Game night
Halloween Charades Words for a Paper and Phone Game
Get 36 original Halloween charades words with acting cues and difficulty levels. Make paper slips, balance each team’s deck and use a phone for time and scores.
Use these 36 Halloween charades words to make a paper deck for your next gathering. There are twelve objects, twelve actions and twelve short scenes. Each card has a suggested movement and difficulty level, so you can choose the right mix before anyone starts guessing.
The prompts and acting cues below are original suggestions, ready to copy onto slips. A phone can handle the countdown and scores. If anyone needs the full rules first, open our charades rules and team scoring guide.
Choose prompts that can be acted without speaking
Pick cards whose main idea has a visible movement. A broomstick offers sweeping or flying; a mysterious curse needs more agreement about what counts as a correct guess. Here, Easy means one familiar shape or action. Medium adds a detail. Hard asks players to connect a character with a small problem.
Treat those labels as starting estimates. Read through the deck with your group’s vocabulary in mind, then remove unfamiliar terms. Agree to accept close wording, such as candy bucket for trick-or-treat bucket. Keep spoken clues and sound effects out of the performance, and allow a free pass.
Copy only the prompt onto each slip. The acting cues are optional help for the actor, so keep them on the host’s reference copy. Players can invent another gesture whenever they draw a card.
Twelve Halloween object prompts for a warmup
Start with these if players prefer short answers. Mime holding or using an object, then show its distinctive shape. All twelve objects are rated Easy because each offers a single physical idea.
| Prompt | Acting cue | Level |
|---|---|---|
| Witch’s broomstick | Sweep, then sit astride and steer. | Easy |
| Trick-or-treat bucket | Hold a handle and collect candy. | Easy |
| Vampire cape | Fasten your collar and spread fabric. | Easy |
| Pumpkin lantern | Trace a round face and flickering light. | Easy |
| Pointed witch hat | Outline a tall triangle above you. | Easy |
| Spiderweb | Stretch sticky threads between both hands. | Easy |
| Crystal ball | Circle a sphere and peer inside. | Easy |
| Skeleton mask | Cover your face and outline teeth. | Easy |
| Potion bottle | Pull a cork and carefully pour. | Easy |
| Wrapped candy | Twist both ends and unwrap it. | Easy |
| Bat wings | Spread bent elbows and flap slowly. | Easy |
| Haunted door knocker | Lift a ring and knock cautiously. | Easy |
Twelve action prompts with clear movements
Move to these Halloween charades actions once everyone is comfortable taking a turn. Keep each performance in one spot; walking, climbing and flying can all be mimed while seated.
| Prompt | Acting cue | Level |
|---|---|---|
| Carving a pumpkin | Scoop seeds, then cut a grin. | Easy |
| Wrapping a mummy | Wind imaginary bandages around your arms. | Easy |
| Stirring a bubbling potion | Stir deeply and dodge rising bubbles. | Medium |
| Riding a runaway broom | Grip tightly and swerve past obstacles. | Medium |
| Hanging a rubber bat | Reach upward and adjust dangling wings. | Easy |
| Untangling a giant spiderweb | Peel invisible strands off your sleeves. | Medium |
| Knocking for Halloween candy | Knock, present a bucket, then thank. | Easy |
| Trying on vampire teeth | Fit fangs and struggle to smile. | Medium |
| Decorating a haunted doorway | Hang cobwebs around an imaginary frame. | Medium |
| Tiptoeing past a sleeping monster | Creep gently, freeze, then retreat. | Medium |
| Counting a candy haul | Sort pieces and count on fingers. | Easy |
| Testing a witch’s flying hat | Put it on and hold it down. | Medium |
Twelve short scenes for a harder round
These funny Halloween charades scenes pair a familiar character with an awkward task. Establish the character first, then show the problem. All twelve are rated Hard because the group must guess both parts.
| Prompt | Acting cue | Level |
|---|---|---|
| A ghost caught in a revolving door | Float forward, turn, and get trapped. | Hard |
| A vampire brushing oversized fangs | Show long teeth and brush around them. | Hard |
| A mummy losing its bandages | Shuffle, notice loose strips, and rewind. | Hard |
| A witch parallel parking a broom | Reverse, check shoulders, and squeeze in. | Hard |
| A skeleton learning to hula hoop | Show bony limbs and swivel hips. | Hard |
| A werewolf visiting the hairdresser | Show claws and request a trim. | Hard |
| A zombie carrying a birthday cake | Shuffle stiffly and protect the candles. | Hard |
| A scarecrow chasing away a butterfly | Stretch arms and swat something tiny. | Hard |
| A monster squeezing into tiny slippers | Show giant feet and tug gently. | Hard |
| A pumpkin trying to roll uphill | Outline round sides and struggle upward. | Hard |
| A bat waking up upside down | Fold wings, wake, and rotate upright. | Hard |
| A witch sneezing into her potion | Stir, mime a sneeze, and recoil. | Hard |
Turn the list into paper slips and a fair deck
For two teams, prepare matching difficulty mixes before shuffling. One workable set gives each team three Easy, two Medium and one Hard card. Use different prompts for the teams, with the same number of opportunities. Keep the remaining cards as replacements. Equal difficulty labels cannot guarantee equally difficult guesses, so adjust any obvious mismatch together.
Fold slips the same way and keep separate bowls for unused and used cards. How should you mark used paper prompts? Put every drawn slip in the used bowl, including passes and expired turns. A small tick on the back helps if the bowls get mixed up. Leave used cards out until the next game.
Set a timer for your paper prompt round, choosing sixty seconds as a house rule. Check that the display is visible and try the sound before play. Keep the device awake, since sleep or muted audio can affect the alert. For one card per turn, award one point for an accepted answer before time expires and zero for a pass or timeout.
Use the Scoreboard to enter the two team names and manually add each point. Alternate teams and rotate actors until both sides have taken six turns. If they tie, share the win or give each team one extra card of the same difficulty.
Can you paste this list into the Charades tool? The current FunBox Charades generator supplies its own animals, actions and objects. It has no custom prompt import or Halloween category. Keep these seasonal cards on paper; choose the generator when you want its regular deck and built-in round controls.
For more Halloween charades ideas, change one detail on a scene card, such as giving the vampire an awkward umbrella instead of a toothbrush. Make those replacements before dividing the decks. If your gathering needs another activity afterward, our Halloween party games for adults includes a wider evening plan.