Halloween Drawing Ideas

Friendly ghosts, carved pumpkins and haunted houses: 150 Halloween subjects, each with a hint for the first lines, sorted easy, cute, spooky or detailed.

Halloween Drawing Ideas

All 150
  1. Doorstep lanterns all the way down a terraced streetOne-point perspective: the steps shrink toward the end of the street, and each lantern is a smaller dot of light.
  2. A spider eating its old webSpiders commonly eat their own web to recycle the silk. Draw the web half gone, gathered in like knitting.
  3. A child in a cardboard-box robot costumeTwo boxes, hose arms, bottle-top buttons. Shops only began selling mass-produced costumes in the 1930s.

Next step Want it scarier? The scary list goes furtherArches, ironwork and gothic detail

All 150 ideas

Easy 76

  • A bat shadow puppet made by two hands Cross the wrists, hook the thumbs, spread the fingers as wings. Draw the hands small and the shadow large.
  • A besom propped by the back door A besom is twigs bundled and tied to a stout pole, by tradition birch on a hazel handle. The brush is round, not flat.
  • A black cat asleep in an upturned witch hat The hat lies brim up like a bowl. Fill it with one curled cat, a tail over the edge and one ear showing.
  • A black cat sitting upright, golden eyes the only detail Most black cats' irises are golden. Fill the cat as one solid shape and leave only the eyes as bare paper.
  • A border of doodles: bats, sweets, stars, webs and tiny ghosts Work round the page edge in pen without planning. Repeat five motifs, turn some upside down, fill gaps with dots.
  • A calendar page for 31 October, circled twice Halloween falls on 31 October every year, the eve of All Hallows' Day. Let doodles creep in from the edges of the box.
  • A candle in a holder with wax running down one side A cylinder, a saucer with a ring handle, a teardrop flame. Let the drips pool and harden on the saucer.
  • A cat in a bat costume, unimpressed Strap-on felt wings, a small hood with big ears, and a face that says the wearer was not consulted.
  • A cauldron on three legs with a ladle and a recipe card A round pot with a rolled rim and a hoop handle. Prop a small card against it, corners curling in the steam.
  • A cereal-box haunted house with cut-out windows Draw the box standing up, a roofline cut into the top, flap windows and a door that really opens.
  • A child in a cardboard-box robot costume Two boxes, hose arms, bottle-top buttons. Shops only began selling mass-produced costumes in the 1930s.
  • A colour chart for Halloween: black, orange and purple Black and orange, and sometimes purple, are the traditional colours. Fill three swatches, then one small object in each.
  • A crescent moon with a sleepy face and a nightcap Two arcs meeting at sharp points, one closed eye, a small smile, and a striped cap hanging off the top horn.
  • A crooked front door with a bat-shaped knocker Tilt the frame a few degrees off true. Panels, a letter slot, and a knocker of two spread wings on a ring.
  • A crystal ball showing tomorrow's weather A sphere on a small stand with one curved highlight. Inside it, a cloud, three raindrops and a tiny umbrella.
  • A dog in a spider costume with four extra legs Eight legs in all: the dog's own four plus two stuffed ones flopping each side. Add a very proud face.
  • A garden shed haunted by a very small ghost A plank shed with a padlock, tools through the window, and one tiny pale face between the flowerpots.
  • A ghost at the back of a family portrait, waving Four stiff people in a row in an oval frame, and one pale shape behind them enjoying itself.
  • A ghost dragging a chain it would rather not have Ghosts are often shown in a shroud, dragging chains. Links are overlapping ovals. Give the ghost a sigh.
  • A ghost dressed up as a skeleton A sheet ghost with bones painted down the front of the sheet: a ribcage, two arm bones and a skull round the eye holes.
  • A ghost waiting at a bus stop after midnight A pole, a timetable and a bench under one street lamp. The ghost casts no shadow, but the bench does.
  • A graveyard of joke headstones with silly names Rounded slabs leaning at different angles. Letter a pun on each one and keep real names out of it.
