Scary Scavenger Hunt Ideas

Night Hunt

• A scavenger hunt during the day will never be as scary as one taking place at night. Give participants flashlights to get around and a list of safety precautions. Moving around at night will make the clues and items to be found scarier.

Tombstones

• On a scary scavenger hunt, one of the items on the list may be “find a tombstone with your first or last name on it.” This will require hunt participants to go into a graveyard. Extra points could be given for multiple tombstones, or if the person was born in the same year as the hunter.

Haunted House

• There may be a well-known haunted house, hotel or the like in your city or a place where someone died or someone was killed. For example, the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, CO, is believed to be haunted and is the inspiration for the movie "The Shining." Your hunt may include having players take photos of themselves in front of a haunted house, hotel or area in your city.

Morbid Businesses

• The mortuary, city morgue and mental hospital are all real locations associated with scary images and movies. A clue in a scary scavenger hunt may include having participants visit one of these businesses and taking a photo or bringing back a business card or flyer for the business.

Museums

• Many cities have museums that include scary things. Health museums, for example, include surgical devices and models of organs. The London Dungeon Museum in London, England, has an entire collection of medieval torture devices. Lead your hunters to a museum that may have scary objects with clues on the scary scavenger hunt list.

Psychic

• Psychics claim to have mystical powers that some find frightening, especially when palms and cards are read to determine frightful futures. Include visiting a psychic for a palm reading in the scary scavenger hunt.