Everything you need to know about Halloween, as long as what you need to know is which states love Hot Tamales, what Icelandic parents threaten their children with, and why the first jack-o’-lanterns were turnips.
The most popular Halloween candy in each state
M&M’s and Sour Patch Kids tie for the most states with 10 each, which leaves the rest of the country to make its own decisions: Utah and Maryland pick candy corn, Wyoming goes for salt water taffy and Hawaii’s favourite is Butterfinger. The rankings come from 18 years of CandyStore.com’s sales, so this is what each state actually buys, not what it would admit to liking.
Source: CandyStore.com, The Most Popular Halloween Candy by State in 2026. Grey states weren’t listed.
See every state
| State | Top Halloween candy |
|---|---|
| Alabama | Skittles |
| Alaska | Sour Patch Kids |
| Arizona | Sour Patch Kids |
| Arkansas | Not listed |
| California | M&M's |
| Colorado | Hershey Kisses |
| Connecticut | Not listed |
| Delaware | Sour Patch Kids |
| Florida | Skittles |
| Georgia | Jolly Ranchers |
| Hawaii | Butterfinger |
| Idaho | Not listed |
| Illinois | Sour Patch Kids |
| Indiana | NERDS Gummy Clusters |
| Iowa | M&M's |
| Kansas | M&M's |
| Kentucky | Reese's Cups |
| Louisiana | Lemonheads |
| Maine | Sour Patch Kids |
| Maryland | Candy Corn |
| Massachusetts | Sour Patch Kids |
| Michigan | Starburst |
| Minnesota | Hot Tamales |
| Mississippi | 3 Musketeers |
| Missouri | Not listed |
| Montana | M&M's |
| Nebraska | Sour Patch Kids |
| Nevada | Hot Tamales |
| New Hampshire | Reese's Cups |
| New Jersey | Tootsie Pops |
| New Mexico | Hot Tamales |
| New York | Sour Patch Kids |
| North Carolina | M&M's |
| North Dakota | Candy Corn |
| Ohio | Blow Pops |
| Oklahoma | Not listed |
| Oregon | M&M's |
| Pennsylvania | M&M's |
| Rhode Island | Not listed |
| South Carolina | Sour Patch Kids |
| South Dakota | Not listed |
| Tennessee | Not listed |
| Texas | Sour Patch Kids |
| Utah | Candy Corn |
| Vermont | M&M's |
| Virginia | M&M's |
| Washington | M&M's |
| West Virginia | Not listed |
| Wisconsin | Hot Tamales |
| Wyoming | Salt Water Taffy |
The most haunted place in each state
Every state gets one haunted place, from the Winchester Mystery House in California to the Lizzie Borden House in Massachusetts. The picks are The Daily Meal’s from 2018, which is why Colorado gets the Strater Hotel in Durango rather than the Stanley Hotel, the one that inspired The Shining.
Source: The Daily Meal, The Most Haunted Place in Every State (2018).
