{"id":93855,"date":"2023-03-16T04:06:32","date_gmt":"2023-03-16T08:06:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/learn\/german-halloween-vocabulary\/"},"modified":"2025-02-25T04:40:51","modified_gmt":"2025-02-25T09:40:51","slug":"german-halloween-vocabulary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/german\/german-halloween-vocabulary\/","title":{"rendered":"German Halloween Vocabulary: 43 Fun Words"},"content":{"rendered":"

When you think of Halloween, you probably think of candy corn, right? But did you know that the Germans are linked<\/a> to the popularization of Halloween’s signature candy?<\/p>\n

Although Philadelphia candymaker George Renninger invented candy corn in the 1880s, a family from Germany established the Goelitz Confectionery Company, which manufactured the treat and turned it into a staple Halloween candy.<\/p>\n

Here are 43 German Halloween vocabulary words and phrases<\/strong>\u00a0to kick off your spooky celebrations.<\/p>\n

[fluentu-toc]<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

1. Das Halloween<\/em>\u00a0<\/i>(Halloween)<\/h2>\n

Note that the origins of the word “Halloween” date back to the 8th century, when October 31st was called “All Hallows Eve,” which then morphed into “Hallow Evening” and, well\u2026 I think you get the picture.\u00a0<\/p>\n

2. Buh<\/em>\u00a0(Boo!)<\/h2>\n

The single most important word for any self-respecting\u00a0Geist<\/i><\/a>\u00a0<\/i>(ghost) to commit to memory and use with frequency during the Halloween season.<\/p>\n

3. Der Friedhof<\/i> (The cemetery)<\/h2>\n

No Halloween is considered fully realized without a visit to the local cemetery. While the hope in taking such a trip is that the Toten<\/em> \u00a0<\/i>(dead) stay dead and buried, scary movies have proven time and time again that Halloween is the perfect time of year for a Zombie<\/em> \u00a0(zombie) invasion.<\/p>\n

4. Das Geisterhaus<\/em> (The haunted house)<\/h2>\n

An easy and important compound word to add to your Halloween vocabulary list. Geister<\/em> (ghosts) is simply the plural form of Geist<\/em> ,\u00a0<\/i>and Haus<\/em> (house) is one of those great cognates<\/a> easily committed to memory.<\/p>\n

5. Der Grabstein<\/em>\u00a0(Tombstone)<\/h2>\n

Remember those\u00a0Zombies<\/i>\u00a0we mentioned earlier? To remember this one, imagine that a\u00a0Grabstein<\/em>\u00a0is what they’re knocking over and out of the way in their quest to get their hands on (grab) you!<\/p>\n

6. Der Ghul<\/em>\u00a0<\/i>(The ghoul)<\/h2>\n

Another frightening addition to any and all Halloween experiences.<\/p>\n

7. Die Fledermaus<\/em>\u00a0<\/i>(The bat)<\/h2>\n

A nocturnal Blutsauger<\/em> \u00a0<\/i>(bloodsucker).<\/p>\n

8. Die Hexe<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>(The witch)<\/h2>\n

Four\u00a0hundred\u00a0years ago, the Germans were in the midst of witch hunt frenzy<\/a>, which saw many men and women accused of casting Zauberspr\u00fcche <\/em>(magic spells), riding around on a Besen<\/em> (broom) and turning themselves into a schwarze Katze<\/em> \u00a0(black cat).<\/p>\n

9. Die Mumie<\/em>\u00a0<\/i>(The mummy)<\/h2>\n

Just like in English, it sounds a lot like “mommy,” but this is definitely not something you want kissing you goodnight at bedtime.<\/p>\n

10. Der D\u00e4mon<\/em>\u00a0<\/i>(The demon)<\/h2>\n

This word dates back to the time of the ancient Greeks and represents the idea of a \u201cdivine being.\u201d<\/a> History, however, saw rise to the word being associated with all things evil, hence its place in the Halloween we now celebrate.<\/p>\n

11. Der Sch\u00e4del<\/em> (The skull)<\/h2>\n

The skull and crossbones appear to have transcended Halloween<\/a>. Designers across the globe have transformed this classic symbol into the latest “it” thing.<\/p>\n

