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In this article, I will help you get your “spooky on” with the biggest list of downright scary things to ask Alexa on the web.
So be afraid. Be very afraid. 👻
How Do You Make Alexa Scary?
One of the most popular articles in this blog is a post that I wrote about a few years back on Amazon Alexa Halloween skills. I update the post every year with the latest and greatest Alexa Halloween skills; this year is no exception. People seem to really enjoy it.
With Halloween right around the corner, this got me thinking…
Are there any truly scary things to ask Alexa in terms of questions and answers?
In doing a quick Google search, I’ve noticed that others have written posts about “scary” things to ask Alexa that mainly have to do with “privacy” concerns. One of my fellow smart home bloggers even goes so far as to say that Alexa is “a spy that we have willingly let into our homes.”
My long-standing love affair with Alexa will stop me short of saying anything along these lines. And besides, Amazon and other voice assistant makers stand far too much to lose in the burgeoning smart speaker market.
In fact, a recent study from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) reports that 126 million smart speakers have found their way into people’s homes.
What I will say is that I think that MY list of scary things to ask Alexa is way cooler than what others have done so far ✨.
In the spirit of spooky fun, I will embed videos asking some of these questions to my Echo devices. I will change my “wake word” from Alexa to something else to not set off false positives on your devices at home.
So, without further ado, here is my list of scary and downright creepy things you ask Alexa this year.
Cue up the evil laugh.
HOO..HOO..HA! HA! HA!
Alright, Alexa users everywhere, let’s get you some more spooky things to ask.
🎃 Related: Alexa Halloween Skills: 17 Spooky New Things to Ask
Scary Things to Things to Ask Alexa Anytime
Let’s kick things off with some truly creepy questions, skills, and Easter-egg-type scary things to ask Amazon Alexa.
- “Alexa, open Spooky Scream.”
This is one of the best scary things to ask Alexa out there.
Set a timer, and after X number of seconds, Alexa will unleash a blood-curdling scream on your unsuspecting victim. This is my favorite skill for scaring the pants off of your loved ones. Just please don’t use it on anyone with a bad heart.
Here is a YouTube video that I took a while back demo-ing this skill:
It will also work with newer Echo devices like the Echo Show as well as Fire TV.
- “Alexa, play Spooky Halloween Sounds.”
This Alexa skill l will play random spooky sounds by Invoked Apps.
- “Alexa, Ask the Listeners.”
This will play a creepy interactive dialog. Check out this spooky video I uploaded to my YouTube channel. It speaks for itself!
- “Alexa, play Halloween Scary Sounds.”
Alexa will play another random Hallo-weeny playlist.
- “Alexa, open Halloween Sound Effects.”
The free version contains a creepy but “limited non-looping Halloween sound effect.” Paid version (for 80 cents!) loops and has more effects.
- “Alexa, open Audible Clock.”
A fellow Redditor just turned me on to this one. It is a cool skill that will give you some paid and premium clock chimes or other sound effects to go off at the top, half, or quarter of the hour based on your preferences (think coo-coo clock).
There is a Halloween-themed cat screech that you set in lieu of coo-coo, Trump, or Big Ben if you purchase the paid version. You can try it free for seven days then the cost is 80 cents a month. Well worth the expense for creepy cat noises all season long!
- Whisper to Alexa: “Alexa, Simon says: I will murder you.”
You can also ask anything else creepy you can think of to say ?. And whatever you say after “Simon says” Alexa will repeat back. This can also be fun using curse words which Alexa will beep out unless you explicitly set her not to do this.
📚 Related: 19 Awesome Amazon Echo Device Gifts
Spooky Alexa Skills and Sounds
In this section, I’ll include some scary things to ask Alexa that are also scary but focused on the paranormal and alien life beyond this world.
- “Alexa, are there ghosts in my home?”
This is one of the top 10 scary things to ask Alexa for sure. Her correct answer will depend on your device and the tone of your voice command when you ask the question. I think the number of times Alexa replies is also a factor. Here is what I got after several tries.
- “Alexa, can you scan for paranormal activity?”
<No response!> That must be the ghost.
- “Alexa, do you see dead people?”
- “Alexa, open Scary Story.”
- “Alexa, open Haunted House?”
- “Alexa, the truth is out there.”
- “Alexa, are you a Sentinel?”
- “Alexa, does Area 51 exist.”
- “Alexa, are there aliens?
(For those old enough to remember…. listen until the end of #16 for a Close Encounters clip. )
- “Alexa, are you part of the Illuminati?”
Interesting….
Creepy Alexa Questions About Privacy
I had to include a few of these for the “creepiness” factor on my list of scary things to ask Alexa, as others have done before me. (My list is still cooler, though. )
- “Alexa, are you connected to the CIA?”
