What to write in a Halloween card

Almost nobody sends a Halloween card, which is exactly why one lands well. There is no convention to get wrong and no expectation to meet, so the whole thing can be playful. Keep it short, lean into the silliness, and send it a day or two early so it is read before the evening takes over.

Warm

Friendly, unfussy, safe with almost anybody.

• Happy Halloween! Hope it’s a good spooky one.
• Spooky season — enjoy every bit of it.
• Happy Halloween. May your sweets outnumber your visitors.
• Wishing you a properly ridiculous Halloween.
• Happy Halloween — have fun out there.

Funny

A joke with affection behind it. Read the room first.

• Happy Halloween. You’re the scariest thing I know, and I mean that kindly.
• Have a spooky one. Try not to eat all the sweets before anyone knocks.
• Happy Halloween! Remember, the costume is only funny for the first hour.
• Boo. That’s it, that’s the card.
• Happy Halloween. Answer the door or face the consequences.

Heartfelt

For the people you would actually say this to out loud.

• Happy Halloween — hope it’s full of the daft kind of fun.
• Thinking of you this spooky season. Have a brilliant one.
• Happy Halloween. Save me a photo of the costume.
• Wishing you a night of too many sweets and very bad films.
• Happy Halloween, from one overgrown child to another.

Simple

When short is the right answer, and it often is.

• Happy Halloween!
• Spooky season.
• Have a spooky one.
• Happy Halloween — enjoy it.
• Boo!

What to avoid

• Don’t send it after the 31st. There is no belated Halloween.
• Don’t make it genuinely frightening for a child’s card.
• Don’t reach for a pun if the joke has to be explained.
• Don’t assume they celebrate it. Plenty of people quietly do not.