Halloween quiz: test your knowledge of scary pop culture

A US soldier serving in the Nato peace keeping mission in Kosovo wears a Halloween mask. Photograph: Valdrin Xhemaj/EPA

It’s time to find out how much attention you’ve paid to the origins of Halloween celebrations, and the way they have influenced popular culture over the years.

Test yourself with our unlucky 13 questions. Will you get a fang-tastic score, or will our quiz expose a scary gap in your knowledge?

1. 

   If you have a morbid fear of Halloween, you suffer from ...

   1. Wiccaphobia

   2. Samhainophobia

   3. Nyctophobia

   4. Phasmophobia

2. Universal Studios was famous for its monster movies in the 1930s. But which of these was released last?

   1. Frankenstein, starring Boris Karloff

   2. Dracula, starring Bela Lugosi

   3. The Invisible Man, starring Claude Rains

   4. The Mummy, starring Boris Karloff

3. 

   When did Starbucks first introduce the pumpkin spice latte?

   1. 2001

   2. 2003

   3. 2005

   4. 2007

4. 

   There are areas of Canada where teenagers are banned from going trick-or-treating: true or false?

   1. True

   2. False

5. 

   Before the pumpkin became the ubiquitous jack-o'-lantern of today, which vegetable was more traditionally carved?

   1. Potato

   2. Swede

   3. Cabbage

   4. Turnip

6. 

   The jack-o'-lantern is said to derive from the legend of Stingy Jack. Who is he supposed to have tricked into paying for his drinks?

   1. Satan

   2. A local witch

   3. A king

   4. His brother

7. 

   In what year was the first of The Simpsons Halloween special episodes, Treehouse of Horror, broadcast?

   1. 1989

   2. 1990

   3. 1991

   4. 1992

8. 

   In which town associated with Bram Stoker's Dracula do goths gather for a weekend near Halloween?

   1. Whitstable

   2. Witney

   3. Whitchurch

   4. Whitby

9. 

   Which of these macabre-titled Michael Jackson songs featured his sister, Janet, on duet duties?

   1. Thriller

   2. Blood on the Dance Floor

   3. Scream

   4. Ghosts

10. 

    Apple-bobbing is said to date back to Roman times. In folklore, if a girl slept with an apple she'd bobbed under her pillow, what would she dream of?

    1. Her happiest memories

    2. Her first child

    3. Her future career

    4. Her future lover

11. 

    In the 1978 movie Halloween, the villain's trademark appearance was made by adapting and painting a $1.98 mask of a famous person. Which person?

    1. Jimmy Carter

    2. William Shatner

    3. Richard Nixon

    4. John Lennon

12. 

    In 1992, the BBC terrified the British nation with Ghostwatch, a scripted drama that appeared to be a live transmission from a haunted house. But which veteran broadcaster presented it alongside Mike Smith and Sarah Greene?

    1. Michael Parkinson

    2. David Dimbleby

    3. Jeremy Paxman

    4. John Humphrys

13. 

    Have you ever heard The Monster Mash?

    1. Yes

    2. No

Solutions

1:B - The origin of the name of this phobia can be found in Samhuin, the Celtic name for the festival of summer's end which has become known as Halloween., 2:C - The Invisible Man was released in 1933. Dracula came first in February 1931, and Frankenstein followed in the November of that year. The Mummy was released in 1932., 3:B - The pumpkin spice latte was introduced in 2003. Originally, the drink didn't contain any pumpkin at all, though since 2015 a small quantity of pumpkin puree has been included in the ingredients., 4:A - True. Bathurst, New Brunswick has a bye-law threatening a fine of up to CA$200 (£120) for people over the age of 14 taking part in 'door-to-door soliciting'. Additionally, 'facial disguises' are banned after 7pm on 31 October. Absolute killjoys., 5:D - The jack-o'-lantern is said to have originated in Ireland, and was traditionally carved from a turnip, 6:A - Stingy Jack is meant to have convinced Satan to pay for his drinks by Satan becoming a coin. Having turned himself into money, Jack then puts Satan in coin form into his pocket, which already contained a crucifix. The power of the crucifix kept Satan frozen as money., 7:B - The first Treehouse of Horror episode featured Bad Dream House and The Raven, as well as introducing aliens Kang and Kodos in Hungry are the Damned. It was broadcast as part of the second season of The Simpsons, on 25 October 1990., 8:D - It's Whitby, where Stoker's Dracula character first arrived in England. Witney, on the other hand, is David Cameron's former constituency. You can insert your own vampire punchline here., 9:C - Jackson's 1995 single Scream featured his sister on vocals. The guest star on Thriller was horror actor Vincent Price., 10:D - The dream was said to reveal who would become the girl's lover. In another variation on this theme, it is said that girls can see their future partner by hanging wet sheets in front of a Halloween fire. This sounds like a health and safety nightmare to be honest., 11:B - It was a mask of Captain Kirk, with the eyes widened and the skin repainted, that chased teenagers all through the classic low-budget slasher movie., 12:A, 13:B - The 1962 Monster Mash single by Bobby 'Boris' Pickett and the Crypt-Kickers was a hit and has become a Halloween playlist staple. However, it's quite clear from the lyrics that Pickett is describing monsters dancing to another song. Indeed, the song ends with him inviting you around to listen to it, so that 'then you can mash'.

Scores

1. 11 and above.

   That's a spook-tacular result.

2. 8 and above.

   That's a fangtastic effort

3. 0 and above.

   That score is simply frightful

4. 4 and above.

   Well, at least you tried to creep it real