Halloween card messages: what to write in a Halloween card

Halloween cards are a small British habit that's growing fast, mostly because they're an excuse for a terrible pun. Nobody expects sincerity here, which makes them the easiest cards of the year to write.

Below are Halloween messages grouped by tone: puns, spooky one-liners, messages for kids, and cards for a Halloween birthday, which is its own particular job.

Keep them short. A Halloween card lives on a shelf for a fortnight next to a carved pumpkin — the joke is the whole point.

Funny Halloween puns for cards

• Have a fang-tastic Halloween.
• Witch you a very happy Halloween.
• Hope your Halloween is a scream.
• Creeping it real this Halloween.
• You're looking ghoul-geous tonight.
• Have a bootiful Halloween.
• Life's no fun without a good scare. Happy Halloween.
• Trick or treat yourself — you've earned it.
• Bat's the spirit. Happy Halloween.
• Hope your Halloween is wickedly good.

Spooky Halloween messages

• Wishing you a dark, stormy and thoroughly enjoyable Halloween.
• May your sweets be plentiful and your neighbours generous.
• Happy Halloween. Lock the door, light the candles, ignore the knocking.
• Here's to pumpkins, bad costumes and worse horror films.
• Have a hauntingly good night.
• Wishing you all the ghosts, ghouls and good chocolate.
• Happy Halloween — hope the scariest thing tonight is the sugar bill.
• Something wicked this way comes. It's probably me, at eight.

Halloween messages for kids

• Happy Halloween! Hope you fill that bucket right up.
• Best costume in the street, no question.
• Have a spooky night and don't eat it all at once. (You will.)
• Wishing you a monstrously good Halloween.
• Boo! Have a brilliant Halloween.
• Hope you get all the good sweets and none of the raisins.

Halloween birthday messages

• Born on Halloween, which explains a lot. Happy birthday. Shop this card
• Happy Halloween birthday — cake and sweets, the perfect year. Shop this card
• You get pumpkins and presents. Greedy. Happy birthday. Shop this card
• Happy birthday to the spookiest person I know. Shop this card
• A Halloween birthday is just a party with better decorations. Enjoy it. Shop this card

Short Halloween card messages

• Happy Halloween!
• Have a spooky one.
• Boo. Love from us.
• Trick or treat — mostly treat.
• Happy Halloween, you weirdo.
• Eat sweets, watch horror, repeat.

Shop all Halloween cards

Funny cards for the spooky season

Puns, pumpkins and the odd rude one.

How to write it so it lands

• Keep it to one pun; two is pushing it.
• For kids, mention the costume — they'll have picked it weeks ago.
• Post by around 28 October so it lands before the night itself.

Where to shop next

• Halloween card messages hub
• Buy Halloween cards online
• All Halloween cards
• Scented soy candles
• Planning the party? Birthday party ideas
• How to make a balloon arch
• Photo booth prop ideas
• All guides

Frequently asked questions

What do you write in a Halloween card?

A pun and a sign off is plenty. "Have a fang-tastic Halloween" or "hope your Halloween is a scream" works for friends, kids and neighbours alike.

What do you write for a Halloween birthday?

Lean into the double occasion: cake and sweets, pumpkins and presents. "Born on Halloween, which explains a lot" gets a laugh from anyone who shares the date.

Do people send Halloween cards in the UK?

Increasingly, yes — usually to children, close friends and anyone with a birthday around 31 October. Post a few days ahead so it arrives while the decorations are still up.