Google Halloween Search Trends For 2021

Google shares data about the top trending Halloween-related searches this year, such as most popular costumes, top haunted house locations in Maps, and more.

Every year Google publishes Halloween search insights, and this year is no different.

While the most popular movies remain fairly consistent from one year to another, it’s the top trending Halloween costumes that reveal what’s capturing the interest of mainstream society at the moment.

As a marketer it helps to keep your finger on the pulse of popular culture, as it can create opportunities to connect with your audience and make your brand more relatable.

This year Google is publishing data on:

• Top Halloween movies
• Top Halloween costumes
• Most-searched pumpkin patches
• Most popular spooky activities in the United States

Here’s a summary of key insights from Google report.

Top Halloween Movies

This list contains a mix of Halloween staples and family friendly classics.

Goes to show that using personalities to build brands into franchises can maximize their staying power.

The most-searched Halloween movies over the past week in the US are:

• Halloween (1978)
• Friday the 13th
• Hocus Pocus
• A Nightmare on Elm Street
• Halloweentown

Top Halloween Costumes

Traditionally, searches for costume stores peak on Halloween day, but Google can’t wait until then to release the data.

Here’s what it has gathered about popular costumes based searches from the first week of October.

Here are the costume searches that have been trending this week in the U.S.

Trending Halloween costumes:

• Squid Game
• Gorilla
• Britney Spears
• Carnage
• Venom

Trending couples costumes:

• Trixie and Timmy Turner
• Bonnie and Clyde
• Skid and Pump
• Mr. and Mrs. Smith
• Cosmo and Wanda

Trending dog costumes:

• Squid Game
• Race car
• Vampire
• Donkey
• Lobster

Popular Pumpkin Patches

On Google Maps, there’s a 375% increase in pumpkin-related searches between September and October.

The most popular keyword during this time is “pumpkin patch,” which increases nearly 470%.

Here are some of the top-searched pumpkin patches on Google Maps in the U.S.:

• Goebbert’s Pumpkin Patch and Apple Orchard, Pingree Grove, IL
• Bengtson’s Pumpkin Farm and Fall Fest, Glen, IL
• Bishop’s Pumpkin Farm, Wheatland, CA
• Bob’s Corn & Pumpkin Farm, Snohomish, WA

Most Searched Halloween Activities

Searches for spooky actives such as corn mazes and haunted houses increase by 270% and 500% respectively between September and October.

Here are some of the top-searched destinations for spooky season activities on Google Maps in the U.S.:

• Buford Corn Maze in Buford, Georgia
• Field of Screams in Mountville, Pennsylvania
• Piedmont Avenue Pumpkin Patch in Oakland, California
• Howl-O-Scream in Tampa Bay, Florida
• Greenspot Farms in Mentone, California
• Texas Pumpkin Fest in Leander, Texas
• Netherworld Haunted House in Stone Mountain, Georgia
• Cornbelly’s Corn Maze and Pumpkin Fest in Lehi, Utah
• Rutledge Corn Maze in Olympia, Washington
• Pennhurst Asylum in Spring City, Pennsylvania

Most Popular Halloween Candy

Lastly, it’s not Halloween without candy, so Google has put together a couple of infographics illustrating peoples’ candy preferences by state.

Screenshot from: blog.google.com, October 2021.

Sources: Google (1, 2)