Originally Posted: Oct 9, 2019
Last Updated: Jun 1, 2020
You’re at that age, right? You know—that age where you’ve put Halloween trick-or-treating far behind you. But a sack full of candy is still really appealing, isn’t it?
How about we make a tradition where you get a sack full of money for Halloween instead? Okay, maybe that’s a little much, but you can still get money this Halloween by applying for these spooky and eclectic scholarships.
Note: The awards with upcoming deadlines are listed first. Some of these scholarships are in an off season and have already been awarded for 2019, but many are annual scholarships, so be sure to keep track of when the applications open up again!
Related: 60 of the Weirdest College Scholarships
If you have strong opinions on costume etiquette
Halloween Costume Essay Scholarship
Sponsored by: Halloween Express
Amount awarded: $1,000 to one recipient
Deadline: October 31 each year
Do you love Halloween costumes, essay writing, and social justice? This is the scholarship contest for you! Pour out all your opinions on costume standards, what costumes should be off-limits, and the nature of freedom of expression for this one.
If you care more about dog costumes than people costumes
Halloween Costume Scholarship
Sponsored by: MoneySolver
Amount awarded: $1,000 to one recipient
Deadline: October 31 each year
Want to win money for talking about Halloween costumes but be less political about it? You can also write about your dog. Share your favorite person or pet costume in an essay and send it in to MoneySolver. Who wouldn’t want to write an essay about a cute pet costume?
If you know the end is coming and you need to be prepared
Zombie Apocalypse Scholarship
Sponsored by: Unigo
Amount awarded: $2,000 to one recipient
Deadline: October 31 each year
Have you already thought of your plans for how you’re going to survive in a post-apocalyptic, zombie-infested world? Well, you could win money for that. Each year Unigo awards one recipient with the best plan on how to avoid the zombies, where to hide, and the top five essential things to carry for survival. Get planning, survivors!
If you need a way to get over the movie IT
Bo-Dino Scholarship
Sponsored by: World Clown Association
Amount awarded: Up to $500
Deadline: November 1 each year
Maybe you’ve always wanted to go to clown college, or maybe you have a huge fear of clowns. What better way to get over your fear than diving headfirst into it? This scholarship goes toward comprehensive 40-hour programs that will enhance one’s clown and circus arts skills.
Because bullying is one of the scariest things no one should experience
Positive Affirmations Scholarship
Sponsored by: DoSomething.org and Hollister
Amount awarded: Up to $7,000
Deadline: November 1, 2019
October is National Bullying Prevention Month, so we’d be remiss not to include a scholarship supporting such an important cause. The only requirements for this scholarship are to register with DoSomething.org, print and post tear sheets with spreadable words of affirmation, and post it on your social media platforms for a chance to win. Be part of the movement!
For a history buff who appreciates a good spook
Colonial Ghosts Scholarship
Sponsored by: Colonial Ghosts
Amount awarded: $1,000 to one recipient
Deadline: December 15 of each year
This history- and marketing-friendly scholarship supports students and promotes the importance of the marketing field as a combination of two key elements of life and education: human psychology and communications. If you’re a hardworking, well-rounded individual—maybe with an interest in ghosts—this scholarship is for you.
If not all puppets look evil to you
UNIMA Grants and Scholarships
Sponsored by: UNIMA-USA (Union Internationale De La Marionnette)
Amount awarded: $1,000 to one recipient
Deadline: December 15 each year
One of the first things we probably all think of when we think of puppets is a creepy ventriloquist dummy. But there is a wide, beautiful world of artistic puppetry out there with the likes of Sesame Street, the Muppets, and the Dragon from Shrek the Musical. Explore this creative hobby with a scholarship that will send you to another country for a workshop in puppetry.
