This Halloween word search hides 22 spooky words: a Witch with her Broomstick and Cauldron, a Ghost, a Mummy, a Vampire and a Werewolf, a Black cat, Cobwebs, a Graveyard by Moonlight and, of course, Trick or treat. Words run across, down and diagonally, and backwards too, so the puzzle is a step up from a plain Medium one. The word list prints in the order below, from Pumpkin to Potion, instead of A to Z.
Make it scarier, or friendlier
For older children and adults, switch Difficulty to Hard: filler letters are then drawn from the spooky words themselves, so false starts like WIT or GHOS show up all over the grid. For a preschool party, choose Easy, a 10 × 10 grid and only the short words (Bat, Owl, Candy, Ghost, Witch).
A costume-party table
Print two puzzles per page and cut them apart to use as placemats, or slip one in each treat bag with a small pencil. Teachers can print a set of different versions so each child in the class has their own grid, with matching answer keys at the end of the PDF.
Add your own spooky words
Delete any words you don’t like and add your own: the name of your street’s haunted house, your child’s costume, or the monsters from a favorite book. The grid is rebuilt the moment you type, and the page names any word that doesn’t fit so you can pick a bigger grid.
The 22 words in this puzzle
Pumpkin · Costume · Witch · Ghost · Skeleton · Candy · Haunted · Broomstick · Cauldron · Spider · Cobweb · Bat · Black cat · Mummy · Vampire · Werewolf · Moonlight · Trick or treat · Jack-o'-lantern · Zombie · Graveyard · Potion