  • A Halloween party invitation with a hand-drawn border Leave a panel for the time and place. Run a border of webs in the corners and bats along the top edge.
  • A hamster in a tiny witch hat A round body, cheeks wider than the head, and a cone with a brim held on by a loop of thread under the chin.
  • A haunted house drawn only as lit windows on black paper White or yellow pencil on dark paper. Draw no walls: the windows alone should give the shape of the house.
  • A haunted house for sale, the sign crooked in the garden A leaning post and board, long grass, and one ghost at an upstairs window watching the viewers arrive.
  • A jack-o'-lantern a week after Halloween, sagging Let the grin droop, the eyes fold inward and the lid sink. The most honest pumpkin drawing of the year.
  • A jack-o'-lantern face sheet: nine pumpkins, nine expressions Rule a three by three grid of pumpkin outlines. Change only the eyes and mouth: grumpy, smug, asleep, shocked.
  • A last-minute costume: a sheet, scissors and two holes A still life of three things. Draw the folds of the sheet as long soft V shapes and the scissors half open.
  • A lucky black cat crossing a path in Britain In Britain a black cat crossing your path is good luck. In much of Europe it was historically the opposite.
  • A monster made by folding the paper in three One person draws a head and folds it over, the next a body, the next legs. Unfold. It works well with a group.
  • A mummy who ran out of bandage at the knees Wrapped neatly from the head down, then nothing. Stripy socks below, and the empty cardboard roll in one hand.
  • A paper chain of bats cut from one folded strip Draw the strip unfolded: six bats joined wingtip to wingtip. The fold lines fall where the wings meet.
  • A plate of soul cakes, each marked with a cross Small round spiced cakes with raisins or currants, marked with a cross before baking and given to soulers at the door.
  • A porch with its light on, ready for trick-or-treaters A lit porch light is a common sign that a house has sweets to give. Steps, a lantern and a bowl by the door.
  • A pumpkin carved with a cat silhouette instead of a face Draw the pumpkin, then one arched cat as a single cut-out shape. Check that no part of the design floats free.
  • A pumpkin carving pattern drawn as a stencil Black shapes on white. Keep every island of paper joined to the outside by a bridge, or the face falls out.
  • A pumpkin dressed as a ghost, stem poking through the sheet A low round shape under a cloth, two eye holes, and a stalk making a tent pole at the top.
  • A pumpkin grinning with one tooth A flattened circle, curved ribs, a stubby stem. Two triangles, and a wide mouth with one square tooth left in.
  • A pumpkin mid-sneeze, seeds flying out Eyes squeezed to two arcs, mouth wide open, and a spray of flat teardrop seeds on motion lines.
  • A raven in silhouette with a wedge tail and shaggy throat Tell a raven from a crow by the heavier beak, the shaggy throat feathers and the longer, wedge-shaped tail.
  • A set of fangs in a glass of water by the bed A tumbler, a waterline, and a small set of pointed teeth resting at the bottom. Add an alarm clock set for dusk.
  • A sheet ghost with its trainers showing One tall rounded shape, two oval eye holes, a wavy hem, and a pair of shoes underneath giving the game away.
  • A skeleton dressed up as a ghost, feet showing A sheet with two eye holes, and ten toe bones sticking out at the hem. One bony hand holds a treat bucket.
  • A skeleton key with a skull for the bow A long shaft, two teeth at the end, and a small skull where the loop would be. Hang it on a ribbon.
  • A skeleton taking a bow on a stage Bent at the hips, one arm across the ribs, one flung out. Simplify: a skull, a ribcage oval, sticks with knobs.
  • A sketchbook spread of ten thumbnails in ten minutes Rule ten small boxes. One minute each: hat, bat, cat, web, moon, ghost, gate, skull, candle, pumpkin.
  • A sky of bats drawn as tiny ticks, thinning with distance Each bat is a shallow M. Make them smaller and paler toward the horizon and the sky goes deep.
  • A skyline in silhouette: church tower, bare tree, crooked house One unbroken black band along the bottom third of the page. Cut the moon out of the sky above it.
