Adults will not talk about pumpkins for forty minutes, and they shouldn't have to. A good Halloween question for an adult class is about something else underneath: why we pay to be frightened, who gets to knock on your door, whether a tradition survives being sold, and how your students' own cultures remember the dead.
These 30 Halloween discussion questions move outward through the holiday in six sets of five: what students have done, what scares them, the rules at the front door, the money, the days for the dead and, last, whether Halloween should exist at all. The levels climb from A2 to C1, and every set comes with an activity that stops one-word answers.
They also work in a class where nobody celebrates Halloween, or where some students prefer not to. Sets 3 to 6 are about neighbors, money, memory and argument, so nobody needs to like the holiday to answer them, and the last set lets the case against it win. Halloween 2027 falls on a Sunday, so most classes will meet these questions in the week before.
The six sets at a glance | # | Set | Level | Activity | | 1 | Have You Ever? | A2-B1 | Three Follow-Ups | | 2 | What Scares You | A2-B1 | The Scare Scale | | 3 | At the Door | B1-B2 | Our Halloween Rules | | 4 | At the Store | B1-B2 | The Class Survey | | 5 | The Days for the Dead | B2-C1 | Explain It to a Visitor | | 6 | Should It Exist? | B2-C1 | Debate Motions |
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Free · printable PDF · 8 pagesHalloween Conversation CardsAll 30 questions below as cut-out cards with answer starters, one page per set, numbered like this post. Each page also holds the worksheet for that set's activity.Page 1 · Cover and how to use the cardsPage 2 · Set 1, Have You Ever?: Three Follow-UpsPage 3 · Set 2, What Scares You: The Scare ScalePage 4 · Set 3, At the Door: Our Halloween RulesPage 5 · Set 4, At the Store: The Class SurveyPage 6 · Set 5, The Days for the Dead: Explain It to a VisitorPage 7 · Set 6, Should It Exist?: Debate MotionsPage 8 · All 30 questions on one page, for screen sharingDownload the free PDFUS Letter |
Set 1: Have You Ever?
The warm-up set. Every question has a yes or a no, which is exactly why the activity is about what comes after it.
1of 6A2-B1Pairs10 minFree printable · page 2 Have You Ever? Questions 1 to 5 · activity: Three Follow-Ups - Have you ever worn a costume to work, to school or to a party?
- Have you ever carved a pumpkin or decorated your home for Halloween?
- Have you ever not recognized a friend because of a costume or makeup?
- Have you ever watched a horror movie in a movie theater?
- Have you ever answered the door to trick-or-treaters, or knocked on a door yourself?
How it works- Pairs. One student reads a card, the partner answers.
- For a yes, the reader has to ask three follow-up questions before the next card: When? Who with? How did it go? They note one or two words in the grid.
- For a no, the reader asks Would you like to? and moves on. Then they swap.
| Why it works Have you ever...? gets a yes or a no and then silence. The follow-ups turn each yes into a short story, and the grid gives the listener a reason to listen closely. |
| Watch for Questions 3 and 5 are the ones that surprise. A student who has never trick-or-treated usually has a story about the opposite: the year the doorbell kept ringing, or the costume party nobody recognized them at. If your class has nothing on Halloween, let them answer about any costume party or carnival. |
| The grammar underneath The present perfect for the yes or no, then the past simple for the story: Have you ever carved a pumpkin? Yes, once. When did you do it? Students switch between the two on every card, and most of them switch too late. The worksheet has a four-line check with the answers upside down. |
| Free printable · page 2Set 1 · Question 1Have you ever worn a costume to work, to school or to a party?START Yes, I have. I once wore ... to ...Page 2: the five cards, the Three Follow-Ups grid and a check on have you ever against the past simple.Download the free PDFUS Letter |
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Set 2: What Scares You
Fear, kept to movies and stories. Four situations and one memory, and the scale does the comparing for you.
2of 6A2-B1Pairs10 minFree printable · page 3 What Scares You Questions 6 to 10 · activity: The Scare Scale - You are watching a horror movie at home and the lights go out. What do you do?
- A friend invites you to a haunted house attraction. Do you go in first, in the middle, or not at all?
- You are home alone at night and you hear a door close upstairs. What do you do first?
- A friend tells a ghost story and says it happened in the house you are sitting in. How do you react?
- When you were a child, what scared you that seems funny to you now?
How it works- Pairs. For cards 6 to 9, both students tick a reaction on the scale without showing each other: I'd laugh, I'd jump, I'd hide, I'd leave.
- They compare and start with the card where their ticks are furthest apart. Each one explains why.