See every state
| State | Most haunted place | Town |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Sloss Furnaces | Birmingham |
| Alaska | Rookies Corner (Rookies Pub) | Sitka |
| Arizona | The Red Garter Inn | Williams |
| Arkansas | Crescent Hotel | Eureka Springs |
| California | Winchester Mystery House | San Jose |
| Colorado | Strater Hotel | Durango |
| Connecticut | Union Cemetery | Easton |
| Delaware | Fort Delaware | Delaware City |
| Florida | Stranahan House | Fort Lauderdale |
| Georgia | Foley House Inn | Savannah |
| Hawaii | Hawaii's Plantation Village | Waipahu |
| Idaho | Old Idaho State Penitentiary | Boise |
| Illinois | Hull House | Chicago |
| Indiana | Story Inn | Nashville |
| Iowa | Villisca Axe Murder House | Villisca |
| Kansas | Stull Cemetery | Stull |
| Kentucky | Waverly Hills Sanatorium | Louisville |
| Louisiana | The Myrtles Plantation | St. Francisville |
| Maine | Green Bridge / Brownville Road | Millinocket |
| Maryland | Antietam Battlefield | Sharpsburg |
| Massachusetts | Lizzie Borden House | Fall River |
| Michigan | Mackinac Island | Mackinac Island |
| Minnesota | Palmer House Hotel | Sauk Centre |
| Mississippi | King's Tavern | Natchez |
| Missouri | The Lemp Mansion | St. Louis |
| Montana | Virginia City | Virginia City |
| Nebraska | Ball Cemetery | Springfield |
| Nevada | Goldfield Hotel | Goldfield |
| New Hampshire | Omni Mount Washington Resort | Bretton Woods |
| New Jersey | Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital | Parsippany |
| New Mexico | La Posada de Santa Fe | Santa Fe |
| New York | The Amityville Horror House | Amityville |
| North Carolina | The Omni Grove Park Inn | Asheville |
| North Dakota | St. Joseph's Hospital | Dickinson |
| Ohio | Ohio State Reformatory | Mansfield |
| Oklahoma | Skirvin Hotel | Oklahoma City |
| Oregon | Lafayette Cemetery | Lafayette |
| Pennsylvania | Historic Farnsworth House Inn | Gettysburg |
| Rhode Island | Chestnut Hill Baptist Church Cemetery | Exeter |
| South Carolina | Old Charleston Jail | Charleston |
| South Dakota | Hotel Alex Johnson | Rapid City |
| Tennessee | Wheatland Plantation | Sevierville |
| Texas | Baker Hotel | Mineral Wells |
| Utah | Rio Grande Railroad Depot | Salt Lake City |
| Vermont | Eddy House | Chittenden |
| Virginia | The Homestead | Hot Springs |
| Washington | Oxford Saloon | Snohomish |
| West Virginia | Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum | Weston |
| Wisconsin | Pfister Hotel | Milwaukee |
| Wyoming | The Historic Occidental Hotel | Buffalo |
Each country’s most famous monster
Most European countries keep a monster on hand for scaring children into behaving: Russia has Baba Yaga, a witch whose hut stands on chicken legs, Spain has El Coco, who eats children who won’t go to sleep, and Iceland has Grýla, who skips the warning and just eats the naughty ones. France is the exception, because the Beast of Gévaudan was real, a wolf-like animal blamed for a string of deadly attacks between 1764 and 1767.
Sources: Wikipedia on Baba Yaga, El Coco, Grýla and the Beast of Gévaudan. A few, like Norway’s trolls, are shared with the neighbours.
See every country
| Country | Monster | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Russia | Baba Yaga | A witch whose hut stands on chicken legs |
| Ireland | Banshee | A spirit whose wail warns of a death |
| Scotland | Kelpie | A shape-shifting water horse that drowns its riders |
| England | Black Shuck | A giant black ghost dog of East Anglia |
| Wales | Cŵn Annwn | Spectral hounds whose howl means death |
| Iceland | Grýla | An ogress who eats naughty children |
| Norway | Trolls | Giants of the forests and mountains |
| Sweden | Näcken | A water spirit that lures people to drown |
| Poland | Strzyga | A vampire-like bird-woman |
| Czechia | The Golem | A clay giant made in Prague |
| Austria | Krampus | A horned demon who punishes naughty children |
| France | The Beast of Gévaudan | A wolf-like animal blamed for deadly attacks, 1764 to 1767 |
| Spain | El Coco | Eats children who won't go to sleep |
| Italy | Monaciello | A little ghost monk of Naples |
| Serbia | Sava Savanović | A vampire said to haunt a watermill |
| Romania | Strigoi | The restless undead |
| Greece | Vrykolakas | A corpse that gets back up |
“Trick or treat”, translated literally
Translated word for word, most of Europe is making slightly different threats on Halloween night. Germans warn “Sweets, or else there’s sour”, the French offer “Sweets or a spell” and Italians would settle for “a little sweet or a little joke”. Spain copied the English and ended up with “trick or deal”, which sounds more like a negotiation, while Ireland, where Halloween started, kept the original.