  • A slice of barmbrack with a ring hidden inside Charms were hidden in Halloween food such as barmbrack. A ring stood for marriage, a coin for wealth.
  • A small ghost carrying a night light A rounded sheet shape no taller than the skirting board, both hands round a small lamp, glow drawn as a soft ring.
  • A small vampire brushing two very long teeth A step stool at a basin, a widow's peak, a toothbrush held sideways. The mirror above shows only the toothbrush.
  • A snail with its shell painted like a jack-o'-lantern A spiral shell given two triangle eyes and a zigzag grin. The snail itself looks straight ahead, unaware.
  • A spider drawn correctly: two body parts, eight legs Two parts joined by a narrow waist, eight legs and no antennae. Most spiders have four pairs of eyes.
  • A tangle web in the corner of a bookshelf Orb webs are the neat spirals. Cobwebs are tangle webs, so scribble the threads loosely with a light line.
  • A tiny pumpkin wearing a bigger pumpkin's lid as a hat The lid sits low over the eyes like a hat that is too big. Add the large, lidless pumpkin looking cross behind.
  • A toad walking, not hopping, across a wet path at dusk Common toads usually walk rather slowly, and come out at dusk. Short legs, squat body, determined expression.
  • A toddler dressed as a pumpkin, refusing to walk A round padded suit, a stalk hat, and two arms stuck straight out. Sitting down firmly on the pavement.
  • A vampire's cape on a coat hook, collar still standing One hook, one long fall of cloth with deep folds, and a stiff collar that keeps its shape with nobody in it.
  • A very tall ghost that is clearly three children One long sheet, eye holes at the top, a hand poking out at the middle and six feet at the bottom.
  • A window full of paper bats, seen from the street A lit rectangle, a dozen flat bat shapes stuck to the glass at different angles, and a cat on the sill.
  • A witch hat with a bent tip A conical crown on a wide brim. The crown is often shown flexed, bent or crumpled, so fold it once near the top.
  • A witch sweeping her own doorstep with her flying broom Hat, shawl, slippers. The broom is doing an ordinary job for once and hovers slightly between strokes.
  • A witch's striped stockings and pointed shoes, knee down Two legs crossed at the ankle, hoops of stripe that curve round the leg, and toes that curl up at the ends.
  • An apple peel thrown over a shoulder, landing as a letter An old Halloween game: the peel is said to land as the first letter of a future spouse's name. One long spiral strip.
  • An owl looking straight back over its own shoulders Owls can turn their heads as much as 270 degrees, as their eyes are fixed in the sockets. Body one way, face the other.
  • An owl silhouette on a branch across a full moon A big circle first. Then one bare branch straight across it and a rounded owl shape with two ear tufts.
  • Bats roosting in a row, one of them awake Bats hang upside down by their feet, and tendons let them do it with no effort. Wrapped teardrops, one pair of eyes.
  • Candy corn in a row, yellow at the wide end A small pyramid in three bands, yellow at the wide end. It went on sale in the 1880s under the name Chicken Feed.
  • Pumpkin seeds drying on a tea towel Flat teardrops with a rim line, scattered at all angles. Add the weave of the cloth in light crosshatching.
  • The smallest bat in the world, drawn life size Kitti's hog-nosed bat is about 3 cm long and weighs 2 g. Draw it life size beside your own thumb for scale.
  • Three carved pumpkins stacked like a snowman Big, medium, small. Give each a different face, let the top stem lean, and bulge the bottom one under the weight.
  • Two hazelnuts roasting side by side at a fire An old divination game. If the two nuts roast quietly, a good match is foretold. Give each a tiny nervous face.
  • Two pumpkins gossiping about a third Lean two together with sideways eyes. Set the third apart, carved with a face that has clearly overheard.
  • The word Halloween lettered with a bat for the W The name is a Scots shortening of All Hallows' Even, the evening before All Hallows' Day. Pencil guidelines first.
  • The words Trick or Treat in dripping letters The phrase is first recorded in print in Ontario, Canada, in 1917. Block capitals first, then drips off the bottom.