For those who want to discover haunted relics
Design Your Future Scholarship
Sponsored by: Chairish
Amount awarded: $5,000 to two recipients
Deadline: January 1 and June 30 (awarded twice a year)
Chairish is a marketplace for buying and selling chic vintage décor, furniture, and art. They award deserving students with a passion for design, engineering, landscaping, architecture, and more. If you love creative design then be sure to check this one out, and maybe buy a haunted old brooch while you’re on the site.
If you hate slasher movies wasting blood
Leaders Save Lives Scholarship Program
Sponsored by: American Red Cross
Amount awarded: Up to $2,500 each to six recipients
Deadline: January 15, 2020
If you love doing good, host a blood drive through the American Red Cross. Hosting it between the dates of December 15 and January 15 through the scholarship program will award you with a $50–$100 gift card depending on how many pints of blood you collect, plus the chance to win a $1,000–$2,500 scholarship, also depending on the amount of blood collected. Get collecting.
If fungi don’t make your stomach churn
Undergraduate Research Scholarship
Sponsored by: Mycological Society of America
Amount awarded: $500 each to multiple recipients
Deadline: February 15 each year
If fungal biology is your passion, the MSA wants to help you reach your goals. Undergraduate students conducting fungal or other biological research with a faculty mentor are eligible for this scholarship. Apply and get to analyzing those mushrooms.
If you want to craft the next great murder mystery
Scholarship: The Helen McCloy/MWA Scholarship
Sponsored by: Mystery Writers of America
Amount awarded: Up to $500 each to two recipients
Deadline: End of February each year
This scholarship welcomes writers of fiction, nonfiction, playwriting, or screenwriting—if you have a love of mystery, you are welcome to apply. The money can go toward a class or workshop to help hone your skills in writing that next great work. What are you waiting for?
Related: So You Want to Be a Writing Major
For someone who wants to face death head on
National Scholarship Program
Sponsored by: American Board of Funeral Service Education
Amount awarded: $1,500–$2,500 each to multiple recipients
Deadline: March 1 and September 1 each year (two rounds a year)
Some people fear death above all else in life, and some people have a fascination and appreciation for the circle of life—death being a part of it. If you’re majoring or planning to study Funeral Service and/or Mortuary Science, take advantage of this scholarship. Not many things in life are certain except for death and taxes—your education should be too!
Related: How to Turn Your Hobbies Into Scholarships
If you think we should start sending cards on Halloween
Create-a-Greeting-Card Scholarship
Sponsored by: The Gallery Collection
Amount awarded: $10,000 to one recipient
Deadline: March 2, 2020; dates vary each year
This may be one of the cooler scholarships on this list because there isn’t an essay for it, plus you get to be creative. Applicants submit original photography, artwork, or computer graphics for a greeting card, and the finalists are decided by public votes. You’ll stand out with a Halloween-themed greeting card because it’s not as common as Christmas, birthdays, or other Hallmark holidays. Check it out!
If you have a major sweet tooth
AACT’s John Kitt Memorial Scholarship
Sponsored by: American Association of Candy Technologists
Amount awarded: $5,000 to one recipient
Deadline: March 25, 2020
“There’s a scholarship for being interested in candy?” you ask? There certainly is. This scholarship is awarded to anyone who has a demonstrated interest in confectionary technology and is majoring in a related field, like Food Science, Chemical Science, Biological Science, etc. Give in to that sweet tooth and check it out.
If The Nightmare Before Christmas gets two holidays, so should this scholarship
VCTGA Scholarship
Sponsored by: Virginia Christmas Tree Growers Association
Amount awarded: $1,000 to two recipients
Deadline: April 1, 2020
If you want to go all Jack Skellington this spooky season, the best way to do that is to celebrate Christmas on Halloween! If you’re majoring in Forestry or Horticulture, consider applying to this scholarship.
If Chucky wasn’t your worst nightmare as a kid
UFDC Scholarship
Sponsored by: United Federation of Doll Clubs Inc.