- Card 10 has no scale. It is a story about childhood, and it is the best one in the set.
| Why it works The ticks give a quiet student something to point at before they have the words. A gap between I'd laugh and I'd leave needs explaining, and the explaining is the speaking practice. |
| Watch for Students answering with I will. These are imagined situations, so the answer is I'd, and the worksheet makes them correct four versions of the slip. Also, question 7 splits groups: some students will go into a haunted house first just to get it over with. |
| Careful Keep this set to movies, stories and the dark. Don't swap in questions about what students fear in real life: for some of them, that answer is not a game. |
| The grammar underneath I'd + verb for an imagined situation, and the past simple for card 10: When I was little, I was scared of the basement. |
| Free printable · page 3Set 2 · Question 6You are watching a horror movie at home and the lights go out. What do you do?START I'd probably ..., and then I'd ...Page 3: the five cards, the Scare Scale for you and your partner, two lines to write on and a check on I'd.Download the free PDFUS Letter |
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To follow set 2 Question 9 is a ghost story waiting to happen. The free Ghost Stories lesson (A2-B1) has students read short ghost stories and then tell one of their own in the past simple and past continuous. Ghost StoriesA2B1FreeOpen the free lesson → |
Set 3: At the Door
Halloween at the front door, where the holiday meets the neighbors. Every question is a small argument about manners.
3of 6B1-B2Pairs, then fours15 minFree printable · page 4 At the Door Questions 11 to 15 · activity: Our Halloween Rules - Trick-or-treaters ring your bell and you have no candy in the house. What should you do?
- Up to what age is trick-or-treating fine? Should adults be allowed to do it?
- A candy bowl says "Please take one" and nobody is watching. Is taking two OK?
- A neighbor puts a very realistic fake body in the front yard, next to a school bus stop. Is that OK?
- Should an office or a school have a costume day? What should be off-limits?
How it works- Pairs. For each card, the pair agrees on one rule and writes it in one sentence, using a phrase from the bank: You should, You're allowed to, You shouldn't.
- Two pairs sit together and read their rules aloud. They tick each one: the same rule, or a different one.
- They argue only about the different ones.
| Why it works Writing a rule forces a decision. It depends is not a rule. The comparison with another pair does the rest, because two pairs almost never agree on question 12. |
| Watch for Question 13 sounds trivial and isn't. It is about what people do when nobody is watching, and adults enjoy it more than you expect. Question 15 can bring up costumes that mock a group of people: let the class set the line, and keep the examples general. |
| The grammar underneath Obligation and permission: you have to, you should, you're allowed to, it's fine to. Watch for don't have to used to mean shouldn't. It means something else. |
| Free printable · page 4Set 3 · Question 11Trick-or-treaters ring your bell and you have no candy in the house. What should you do?START I think you should ..., or at least ...Page 4: the five cards, the Our Halloween Rules table and a phrase bank for rules that must, may and must not.Download the free PDFUS Letter |
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Set 4: At the Store
The money. Every country that has taken up Halloween has also taken up the shopping, and students have opinions about it.
4of 6B1-B2Threes15 minFree printable · page 5 At the Store Questions 16 to 20 · activity: The Class Survey - How much would you spend on a costume you will wear only once?
- Stores start selling Halloween things in early September. Is that too early, or just business?
- Which Halloween purchase is worth the money, and which is a waste?
- Have imported holidays like Halloween or Black Friday changed how people in your country shop?
- Is a holiday still a holiday if you have to buy things to celebrate it?
How it works- Groups of three. Each student asks the other two every card and writes their answers in a few words.
- New pairs. Each student reports what their classmates said: Carmen said she would never spend more than ten dollars.
- The new partner asks one follow-up question about each report.
| Why it works Reporting gives every answer a second life. The student who asked has to remember and rebuild it, and the reported speech comes out because the task needs it, not because it was announced. |
| Watch for Notes in full sentences, which slow the survey down. Two or three words is enough. And at B1, reports that copy the direct speech: She said I spend a lot. Point at the bank on the worksheet. |
| The grammar underneath Reported speech with the verb one step back: "I'll make my own" becomes he said he would make his own. Question 19 adds the past simple against the present: Ten years ago nobody bought costumes. Now everybody does. |
| Free printable · page 5Set 4 · Question 16How much would you spend on a costume you will wear only once?START I'd spend about ..., and not a cent more.Page 5: the five cards, the Class Survey table for two classmates and a check on reporting what they said.Download the free PDFUS Letter |
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Set 5: The Days for the Dead
Most cultures set aside a day to remember the dead, and many of your students will know one well. This set asks them to explain theirs.
5of 6B2-C1Pairs15 minFree printable · page 6 The Days for the Dead Questions 21 to 25 · activity: Explain It to a Visitor - Is there a day in your country for remembering the dead? What do families do on it?
- Some cultures remember the dead with music and color, others quietly. Which feels right to you?
- Movies and stores often mix up Halloween and Mexico's Day of the Dead. Does the difference matter?
- Should children take part in traditions about death, or be protected from them?
- Can one culture borrow another culture's holiday respectfully? What would that look like?
