Sixth Sense (1999). Bonus: Cole Sear, played by Haley Joel Osment, who was Oscar-nominated for the role.
  2. The Shining (1980). Bonus: Jack Torrance, played by Jack Nicholson. Nicholson improvised it, borrowing the Tonight Show's introduction for Johnny Carson.
  3. Scream (1996). Bonus: Ghostface, the masked caller. The script's working title was Scary Movie.
  4. Beetlejuice (1988). Bonus: Lydia Deetz, played by Winona Ryder, who returned to the role in the 2024 sequel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.
  5. Psycho (1960). Bonus: Norman Bates, played by Anthony Perkins. Hitchcock reportedly had copies of the novel bought up to protect its surprises.
  6. An American Werewolf in London (1981). Bonus: a darts player at the Slaughtered Lamb pub, giving the two American backpackers some advice they do not take.

Round 3: Heroes and monsters

Questions about the stars and the characters they play. Write down the name.

  1. Who played Ripley, the Nostromo's warrant officer, in Alien (1979)?
  2. Name the dream-haunting villain of A Nightmare on Elm Street, famous for his striped jumper and hat.
  3. In The Addams Family (1991), what is the name of the family's helpful disembodied hand?
  4. Which future megastar made his film debut as Nancy's boyfriend Glen in A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)?
  5. Which Australian actor played the mum in both The Sixth Sense and Hereditary?
  6. Who played psychiatrist Dr Sam Loomis in Halloween (1978)?
Round 3 answers
  1. Sigourney Weaver. The script noted that the crew was unisex, so any part could be played by a man or a woman.
  2. Freddy Krueger. He is played by Robert Englund.
  3. Thing. Thing taps out messages to Gomez in Morse code.
  4. Johnny Depp. It was one of New Line Cinema's first productions, earning the studio the nickname "The House that Freddy Built".
  5. Toni Collette. She was Oscar-nominated for playing Lynn Sear in The Sixth Sense.
  6. Donald Pleasence. He agreed to star because his daughter Lucy had enjoyed John Carpenter's score for Assault on Precinct 13.

Round 4: Behind the screams

Production trivia. Choose A, B, C or D.

  1. What did the Jaws crew nickname their mechanical shark? (A) Moby, (B) Bruce, (C) Brody or (D) Steven.
  2. Who performed the Ghostbusters theme song? (A) Huey Lewis and the News, (B) Kenny Loggins, (C) Ray Parker Jr. or (D) Lionel Richie.
  3. Shaun of the Dead's title is a play on which George A. Romero zombie film? (A) Night of the Living Dead, (B) Day of the Dead, (C) Land of the Dead or (D) Dawn of the Dead.
  4. Michael Myers's mask in Halloween (1978) started life as a cheap shop-bought mask of which Star Trek character? (A) Mr Spock, (B) Dr McCoy, (C) Captain Kirk or (D) Scotty.
  5. Get Out was a huge hit, but roughly how much did it cost to make? (A) $450,000, (B) $4.5 million, (C) $45 million or (D) $145 million.
  6. Almost all of The Shining was filmed at which British studio? (A) Pinewood, (B) Elstree, (C) Shepperton or (D) Ealing.
Round 4 answers
  1. (B) Bruce. It was named after Steven Spielberg's lawyer, Bruce Ramer.
  2. (C) Ray Parker Jr. It was a number-one hit and was Oscar-nominated for Best Original Song, losing to Stevie Wonder.
  3. (D) Dawn of the Dead. Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright later appeared as zombies in Romero's Land of the Dead (2005).
  4. (C) Captain Kirk. It cost $1.98 from a Hollywood Boulevard costume shop. The crew painted it white and widened the eyes.
  5. (B) $4.5 million. It grossed over $250 million worldwide and won Jordan Peele the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.
  6. (B) Elstree. The hotel's exterior shots were filmed at Timberline Lodge on Mount Hood, Oregon.

The full quiz: the Horror Movie Night Kit

These 25 questions come from the quiz in the Horror Movie Night Kit, and the kit includes them. On top of them it has 15 more questions, a picture round of 10 where teams name the film from three icons, and a tiebreaker. That is 50 questions in five rounds, with host sheets, answer sheets and an animated PowerPoint with the answers in the speaker notes.

The quiz is one part of the kit. It also has 30 different illustrated horror cliché bingo cards to play during any film, a who-goes-first sweepstake with bonus bets, and 31 Nights of Horror, a tick-off watchlist for October that starts at Hocus Pocus and ends at Halloween. It costs £4.99 including VAT and downloads straight after checkout.

More quizzes and games

There is a free British gangster film quiz and a Christmas film quiz for December, both with answers. If you need a film to watch after the quiz, start with the best British horror films or horror films that are actually scary. And if round two went well, Movie Quotes serves up a new line every day.