Halloween Riddles

I begin the autumn with a full head and end it with an empty one. Someone carves me a grin I never asked for and lights a fire where my thoughts should be. What am I?

I wear a sheet but have no bed. I pass through doors without opening them and climb the stairs without a single creak. They say I know only one word. What am I?

Most of the year I sweep the floor, but on one night I am said to sweep the sky. I carry a rider yet have no saddle, no wheels and no wings. What am I?

I am inside every guest at the party, yet when I turn up on my own everybody screams. I have a ribcage but no heart, and a grin but no lips. What am I?

I'm a threat that ends in a gift. Strangers in costume say me at your door, and if you pay up with sweets, nobody gets tricked. What two words am I?

I am dressed for midnight at every hour of the day. Some say I bring bad luck when I cross your path, others say good. I say nothing, and wash my paws. What am I?

I fly by sound rather than sight. I sleep upside down. I am the only mammal that truly flies. I pollinate many of the plants that feed you. What am I?

My doors creak, my floorboards groan and my windows are dark. Nobody lives in me, yet somebody is always said to be at home. What am I?

I never show up in a mirror, never watch a sunrise, and never come in unless invited. I sleep in a box and cannot abide garlic. What am I?

I have eight legs and I build with what comes from inside me. My home catches my meals. I am feared by many but harm few. What am I?

I am a house whose builder has moved out. I gather dust in the corners where brooms forget to go, and one sweep brings me down. What am I?

I was wrapped up long ago but I am nobody's present. I was laid in a room full of treasure and have slept for thousands of years without once turning over. What am I?

I have three legs but never walk, and a round belly but never eat. Light a fire beneath me and I bubble and mutter. In the old stories a witch stirs me. What am I?

A witch casts me, a pupil does me in Friday's test, and the weather has me when it stays cold for a while. What word am I?

For most of the month I am a person like any other. But when the moon is round and full, I grow fur, fangs and a howl. What am I?

I grow full then thin then disappear then return again. I light the night but I make no light of my own. I pull the ocean but I cannot touch it. What am I?

I ask the same question all night long and never get an answer. I can turn my head most of the way round, and I fly without a sound. What am I?

I am the moment one day ends and the next begins. Both hands of the clock point straight up for me. In the old tales, I am when the witches come out. What am I?

The more of me there is, the less you see. What am I?

I follow you by day but vanish at night. I copy your every move but have no will of my own. What am I?

I stand in a field all day and never tire. My head is full of straw and my clothes are ones nobody wanted. My whole job is to frighten, yet I have never moved a muscle. What am I?

Put me on and you become someone else. Take me off and you are yourself again. I have eyes that cannot see, because you look out through them. What am I?

I am a fruit in a hard, shiny coat, served on a stick. Bite me carelessly and I bite back at your teeth. What am I?

I fly at dusk, I am swung at cricket and baseball, and you do me with your eyelashes. What word am I?

I am harder than wood yet I am alive. I hold you up but you cannot see me. Break me and I heal — but slowly. What am I?

The taller I am, the younger I grow. The shorter I become, the older I am. What am I?

You must throw me away to use me. You only use me once. I am essential on birthdays. What am I?

I have no shape of my own yet I fill any room. I cannot be held yet I choke those who breathe me. I am born from fire but I am not fire. What am I?

I come when you close your eyes and vanish when you open them. I can terrify or delight you. I feel real yet I never am. What am I?

I am dug for the living yet filled by the dead. I cost everything but give nothing back. What am I?

I fall on the last night of October. My name means the evening before a holy day, yet I am better known for monsters than for saints. What am I?