Cute 26

  • A bat dressed as a cat, hanging upside down Paper ears on a headband, drawn-on whiskers and a pinned-on tail that hangs the wrong way, up past the head.
  • A costume laid out on a bed the night before Hat, cape, striped tights, wand and treat bucket arranged flat. Draw from directly above, like a packing list.
  • A fruit bat hanging by one foot, eating Many bats eat insects, and most of the rest eat fruit or nectar. Fold the wings round the body like a cloak.
  • A ghost cat walking through a closed door Front half on this side, tail still on the other. Draw the door solid and the cat in a lighter, broken line.
  • A ghost reading a book in a wingback armchair Drape the sheet over the chair arms, prop a book on the lap and float reading glasses where a nose would be.
  • A ghost sliding down the banister Draw the staircase rail as one long diagonal. The ghost streams out behind itself like a flag.
  • A ghost stuck in a revolving door Four glass panels seen from above or the side, and one ghost folded round the central post, mildly embarrassed.
  • A ghost trying on sheets in a linen shop Floral, striped, fitted. A mirror, a rail of sheets and one ghost holding a patterned duvet cover against itself.
  • A haunted letterbox posting the letters back out A door from inside the hall, envelopes shooting back through the slot, and a postman's hand still outside.
  • A monster under the stairs, knitting A cupboard door ajar, one lamp, a large furry shape in a small chair, and a scarf already three steps long.
  • A pale pumpkin pretending to be a ghost Leave the pumpkin white, give it two oval eyes and a round mouth, and let an orange one beside it look doubtful.
  • A row of labelled jars: bat sneezes, fog, left socks Invent six harmless ingredients and letter a label for each. Cork stoppers, string, and one jar suspiciously empty.
  • A ship's cat, black for luck, asleep in a coil of rope Sailors choosing a ship's cat wanted a black one for luck. Draw the rope as stacked rings and the cat as the filling.
  • A skeleton band: fiddle, drum and double bass Three figures in three poses. Keep the bones simple and spend the detail on the instruments.
  • A skeleton doing the washing-up in rubber gloves Apron strings tied round a bare spine, gloves up to the elbow joints, and a rack of very clean plates.
  • A squirrel making off with a jack-o'-lantern's lid The lid is nearly as big as the squirrel. Show the lantern behind it, open-topped and outraged.
  • A toad puffed up and standing tall to look fierce A threatened toad inflates its body and raises its hindquarters with its head lowered. Small, round and furious.
  • A toad with copper eyes under a flowerpot Dry skin covered in wart-like lumps, copper irises, horizontal slit pupils, and a bulging gland behind each eye.
  • A vampire who came as a dentist White coat over the cape, a small round mirror on a stick, and a smile that undermines the whole idea.
  • A werewolf in a sheep costume A woolly hood with floppy ears and a cotton-wool body. The tail and the teeth give it away.
  • A witch and a vampire who have swapped hats and capes Pointed hat on the slicked hair, tall collar behind the long nose. Both think they look better this way.
  • A witch's cat dressed as the witch Hat over one ear, a small cape, and a twig held like a broom. The real witch stands behind holding the lead.
  • An ordinary small dog casting a werewolf's shadow Draw the dog small and cheerful at the bottom. On the wall behind, stretch its shadow tall with ears and claws.
  • Apple bobbing: a face coming up out of the tub with an apple Apples float because they are less dense than water. Hands stay behind the back and only teeth are allowed.
  • Ghosts queuing politely to haunt one small cottage A cottage with a lit window, and a patient line of sheet shapes down the garden path, one checking a watch.
  • Sweets being swapped on a bedroom floor after trick-or-treating Two children cross-legged, two piles, one hard bargain. Draw wrappers as twisted bows and small rectangles.

