Halloween Vocabulary

Goblin – a small, ugly creature that is harmful to humans.

Sentence – He wore goblin mask to scare the kids.

Goodies – an object that people want or enjoy, often something nice to eat.

Sentence – Some people dressed as goodies while others as devils on the Halloween eve.

Gory – involving violence and blood.

Sentence – The book’s descriptions of the killings were unbelievably gory.

Gown – a woman’s dress , especially a long one worn on formal occasions.

Sentence – She used her party gown to make a flying ghost.

Grave – a place in the ground where a dead person is buried.

Sentence – She laid flowers on the grave.

Gravestone – a stone that shows where a dead person is buried, usually with the name and the years of birth and death of that person written on it.

Sentence – What would you carve on your gravestone after your death?

Grim – worrying, without hope

Sentence – Her expression was grim and unpleasant.

Grim Reaper – death, imagined as a skeleton with a large curved tool used for cutting crops.

Sentence – The grim reaper will bring change in both places soon.

Grisly – extremely unpleasant, especially because death or blood is involved.

Sentence – The grisly double homicide sent shock waves through this south Berkeley neighborhood.

Gruesome – extremely unpleasant and shocking, and usually dealing with death or injury

Sentence – The newspaper article included a gruesome description of the murder.

Hair-Raising – very frightening.

Sentence – After many hair-raising adventures, most not only survive but emerge wiser and stronger as a result of their harrowing ordeal.

Halloween – the night of 31 October when children dress in special clothes and people try to frighten each other.

Sentence – His Halloween programme Ghostwatch so scared my children that I have had to sleep on a camp bed in their room.

Haunt – to cause repeated suffering or anxiety.

Sentence – The place is the haunt of off-duty policemen.

Haunted House – a house or other building often perceived as being inhabited by disembodied spirits of the deceased who may have been former residents or were otherwise connected with the property.

Sentence – It is a thrilling tale of a haunted house and the ghosts therein.

Hayride – a social event in which a group of people go for a ride in an open vehicle filled with hay.

Sentence – Six months before, I had gone on a hayride with Tom Brown.

Headstone – a large stone that is put at one end of a grave with the name of the person who has died and other details such as the year they died.

Sentence – Dark red marble headstone placed on one side of the helmet and bronze casting Battle Flag, a symbol of military honor and eternal life.

Hobgoblin – a small, ugly creature that causes trouble.

Sentence – The hobgoblin becomes the child, and the child becomes a hobgoblin.

Hocus Pocus – tricks used to deceive, or words used to hide what is happening or make it not clear.

Sentence – In a movie all a witch has to do is to speak some words like hocus pocus and the curse starts working.

Horrible – very unpleasant or bad.

Sentence – It was horrible sitting there all on my own.

Horrify – to shock someone very much.

Sentence – He went to great pains to show how horrifying the war was.

Howl – If a dog or wolf howls, it makes a long, sad sound.

Sentence – A sudden howl pierced the silence.

Imp – a child that behaves badly, but in a way that is funny rather than serious.

Sentence – He’s dressing up as the Lincoln Imp; the original imp is a carving in Lincoln cathedral.

Jack-O’-Lantern – a light made from a hollow pumpkin with holes cut into the sides like the eyes and mouth of a person’s face, inside which there is a candle.

Sentence – He spends the summer watching it grow and grow and grow… until it’s finally the perfect size for a Halloween jack-o’-lantern.