12. Das Skelett<\/em> (The skeleton)<\/h2>\n

Going back to the ancient roots of “All Hallows Eve” and its remembrance of the dead, skeletons allow for an easy association with modern-day Halloween.<\/p>\n

13. Die Spinne<\/i> (The spider)<\/h2>\n

The verb spinnen<\/i> means to spin. Spiders spin webs. How\u00a0simple is that?<\/p>\n

14. Der Vampir<\/em> (The vampire)<\/h2>\n

Known to only come out at Nacht <\/i> (night), suck your Blut <\/em> (blood) and take shelter from the sunlight in a Sarg<\/em> (coffin), the V<\/em>ampir <\/i>is the quintessential Halloween scare.<\/p>\n

15. Die Vogelscheuche<\/i> (The scarecrow)<\/h2>\n

The noun Vogel <\/i>\u00a0means “bird” and the verb scheuchen<\/em> means “to shoo”\u2014exactly the intention of a scarecrow.\u00a0<\/p>\n

16. Der Teufel<\/em> (The devil)<\/h2>\n

The word Teufel<\/em> mixes well with other words in the German language to express some form of outrage, concern or alarm. Teufel noch mal<\/em> ,\u00a0<\/i>for example, means “dammit.” Was zum Teufel<\/em> \u00a0means “what the hell?” Pfui Teufel!<\/em> is “ugh, disgusting!”\u00a0<\/p>\n

17. Der Werwolf<\/em>\u00a0<\/i>(The werewolf)<\/h2>\n

“The Werewolf of Bedburg” is the story of\u00a0Peter Stubbe, a German man accused of being a werewolf back in the 16th century. The tale is a disturbing one and the perfect addition to any Halloween party.<\/p>\n

18. Das Kobold<\/em>\u00a0(Goblin)<\/h2>\n

These ghastly creatures date back to the European Middle Ages, with tales of their deeds sprinkled throughout folkloric history. Mischievous in nature, they’re also said to have been bestowed with magisch<\/em> \u00a0<\/i>(magical) powers.<\/p>\n

19. Der K\u00fcrbis<\/em> (The pumpkin)<\/h2>\n

No Halloween is complete without lots of K\u00fcrbisse <\/em>(pumpkins). Einritzen<\/em> means “to carve,”\u00a0and that’s exactly the first thing one does in order to make room inside for the Kerze<\/em> (candle) that will ultimately transform your pumpkin into a functioning K\u00fcrbislaterne<\/em> \u00a0(pumpkin\u00a0lantern).<\/p>\n

20. Der Jack O\u2019Lantern<\/em> \/ Der Halloweenk\u00fcrbis<\/em> (The jack o\u2019lantern)<\/h2>\n

The name \u201cjack o\u2019lantern\u201d and the practice of decorating candle-lit pumpkins derives from an Irish folktale<\/a>\u00a0and there isn\u2019t a unique German word for it.<\/p>\n

Der Halloweenk\u00fcrbis\u00a0<\/em>literally just means \u201cHalloween pumpkin.\u201d There are actually a number of pumpkin-carving events in the German-speaking world, a popular one being the\u00a0K\u00fcrbisfest<\/em><\/a>\u00a0in Retzer Land near Vienna.<\/p>\n

21. Das Kost\u00fcm<\/em>\u00a0<\/i>\/ Die Verkleidung<\/i> (The costume)<\/h2>\n

When it comes to German Halloween, they like to keep their dress-up on the scary side. With all these new scary vocabulary words you’ve learned, you should have no problem fitting right in.<\/p>\n

22. Das Kost\u00fcmfest<\/em> (The costume party)<\/h2>\n

A staple of Halloween, costume parties have made their mark in German celebrations of the holiday. It\u2019s also good to know that the Germans prefer to keep their attire fittingly scary for the occasion. If you\u2019re going to attend one of their costume parties, you might want to switch out your Superman costume or cute animal suit for something truly frightening.<\/p>\n