How it works- Pairs. One student explains a tradition from their country or family, using the notes on the worksheet: the date, who takes part, what people do and what it means.
- The partner plays a visitor who has never seen it. They write three why questions while they listen, then ask them.
- Swap for the next card. Questions 23 to 25 move from describing traditions to judging how they travel.
| Why it works Explaining your own culture to an outsider is one of the hardest things a learner does in English, and one of the most useful. The why questions stop the description from staying on the surface. |
| Watch for Answers that turn into encyclopedia entries. The notes keep them personal: what your family does. For question 23, Mexico's Day of the Dead is celebrated on November 1 and 2, and it is a family holiday rather than a scary one, which is usually the point students make on their own. |
| Careful Ask about traditions, never about the people students have lost. Anybody can describe a tradition they have read about instead of their own, or pass a card without saying why. |
| The grammar underneath The language of explaining customs: It's a day when..., Traditionally, people..., The idea behind it is..., and the passive when nobody in particular does it: Candles are lit on the graves. |
| Free printable · page 6Set 5 · Question 21Is there a day in your country for remembering the dead? What do families do on it?START In my country, on ..., families usually ...Page 6: the five cards, four note boxes, a table for the visitor's three questions and a phrase bank for explaining, asking why and comparing.Download the free PDFUS Letter |
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There is no full lesson on the days for the dead in our library yet. For an A2-B1 group, Festivals of Fall does the same comparing work: students read about four fall celebrations from around the world and compare them with comparatives and superlatives.
Set 6: Should It Exist?
The last set is a debate, and the side you argue is drawn at random. This is the set most likely to run over time.
6of 6B2-C1Threes15 minFree printable · page 7 Should It Exist? Motions 26 to 30 · activity: Debate Motions - Countries that never celebrated Halloween should not adopt it.
- Being frightened for fun is good for you.
- Schools should ban Halloween costumes.
- Selling a tradition is how it survives, not how it dies.
- If Halloween did not exist, something like it would be invented.
How it works- Groups of three. Deal the three side cards face down: For, Against, Judge.
- Two minutes to prepare, then two minutes each. For speaks first. Against answers For, then gives their own reason.
- The judge ticks the scorecard while they speak: a reason, an example, an answer to the other side. Then the judge names the winner and says why. Swap cards for the next motion.
| Why it works Arguing a side you didn't choose takes the personal risk out of disagreeing. Students who would never contradict a classmate will happily do it when the card told them to. The judge gets the hardest listening job in the room. |
| Watch for Speeches that never answer the other side. That is the third tick on the scorecard, and it is the one most pairs miss on the first motion and get on the third. Motion 26 suits a class that doesn't celebrate Halloween: let them win it. |
| The grammar underneath Arguing and conceding: I'd argue that..., I take the point about..., but..., That's true up to a point. At C1, push for the concession before the counter-argument. |
| Free printable · page 7Set 6 · Motion 26Countries that never celebrated Halloween should not adopt it.START I'd argue that ..., because ...Page 7: the five motion cards, three side cards to cut out, the judge's scorecard and a phrase bank for arguing, conceding and judging.Download the free PDFUS Letter |
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Halloween Conversation CardsThe cards and worksheets for all six sets in one free PDF, plus all 30 questions on one page for screen sharing.Download the free PDF |
Mistakes your students will make
Teacher's reference Slips to listen for in Halloween conversations | Students say | Better | | Have you ever been to a Halloween party last year? | Did you go to a Halloween party last year? | | Last year is a finished time, so the past simple. Have you ever takes no time at all. Set 1. | | If the lights go out, I will hide. | If the lights went out, I'd hide. | | An imagined situation takes I'd, not I will. Set 2. | | Adults don't have to trick-or-treat. | Adults shouldn't trick-or-treat. | | Don't have to means it isn't necessary. For a rule against it, use shouldn't or aren't allowed to. Set 3. | | She said me she spends too much. | She told me she spent too much. | | Tell takes a person, say doesn't. And the verb usually moves back a step. Set 4. | | We celebrate it the 2nd November. | We celebrate it on November 2. | | On with dates and days. Set 5. | | I am agree with the motion. | I agree with the motion. | | Agree is a verb, so no am. The most common slip in any debate. Set 6. |
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Halloween lessons to teach after the questions
Every lesson below fills 60 minutes and is written for adults and older teens. For all 12 Halloween lessons sorted by level and grammar, see our Halloween lessons for adults, or open the Halloween collection.
Need ten minutes instead of a full hour? Our last-minute Halloween activities need no prep at all, and the Halloween vocabulary topics give your class the words before the questions.
The same card format exists for other topics too: food, daily routines and Easter each come with a free question deck.
When Halloween is over, our Thanksgiving ESL activities carry the conversation into November, with a free pack of question cards and games.
