Hallowe'en Party Trivia Quiz

Answer: Joan

There are only two women. (clue 2)
Mrs. Maddox can't be Belle; they are two different people listed among the five individuals in clue 1.
Therefore, Mrs. Maddox is Joan.

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If you want to keep spirits out of your home on Halloween, you should sprinkle salt on your doorstep.

Answer: Maddox

Joan's husband is dressed as a vampire (clue 5).
Joan is Mrs. Maddox, as we learned in the previous question.
Husbands and wives share surnames (clue 4).
Therefore, the man in the vampire costume is Joan's husband, Mr. Maddox.

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The word "vampire" first appeared in English in a travelogue titled "Travels of Three English Gentlemen" (1734), or so says the Oxford English Dictionary.

Answer: Yes

There are three surnames. .
Belle's last name is neither Palmer (clue 6), nor Maddox (clue 1).
She must be Mrs. Davis, the only surname left.
Therefore, Mr. Davis is Belle's husband.

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If you stare into a mirror on Halloween night, says one superstition, you might see your future spouse.

Answer: bachelor

There are three men, one of whom is single (clues 2 and 3).
Mr. Davis is married to Belle (question 3)
Mr. Maddox is married to Joan (question 4)
The bachelor, therefore, is Mr. Palmer.


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In Scotland in the old days, girls would hang wet sheets before a fire on Halloween in hopes of visions of their future husbands.

Answer: Belle

One of the two women (clue 2) arrived first (clue 8). She wasn't Joan (clue 7), so she was Belle.


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Superstition has it that those born on Halloween can speak to the dead.

Answer: 4th

Mr. Davis did not arrive fifth (clue 10)
He did not arrive first (clue 8).
Nor did he arrive second, for he is married to Belle Davis (question 3), who arrived first (question 5), and no one arrived directly behind his/her spouse (clue 11).
Can he be third? The answer is no. Let's assume Mr. Davis arrived third. Joan arrived after the bachelor (clue 7), which we have determined is Mr. Palmer, so we can't place her second, which is right after Belle (question 5). We can't place Joan fourth because then Mr. Palmer would have to be third, which contradicts our premise that Mr. Davis is third. In a nutshell, Mr. Davis can't be third, because then Joan's arrival can't be placed.
If not first, second, third, or fifth, then Mr. Davis arrived fourth.

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Candy corn, a perennial Halloween treat, was originally called "chicken feed".

Answer: 3rd

Mrs. Maddox is Joan. (question 1).
Joan Maddox could not have arrived first or second. She came after the bachelor (clue 7), but Belle arrived first (question 5).
Joan Maddox can't be fifth, either, as she arrived before at least one other guest (clue 7).
Nor is she fourth; that's Mr. Davis (question 6).
The only arrival time left is third.

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An old superstitions warns, never point at a grave lest your finger rot off!

Answer: 2nd

Joan arrived immediately after the bachelor (clue 7).
We just determined that Joan came in third (question 7).
Therefore the bachelor, which by the way we know is Mr. Palmer from question 4, arrived second.

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Supposedly, a unibrow, tattoos, hairy palms, and a long middle finger are signs that a person is a werewolf.

Answer: Vince

Mr. Maddox dressed as a vampire (question 2). He's not first (clue 8). As his wife is third, he can't be second or fourth (clue 11). That means Mr. Maddox, as the vampire, arrived fifth.
As Mr. Maddox the vampire arrived last, he cannot be Hank (clue 10).
Nor is he Sam, as clue 1 indicates they are two different people.
Therefore, the man dressed as the vampire is Vince Maddox.

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A Dr. Donald A. Reed founded the Dracula Society in 1962, for people who believe they are actually vampires.

Answer: 2nd

Mr. Davis arrived fourth (question 6), but he cannot be Hank (clue 10).
Vince Maddox arrived fifth (question 9).
Belle was first (question 5), and Joan was third (question 7).
That leaves the second arrival for Hank.

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An old wives' tale is that pumpkins can cure freckles.

Answer: Davis

Belle arrived first (question 5); Hank arrived second (question 10); Joan arrived third (question 7); and Vince Maddox, who is wearing the vampire costume arrived fifth (see explanation to question 9). Therefore, Sam arrived fourth.
We already know Mr. Davis arrived fourth from question 6, so Sam is Mr. Davis.

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If you see a ghost on Halloween, just walk around it nine times, and it will go away.

Answer: 2nd

Remember, the five guests are Belle, the person dressed as a werewolf, the person dressed as a vampire, Sam, and Mrs. Maddox (clue 1).
Belle arrived first (question 5).
Mrs. Maddox arrived third (question 7).
The man in the vampire costume arrived fifth (question 9).
Sam arrived fourth (previous question).
Therefore, the werewolf arrived second.

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Clinical lycanthropy is a rare delusion that one turns into a wolf (only 13 cases since 1850).

Answer: Belle

We determined in the previous question that the werewolf arrived second.
The ghost arrived before the werewolf (clue 12).
Therefore, the ghost must have arrived first.
We learned in question 5 that Belle also arrived first.
(And, by the way, we know she is Mrs. Davis from question 3).

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Winston Churchill claimed to have seen the ghost of Abraham Lincoln at the White House.

Answer: 3rd

In the previous question we determined the the werewolf arrived second, which by the way was bachelor Hank Palmer (questions 4, 8, 10).
Belle Davis in the ghost costume arrived first (questions 3, 5, and 13).
Vince Maddox in the vampire costume arrived fifth (questions 2, 9).
Clue 9 states that the person dressed as the witch didn't arrive fourth.
So the witch arrived third.

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Legend has it that you will see a witch at midnight on Halloween if you wear your clothes inside out and walk backwards.

Answer: Sam Davis

Having determined that the witch arrived third in the previous question, we know it was worn by Joan Maddox (Question 1 told us Joan was Mrs. Maddox, and question 7 told us Joan Maddox arrived third).
We figured out the other three in the previous questions, to reiterate:
Belle Davis in the witch costume arrived first (questions 3, 5, and 14).
Hank Palmer in the werewolf costume arrived second (questions 4, 8, 10, and 12).
Vince Maddox in the vampire costume arrived fifth (questions 2 and 9).
So who's left?
By elimination, the person in the skeleton costume arrived fourth, and it was worn by Sam Davis (whose full name we determined in question 11).