Scared stiff! 16 spooky English idioms for Halloween
Halloween is coming – and English is ready for it. Ghosts, skeletons, witches and bats don’t only live in horror films. They hide in everyday English too, and native speakers use them all year round, often without thinking about monsters at all.
Here are 16 spooky idioms you can use on 31 October… and on every other day of the year. Open the door – if you dare. 🎃
So scared!
scared stiff – so frightened that you can’t move.
I was scared stiff when all the lights in the cinema suddenly went out.
give someone the creeps – make someone feel nervous and uncomfortable.
That old doll in my grandma’s attic gives me the creeps.
make your blood run cold – fill you with horror.
The scream from the basement made my blood run cold.
scare the living daylights out of someone – frighten someone very, very much.
My little brother jumped out of the wardrobe and scared the living daylights out of me.
(Remember our article about the clocks going back? This is a very different kind of daylight!)
Ghosts everywhere
look like you’ve seen a ghost – look pale and shocked.
What happened? You look like you’ve seen a ghost!
a ghost town – a place where there are almost no people.
On Sunday mornings, the city centre is a ghost town.
give up the ghost – die; in informal English, also used about machines that stop working.
After fifteen years, my old laptop finally gave up the ghost.
not a ghost of a chance – no chance at all.
Without a ticket, you don’t have a ghost of a chance of getting into the concert.
In Polish, we say ani cienia szansy – not even a shadow of a chance. Shadow or ghost, the idea is the same: there’s nothing there!
ghost someone – suddenly stop answering someone’s messages, without any explanation.
We went on two dates and then he ghosted me.
Dead serious
a skeleton in the closet (American English) / a skeleton in the cupboard (British English) – an embarrassing secret from the past.
Every family has a skeleton in the closet.
In Polish, it’s trup w szafie – a dead body in the wardrobe. In English, it’s already a skeleton. Clearly, the English keep their secrets much longer!
over my dead body – absolutely not, never.
You want to borrow my new car? Over my dead body!
Good news: this one is exactly the same in Polish – po moim trupie.
dead on your feet – extremely tired.
After twelve hours at work, I was dead on my feet.
the graveyard shift – work that happens late at night, usually from midnight to the morning.
Nurses often work the graveyard shift.
Witches and bats
a witch hunt – an unfair search for people to blame, usually because of their opinions.
The investigation turned into a political witch hunt.
Another Polish twin: polowanie na czarownice.
like a bat out of hell – very, very fast.
When the bell rang, the kids ran out of the classroom like a bat out of hell.
batty – a little bit crazy (informal, mostly British).
My neighbour is a bit batty – she talks to her plants every morning.
Quick quiz
Complete the sentences with one word.
- After the marathon, I was dead on my ______.
- The empty house at the end of our street gives me the ______.
- You want to read my diary? Over my dead ______!
- Our old printer has finally given up the ______.
- She stopped answering my messages. I think she ______ me.
Show answers
- feet
- creeps
- body
- ghost
- ghosted
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