23. Die S\u00fc\u00dfigkeiten<\/em> (The candy)<\/h2>\n

No Halloween is complete without indulging in one’s fair share of candy, and this is no different in Germany. With holidays such as Easter, St. Nikolaus Day<\/a> and Christmas also being heavily celebrated with candy, plus the country’s general love of all things chocolate<\/a>,\u00a0Germans have managed to\u00a0rank #3 in the world<\/a> for overall candy consumption!<\/p>\n

24. Der Streich<\/i> (The prank)<\/h2>\n

Even though Germans go candy hunting door-to-door, little pranks such as tossing eggs at houses have also been known to happen in Germany during this time of year!<\/p>\n

25. Die Gruselgeschichte<\/em> (The scary story)<\/h2>\n

This word is a simple combination of the adjective gruselig<\/em> \u00a0<\/em>(creepy, horrifying) and die Geschichte<\/em> \u00a0<\/em>(story). Germany has its own tradition of eerie tales<\/a>, so you\u2019ll definitely want to hear some of them on Halloween night.<\/p>\n

26. Der Albtraum<\/em> \/ Der Alptraum<\/em> (The nightmare)<\/h2>\n

Der Albtraum<\/em> or Alptraum <\/em>is a word derived from a combination of der<\/em>\u00a0A<\/em>lb <\/em>\u00a0<\/em>(\u201celf\u201d) and der T<\/em>raum <\/em>\u00a0<\/em>(the dream), as it was once believed that nightmares were caused by an elf sitting on your chest.<\/p>\n

The English word for nightmare actually has a German origin: d<\/em>er Nachtmahr , <\/em>which is a combination of the words die Nacht<\/em> \u00a0<\/em>(night) and der\u00a0<\/em>Mahr <\/em>\u00a0<\/em>(which is essentially the same thing as\u00a0der Alb<\/em>).\u00a0<\/p>\n

However,\u00a0Nachtmahr\u00a0<\/em>is considered outdated these days. Alptraum\u00a0<\/em>is more commonly used nowadays to describe those frightful dreams that haunt your sleep.<\/p>\n

27. Die Fratze<\/em> (The grimace, ugly face)<\/h2>\n

No Halloween is complete without some horrific face-making.\u00a0Die Fratze\u00a0<\/em>can mean your standard grimace or a grotesque face, either of which you\u2019ll want to perfect for October 31st.<\/p>\n

28. Der Aberglaube<\/em> (The superstition)<\/h2>\n

Germany has its own fair share of superstitious beliefs, and some may sound quite familiar (the fortune of four-leaf clovers being one such example).\u00a0Aberglaube\u00a0<\/em>is a combination of an antiquated aber<\/em> , which essentially meant \u201cafter\u201d or \u201cagainst,\u201d and the word der\u00a0<\/em>Glaube <\/em>,\u00a0<\/em>meaning \u201cthe belief.\u201d Thus, Aberglaube\u00a0<\/em>loosely means \u201cagainst belief,\u201d and is understood in context to mean \u201cagainst Christian belief.\u201d<\/p>\n

29. <\/i>Der Horror<\/i> (the horror)<\/h2>\n

Horror, as we know, goes really well with Halloween<\/a>. This is also how you form the word for “horror movie” – der Horrorfilm <\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

30. Frohes Halloween<\/em> (Happy Halloween)<\/h2>\n

There isn\u2019t a special German word for Halloween, so a simple\u00a0Frohes Halloween<\/em> is all that\u2019s needed to wish someone a lovely, spooky day. You’ll also often just hear the English phrase used –\u00a0Happy Halloween!<\/p>\n

Froh <\/em> by itself means \u201cmerry\u201d and, in the correct gender case, can be tacked on to the beginning of a certain holiday for a celebratory greeting (for example, Frohe<\/em> Weihnachten<\/em> \u00a0<\/em>for \u201cMerry Christmas\u201d).<\/p>\n

While these expressions typically won’t appear on textbooks, you can see them in action on FluentU.<\/p>\n

FluentU<\/strong> takes authentic videos\u2014like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks\u2014and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.<\/p>\r\n

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