A new YouGov poll finds that watching scary movies and consuming pumpkin-flavored foods or drinks top a list of 12 activities that the greatest shares of Americans have done or plan to do this fall. Nearly half say they will do each.

Fewer Americans (43%) say they will display Halloween decorations or hand out Halloween candy (39%). Around one-quarter say they will carve a pumpkin (29%), dress up in a Halloween costume (25%), visit a pumpkin patch (24%), take a child trick-or-treating (23%), or attend a Halloween party (23%). Smaller shares say they will play tricks on friends, family, or neighbors (18%), go on a hayride (13%), or visit a haunted house (13%).

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See the results for this YouGov poll

Methodology: This YouGov poll was conducted online on September 25 - 28, 2026 among 1,055 U.S. adult citizens. Respondents were selected from YouGov's opt-in panel to be representative of U.S. adult citizens. A random sample (stratified by gender, age, race, education, geographic region, and voter registration) was selected from the 2019 American Community Survey. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, education, U.S. region, 2024 presidential vote, 2020 election turnout and presidential vote, baseline party identification, and current voter registration status. 2024 presidential vote, at time of weighting, was estimated to be 48% Harris and 50% Trump. Demographic weighting targets come from the 2019 American Community Survey. Baseline party identification is the respondent's most recent answer given around November 8, 2024, and is weighted to the estimated distribution at that time (31% Democratic, 33% Republican). The margin of error for the overall sample is approximately 4 percentage points.

Image: Getty (RyanJLane)

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