Spooky 26

  • A barn owl leaving a church tower at dusk Barn owls nest in old buildings like farm sheds and church towers. A pale bird, heart-shaped face, black eyes.
  • A barn owl quartering a field at dusk Barn owls fly silently: tiny serrations on the leading edge of the flight feathers cut the noise. Pale, long-winged.
  • A barn owl's heart-shaped face, front on The facial disc is large, heart-shaped and white in most barn owls, with black eyes. It screeches and does not hoot.
  • A boarded-up house with one curtain twitching Planks nailed across every window but one. There, draw a curtain pulled back by two fingers.
  • A candle, a dark mirror and someone looking for a face in it An old game said a future husband's face would show in a mirror in a darkened room. Light it from the candle only.
  • A death's-head hawkmoth with the skull mark on its back The skull-shaped mark sits on the thorax. Wingspan about 12 cm; the British Isles' largest moth. It can squeak.
  • A full moon through bare branches, drawn in negative Shade the whole sky and leave the moon white. Then draw the branches straight across it in your darkest line.
  • A gargoyle spouting rainwater off a roof corner A true gargoyle is a waterspout, and the water leaves by the open mouth. A long neck throws it clear of the wall.
  • A ghost made of mist, lifted out with an eraser Ghosts are often described as wispy and misty. Shade a dark patch in soft pencil, then rub the ghost out of it.
  • A Halloween bonfire on a hill with small figures round it Lighting bonfires is one of the old Halloween customs. Keep the people as dark shapes and the fire as bare paper.
  • A haunted attic: trunk, dress form, rocking chair, cobwebs Sloping rafters set the space. Light it from one small round window and let the far corners go fully dark.
  • A haunted house with a mansard roof and a tower A mansard has two slopes on each side, the lower one steeper and often set with dormer windows.
  • A jack-o'-lantern with the candle burnt down to a stub The glow is low, so light only the bottom of the mouth. Scorch the inside of the lid with soft dark shading.
  • A potion-shelf still life: five bottles, five shapes Round flask, tall phial, squat jar, corked tube, square decanter. Overlap them and draw the shelf edge last.
  • A pumpkin lit from inside, shaded in pencil only Keep the cut shapes as bare paper. Shade darkest right beside them and let the skin lighten toward the edges.
  • A skeleton hand holding a pencil, drawing itself Finger bones are short rods with knuckle bulges. Let the pencil line on the page be finishing the wrist.
  • A skull in three-quarter view, shaded with hatching The skull is 22 bones. Block in a ball for the cranium and a wedge for the jaw before any sockets or teeth.
  • A spell book open at a page of diagrams Fill one page with circles, arrows and tiny notes in an invented alphabet. A ribbon marker and a tea ring on the other.
  • A spider eating its old web Spiders commonly eat their own web to recycle the silk. Draw the web half gone, gathered in like knitting.
  • A turnip lantern with a string handle In Ireland and Scotland the turnip was the traditional lantern. Small and knobbly, rough-cut holes, a root tail below.
  • A witch's kitchen windowsill: herbs, a toad, a candle stub Bunches hang from the frame, jars line the sill, and the toad sits between them like one more ornament.
  • An iron gate with a spider web in its curls Draw the scrolls of the gate as pairs of spirals, then stretch one web between two of them.
  • The ghost of Athens, an old man in chains, beckoning a philosopher The earliest surviving haunted house report is a letter by Pliny the Younger. Athenodorus sits writing as it beckons.
  • Guisers of 1895 carrying scooped-out turnip lanterns An 1895 Scottish account has guisers with lanterns made of scooped-out turnips, rewarded with cakes, fruit and money.
  • Stingy Jack on a dark road with his turnip lantern In the Irish tale Jack roams with a burning coal inside a hollowed turnip. A stooped figure, one small light.
  • Your own face lit from below by a torch Hold a torch under your chin at a mirror. The shadows flip upward: dark above the cheeks, lit under the brow.

