Halloween Vocabulary in Spanish

Halloween is celebrated on October 31. Even though it is a US holiday, it has become famous worldwide, and nowadays you can find Halloween events in most of the Spanish speaking countries. Let’s take a look at some Halloween vocabulary in Spanish today.

Please take into account that there are three celebrations from October 31 to November 2 that may look similar, but they are completely different. In Spain, El Día de Todos los Santos (All Saints’ Day) is celebrated on November 1 and in Mexico El Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead) is celebrated on November 2. While Halloween and El Día de Todos los Santos focus on the dark side of the death, El Día de Muertos is a joyful celebration to remember friends or family members who have died.

First of all, let’s see a list of basic Halloween vocabulary in Spanish. Some people call this celebration la Noche de Brujas, which literally means the night of the witches. However, you can also call it Halloween.

La Noche de Brujas or Halloween (Halloween)
El Día de Todos los Santos (All Saints’ Day)
El Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead)
octubre (October)
noviembre (November)
otoño (autumn, fall)
truco o trato (trick or treat)
- Another way to say it is dulce o trato or dulce o travesura. However, in Mexico, they say pedir calaverita (to go trick or treating) because the basket where candy are kept usually has the shape of a skull (calavera).

Now let’s learn some verbs or phrases to speak about Halloween in Spanish.

embrujar (to haunt)
espantar or asustar (to scare, to startle)
disfrazarse de (to dress up)
gastar una broma (to play a trick)
gritar (to scream, to yell)
hechizar (to cast a spell)
pedir (to ask for)
tallar una calabaza (to carve a pumpkin)
tener miedo de (to be afraid of)
tocar a la puerta (to knock on the door)
tocar el timbre (to ring the doorbell)

Let’s have a look at some popular adjectives you can use while talking about Halloween. Remember that in Spanish adjectives always agree with the noun they refer to.

aterrador (scary, frightening)
embrujado (haunted)
escalofriante (creepy)
extraterrestre (extraterrestrial)
fantasmal (ghostly)
malo (evil)
malvado (wicked)
misterioso (mysterious)
muerto (dead)
siniestro (sinister)
terrorífico (spooky)

Halloween Decorations

Let’s continue learning Halloween vocabulary in Spanish. Here you have a list of common nouns related to decorations.

la decoración (decoration)
el cempasuchil (marigold)
la calabaza de Halloween or la lámpara de calabaza (jack-o-lantern)
la calavera (skull)
la escoba (broom)
la hoja (leaf)
la araña (spider)
la tela de araña or la telaraña (spider web)
la vela (candle)
la sangre (blood)
el hueso (bone)
el cementerio (cemetery, graveyard)
la tumba (grave)
la lápida (tombstone)
el ataúd (casket, coffin)

Halloween Costumes

Let’s read more Halloween vocabulary in Spanish. Here is a list of popular costumes. Remember the word for costume is el disfraz.

el brujo (wizard, sorcerer)
el cadáver (corpse)
el coco (boogeyman)
el demonio (demon)
el diablo (devil)
el dragón (dragon)
el duende (goblin)
el espantapájaros (scarecrow)
el esqueleto (skeleton)
el fantasma (ghost)
el gato negro (black cat)
el gigante (giant)
el hombre lobo (werewolf)
el mago (wizard)
el monstruo (monster)
el murciélago (bat)
el ogro (ogre, goblin)
el pirata (pirate)
el superhéroe o la superheroína (superhero)
el troll (troll)
el vampiro o la vampira (vampire)
el zombi o la zombi (zombie). En México muerto viviente or la muerta viviente.
la bruja (witch)
la momia (mummy)
la Muerte, la Huesuda or la Pelona (Grim Reaper)
la Catrina (Catrina)

Accessories

There are some accessories you can wear with your costume.

la máscara (mask)
el bolso (bag)
los colmillos (fangs)
el sombrero de bruja (witch hat)
la capa (cloak)
la guadaña (scythe)
la linterna or el farol (lantern)
la caldera or el caldero (caldron)
el maquillaje (makeup)
el palo de escoba (broomstick)

Halloween Food

Let’s finish reviewing the most popular Halloween vocabulary in Spanish with nouns related to food. Probably candy and pumpkins are the food most associated with Halloween, but there are many others. Let’s see just a few in this list.

el caramelo, la gominola or el dulce (a piece of candy, a sweet)
- los caramelos, las gominolas or los dulces (candy, sweets)
la calabaza (pumpkin)
el maíz dulce (sweet corn)
la manzana dulce (caramel apple)
la sidra achampañada (apple sider)

Exercises

Let’s do some exercises to practice the Halloween vocabulary in Spanish we have seen in this article. Don’t forget to also practice Christmas vocabulary in Spanish to learn more about Spanish culture.

Halloween Vocabulary in Spanish