Amount awarded: Up to $1,000 each to a maximum of four recipients
Deadline: April 1 each year
When it comes to dolls, you’re one end of the spectrum or the other: you love them or they scare you to no end. (No one is saying, “Meh—dolls are alright.”) So if you fall on the doll lover end of the spectrum and have a passion for spreading knowledge and appreciation for dolls, consider applying to this scholarship!
If your costumes interests are very refined
Willa Kim Costume Design Scholarship
Sponsored by: Theatre Communications Group
Amount awarded: Up to $7,500 to multiple recipients
Deadline: May each year (dates vary)
If your costume interests are more along the path of a lifelong passion and career choice, then check out this scholarship. This year was its inaugural awarding, and it will return to award money to more deserving costume designers and fashion technology students for their future in the industry.
For ladies who loves historic archives and old images
George Blood Women in Audiovisual Archiving Technology Scholarship
Sponsored by: The Association of Moving Images Archivists
Amount Awarded: $4,000 to one recipient
Deadline: May 1 each year
Sorry gents, this one’s for the ladies. Are you a historian at heart who loves burying yourself in the archives, aka the ghosts of historical documents? Then you have to apply to this scholarship. The program requires a minimum of $3,000 of the award to go to your tuition, but $1,000 of it can be used to travel to the AMIA’s annual conference—a valuable experience for a future archivist.
For all the Star Trek fans out there
Starfleet Scholarships
Sponsored by: Starfleet
Amount awarded: $1,000 each to four recipients (four separate scholarships)
Deadline: June 15 each year
Star Trek and sci-fi isn’t scary, you say? What isn’t scary about the vast, endless frontier of space? If you’re a member of the Starfleet, consider applying to one or more of these annual scholarships. Get nerdy and academic!
For believers wanting to fund their paranormal research
Gilbert Roller Fund
Sponsored by: The Parapsychology Association
Amount awarded: $10,000 total to one or multiple recipients
Deadline: June 30 each year
If you’re into your psychology or parapsychology academic journey and want to start doing field research, you can apply for grant money to do just that! Send in the required documents with a proposal of your research hypothesis, budget and resources, and plans for publication when your research is done. Start looking to the future!
For those who believe there’s more to the world around us
Eileen J. Garret Scholarship
Sponsored by: The Parapsychology Foundation
Amount awarded: $2,000 to one recipient
Deadline: July 1 each year
There may be a whole world between the folds of our own, tapped into only on rare occasions by claimed psychics, telepaths, clairvoyants, and more. If your passion is psychology or you’re interested in pursuing parapsychology academically, check out this scholarship and get in touch with your supernatural side!
If you want to be the next Stephen King
Horror Writers Association Scholarship
Sponsored by: The Horror Writers Association
Amount awarded: $2,500 to one recipient
Deadline: August of each year (exact dates vary)
Is your passion to make people’s hearts beat faster and instill fear through your ability to turn a phrase? Send some writing samples of no more than 3,000 words with a writing résumé, essay, educational plan, statement of financial need, and references, and you could win some helpful financial support to pursue those passions. Check it out here. (And speaking of Stephen King, check out this October contest from Dish Network—you could win $1,300 for watching movies based on his masterpieces!)
If you want to write the next Frankenstein
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley Scholarship
Sponsored by: The Horror Writers Association
Amount awarded: $2,500 to one recipient
Deadline: August of each year (exact dates vary)
This scholarship acts as a complimentary award to the HWA Scholarship. The application process and requirements are the same, but the association wants to promote and support female writers in the genre by allotting a separate award for women only. Ladies, get spooky!
For the next Edgar Allen Poe
Dark Poetry Scholarship
Sponsored by: The Horror Writers Association
Amount awarded: $1,250 to one recipient
Deadline: August of each year (exact dates vary)
Traditional prose not your style? Well, there’s a horror scholarship for poetry writers too! Let your heart bleed out on the page, and submit your dark/horror poetry samples (of which you can provide up to four) with the other regular requirements. Find more information here.
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