Detailed 22

  • A bat's wing drawn as a hand A bat wing is five long digits radiating from the wrist with a thin membrane between them. The thumb points forward.
  • A carved mangelwurzel next to a carved pumpkin, same face Lanterns were once root vegetables such as mangelwurzels and turnips. Draw one grin at two sizes on two shapes.
  • A grotesque crouched on a ledge, chin in its hands A carved figure with no waterspout is properly a grotesque, not a gargoyle. Hunched back, folded wings, bored face.
  • A haunted house cut open, one ghost per room Take the front wall off. Attic, bedroom, bath, kitchen, cellar, and a ghost doing something dull in each.
  • A home-made haunted hallway of sponges and hair nets on strings A Depression-era basement scare: wet sponges and hair nets strung at head height to find faces in the dark.
  • A jack-o'-lantern reflected in a wet pavement Draw the lantern, then its face again upside down below, broken into short horizontal strokes by the puddles.
  • A jack-o'-lantern seen from behind, its face thrown on the path You draw no face on the pumpkin at all, only its light: two triangles and a grin stretched long across the ground.
  • A jack-o'-lantern with its lid off and a candle going in The top is cut off to form a lid and the flesh is scooped out. Show the wall thickness at the rim.
  • A pumpkin carved with a whole haunted street in silhouette Rooftops, a tower and a bare tree run round the pumpkin as one joined band, with tiny windows cut through.
  • A pumpkin half carved, spoon and newspaper on the table Lid to one side, a big spoon, a bowl of seeds and pulp, a face pencilled on but only one eye cut out so far.
  • A pumpkin vine whose tendrils spell a word Write the word in joined-up pencil first, then thicken it into a vine and add leaves where the letters turn.
  • A ribcage drawn as a birdcage with a bird inside The rib cage is the breastbone and 12 rib pairs. Draw it as a cage, then perch a small bird inside.
  • A row of haunted-house windows with a silhouette in each Rule six tall windows. One shape in each: a cat, a candelabra, a waving hand, a bat, a plant, nothing at all.
  • A set of six Halloween postage stamps Six small upright rectangles with perforated edges. One motif each, a value in the corner, all in two colours.
  • A skeleton study: skull, ribcage and pelvis as three shapes An adult has around 206 bones, but start with three masses: an egg, a barrel and a bowl, joined by a curved spine.
  • A spider building an orb web, step by step in four boxes A first thread across the gap, then a Y, then the radial spokes, then the sticky spiral laid from the outside inward.
  • A stage ghost in plate armour Showing ghosts in armour, to suggest great age, was common in Elizabethan theatre. Draw the armour, then fade it.
  • A trick-or-treat map of your own street Draw the street from above, mark each house, and add a dotted route, a key and a compass with a bat on it.
  • Doorstep lanterns all the way down a terraced street One-point perspective: the steps shrink toward the end of the street, and each lantern is a smaller dot of light.
  • Guisers at a door, one child reciting a poem In Scotland and Ireland guisers earn the treat with a party piece: a song, a joke or a funny poem.
  • Snap apple: apples on strings and a player jumping for a bite In snap apple the apples hang from the ceiling on strings. Spinning them first makes it harder. Draw mid-jump.
  • Three trick-or-treaters seen from inside the hall Draw the door frame first, then three small costumes against the dark street, buckets held out. You hold the bowl.

How it works

Friendly-spooky is the rule for these Halloween drawing ideas: carved lanterns, sheet ghosts, crooked houses, costume swaps and the animals of the night. Each of the 150 subjects has a hint for the first lines, and the customs and animal facts were checked. Use them as Halloween drawing prompts at home or Halloween art ideas for a class.

Read the full guide

Ghost drawing ideas and haunted house drawing ideas

Ghosts and houses holds 34 subjects. A sheet ghost with its trainers showing is one rounded shape, two eye holes and a pair of shoes. A house can be A row of haunted-house windows with a silhouette in each, or the whole place drawn as lit windows on black paper. As spooky drawing ideas go, a crooked door does more than any amount of cobweb.

Cute Halloween drawing ideas, costume swaps included

Cute holds 60 subjects, and the costume swaps are the quickest way in: A ghost dressed up as a skeleton, A werewolf in a sheep costume, A very tall ghost that is clearly three children. Other cute Halloween things to draw include A hamster in a tiny witch hat and A black cat asleep in an upturned witch hat.

  • Easy holds 76, doodles included. One is a page border of bats, sweets, stars, webs and tiny ghosts, worked in pen with no planning.
  • Rule ten small boxes, give each a minute, and you have Halloween sketch ideas for a whole page: hat, bat, cat, web, moon, ghost, gate, skull, candle, pumpkin.
  • The most striking subjects are about light. Shade a lit pumpkin in pencil only, with the cut shapes left as bare paper.

Questions and answers

What to draw for Halloween with young children?

Start with A pumpkin grinning with one tooth: a flattened circle, curved ribs, two triangles and one square tooth. Bats roosting in a row, one of them awake is a line of wrapped teardrops. A monster made by folding the paper in three suits a group, since each person draws one part unseen.

Are the scary Halloween drawing ideas suitable for children?

Yes. The Spooky group holds 45 subjects and the scares are mild: a candle burnt down to a stub, a curtain twitching in a boarded-up house, your own face lit from below by a torch. There is no gore anywhere on the list, and no film characters.

Were jack-o'-lanterns always carved from pumpkins?

No. The traditional Halloween lantern of Ireland, Scotland and northern England was a turnip, and in the Irish tale Stingy Jack roams with a burning coal inside a hollowed turnip. Immigrants in North America used its native pumpkin, which is softer and much larger, and pumpkin carving is recorded there in 1837.

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