Sources include Sky TG24 (Italian) and The Moscow Times (Russian). Grey means I couldn’t find a phrase I trusted.
See every phrase
| Country | Local phrase | Word for word |
|---|---|---|
| Germany | Süßes, sonst gibt's Saures | Sweets, or else there's sour |
| Austria | Süßes oder Saures | Sweet or sour |
| France | Des bonbons ou un sort | Sweets or a spell |
| Italy | Dolcetto o scherzetto | Little sweet or little joke |
| Spain | Truco o trato | Trick or deal |
| Portugal | Doçura ou travessura | Sweetness or mischief |
| Poland | Cukierek albo psikus | Little candy or prank |
| Sweden | Bus eller godis | Prank or sweets |
| Norway | Knask eller knep | Snacks or trick |
| Denmark | Slik eller ballade | Sweets or trouble |
| Finland | Karkki vai kepponen | Candy or prank |
| Hungary | Csokit vagy csalunk | Chocolate or we cheat |
| Turkey | Şeker mi şaka mı | Candy or joke? |
| Russia | Сладость или гадость | Sweetness or nastiness |
| UK and Ireland | Trick or treat | Trick or treat |
What you carve a jack-o’-lantern out of
Before pumpkins, people in Ireland and Scotland carved faces into turnips, which anyone who has tried it will tell you is hard work. Irish and Scottish immigrants took the custom to North America and switched to the pumpkin, which was bigger, softer and already growing there.
Source: History.com, the Irish origins of the jack-o’-lantern.
Acres of pumpkins per 1,000 people
Illinois grows about 1.5 acres of pumpkins for every 1,000 people, more than any other state and around 450 times Florida’s rate. Most of it goes into tins, as Illinois has 86% of the pumpkin acres America grows for processing and the Libby’s plant in Morton, Illinois says it cans about 85% of the country’s canned pumpkin, so if your pumpkin pie came out of a tin, it very likely came from Illinois.
Sources: USDA 2022 Census of Agriculture (pumpkin acres harvested), US Census Bureau 2024 population estimates, and the Morton Chamber of Commerce (reported by NBC News, October 2021).
See every state
| State | Acres of pumpkins per 1,000 people |
|---|---|
| Illinois | 1.49 |
| Indiana | 1.03 |
| Vermont | 0.88 |
| New Mexico | 0.75 |
| Delaware | 0.71 |
| Oregon | 0.67 |
| Wisconsin | 0.53 |
| Colorado | 0.52 |
| Michigan | 0.48 |
| Virginia | 0.46 |
| Arkansas | 0.46 |
| Maine | 0.46 |
| Pennsylvania | 0.44 |
| Nebraska | 0.44 |
| Washington | 0.39 |
| North Carolina | 0.37 |
| Ohio | 0.36 |
| Minnesota | 0.35 |
| Utah | 0.30 |
| Kentucky | 0.29 |
| Kansas | 0.27 |
| Connecticut | 0.26 |
| New Hampshire | 0.25 |
| Iowa | 0.25 |
| New York | 0.23 |
| Missouri | 0.22 |
| Massachusetts | 0.22 |
| New Jersey | 0.21 |
| Texas | 0.21 |
| South Dakota | 0.19 |
| Hawaii | 0.17 |
| Idaho | 0.15 |
| Montana | 0.15 |
| Tennessee | 0.15 |
| West Virginia | 0.14 |
| Oklahoma | 0.13 |
| California | 0.13 |
| Maryland | 0.12 |
| Rhode Island | 0.11 |
| Alabama | 0.09 |
| Mississippi | 0.07 |
| North Dakota | 0.07 |
| South Carolina | 0.05 |
| Nevada | 0.03 |
| Wyoming | 0.03 |
| Georgia | 0.01 |
| Louisiana | 0.01 |
| Arizona | 0.01 |
| Alaska | 0.01 |
| Florida | 0.00 |
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