Amazon changed the answer to this question some time ago. Her answer is still revealing in that she admits to sending everything you say to Amazon. You can control this and ask Alexa to delete your voice recordings after you toggle a setting in the Alexa app.
- “Alexa, are you recording me?”
- “Alexa, are you hiding something?”
Her answers have changed over the years, but they are still interesting.
Scary Games You Can Play on Alexa
Here are some scary things to ask Alexa in the form of games. Echo Show has some neat visuals for some of these games.
- “Alexa, open Halloween Feel the Pressure.”
- “Alexa, open Escape the Room.”
Scary Things to Ask Alexa on Amazon Fire TV
Here are some scary things to ask Alexa on your Amazon Fire TV stick or Cube.
- “Alexa, open Haunted Sounds.”
- “Alexa, open Haunted House.”
This is a combination of kooky kid-friendly games, music, and fun that feels like Casper the Friendly Ghost meets Spongebob.
- “Alexa, show me some scary movies to watch for Halloween.”
- “Alexa, show me some kid-friendly Halloween ideas.”
Funny Things to Ask Alexa with a Scary or Nerdy Theme
As a bonus, here are a few funny questions and things you can ask Alexa on your Amazon Echo device. These are especially great if you want to have some Alexa fun with the kiddos – or if you are a big Star Wars and or a Star Trek nerd like me. Alexa yields a funny response to each one of these commands.
- “Alexa, tell me a scary joke.”
- “Alexa, open Fart Sounds.”
- “Alexa, use the force.”
- “Alexa, what do you think about Amazon?”
- “Alexa, what color hair do you have?”
- “Alexa, do you have eyes?”
- “Alexa, beam me up.”
- “Alexa, what is the meaning of life?”
- “Alexa, what is the first rule of Fight Club.”
- “Alexa, open the pod bay doors!”
- “Alexa, how much wood can a woodchuck chuck?”
- “Alexa, tell me a secret.”
- “Alexa, tell me a Halloween joke.”
- “Alexa, happy birthday.”
How to Make Alexa Do A Creepy Laugh
A question that I have been asked more than once is what happened to the Alexa’s creepy laugh.
People have probably heard the story about how Alexa used to go off randomly and laugh in a very creepy way.
Amazon got some bad press around this and has since fixed the problem and changed it over to a good laugh. They have actually made it hard to make her creepy laugh now.
I found a couple of skills that let you work around the fake laugh ban from some of my fellow Reddit users.
The first one will induce 80s sitcom-style laughter
- “Alexa, open fake laugh.”
The second one is probably more similar to what you are going for.
- “Alexa, open Laugh Box.
She will then play a random laugh from a few different laugh styles. When she asks you to choose a laugh type, tell her
- “Sinister laugh.”
HOO. HOO. HA! HA! HA!
You knew it was coming. Again.
I wonder if Google Assistant can pull that off. Or it might be better to ask Siri. Hmm.
Are There Any Spooky Screen Savers for the Echo Show?
OK, ok. This is not really one of the scary things to ask Alexa. But….
As another bonus, I thought I would share this awesome collection of screen savers for the Echo Show.
It’s made by a company called Ambient Visions. There is a mix of paid and free screen savers. The free ones limit you to one hour of watch time per theme, I believe.
You can enable the free skill right here at Amazon.
In addition to several Halloween-themed screen savers, they have screen savers for just about anything you can think of.
Best of all?
They are all high quality and well done. The Halloween screen savers are perfect for Halloween night or if you need something a little bone-chilling to get you into the spirit. Here is a demo of a cemetery-themed one.
Scary Things to Ask Alexa – Over to You
So what do you think of my list of scary things to ask Alexa?
Did you try Spooky Scream? You CAN’T leave here without giving it a try. It’s pretty hysterical. The video that I took of this and posted to YouTube a couple of years back has more than 10,000 views (see #1 above☝️).
Pretty creepy, right?
Do you have a favorite creepy thing to ask or perhaps some favorite Alexa Halloween skills you would like to share? I would love to hear your favorites and any spooky stories you would like to share using these skills.
Oh, and what kind of Alexa device do you have?
Please leave me a comment below and let me know.
Tim Brennan, a tech blogger and host of the @TecTimmy YouTube channel, writes about smart homes at oneSmartcrib, home theaters at UniversalRemoteReviews, and AI in writing at Writeinteractive. He holds a Journalism degree from Northeastern University and has covered technology for three decades. He lives on the ocean in Nahant, Massachusetts.
Please subscribe to my YouTube channel for a fun take on all things tech.
