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Test your knowledge of grammar, BuzzFeed style, and the supernatural.

A brown and gray sled dog sits on a porch wearing a vampire style cape, a trick-or-treat pumpkin bucket in front of it

Grammar Quiz: The Spooky Season Spectacular

Copyediting BuzzFeed Style Quiz: Spooky Spectacular Edition

12C Auto Drip Coffeemaker

Juice Extractor

Compact Automatic Bread Maker

Fruit Scoop Frozen Dessert Maker

Cook Fresh&trade; Digital Glass Steamer

Compact Air Fryer Oven

Combo Steam And Convection Oven

Cordless And Rechargeable Smartstick Hand Blender

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Quibbles & Bits

“Viscera” is just a fancy word for “gore,” and we also always use Americanized spellings for words (sorry, Brits). Make sure your dependent clauses are always modifying the right noun, which in this case is “beast,” not “teeth” or “blood and viscera.”

**Blood and viscera clung to the beast’s teeth, and a foul odor escaped from its gaping mouth.**

Which sentence has correct grammar and spelling?

Insensitivity, ahoy! BuzzFeed copy editors are trained to minimize usage of terms with oppressive origins; that means we do not use the words “illegitimate” or “bastard” to describe children of unmarried parents. Similarly, we do not use ableist terms like “stupid” to describe people in any context. “Old wives’ tale” is styled thusly, according to Merriam-Webster.com, but is better replaced with “folktale” to avoid gendered stereotypes; same with “warlock” (gendered) versus “sorcerer” (nongendered). M-W.com always uses “asshole” as one word, even when used as an adjective.

**An old folktale claimed children of unmarried parents were cursed, but I knew I was destined to save the world from that asshole sorcerer.**

Which sentence adheres to BuzzFeed style?

“Rappel” means “to descend (as from a cliff) by sliding down a rope,” according to Merriam-Webster.com, and “rafters” and “sickle” are spelled thusly.

**If one of those demons attacks, rappel down from the rafters and use that sickle of yours to finish the job.**

Which sentence would earn you a gold star from the BuzzFeed copy desk?

Written after a city name, a state name should always be spelled out and followed by a comma unless it’s the end of the sentence. As a region, “Midwest” is capitalized. And BuzzFeed styles most words beginning with co- _without_ a hyphen.

**Erebus in Pontiac, Michigan, is known throughout the Midwest for its pulse-pounding frights, and I’m cowriting a screenplay about my experiences working there.**

Neither “cinnamon sugar dust” nor “apple cider donuts” _need_ hyphens, although some may prefer them. Hyphens are only necessary when the meaning would be open to interpretation, such as “human-eating chicken.” BuzzFeed uses “fiancé” regardless of gender identity, “fall” is always lowercase, and creating two sentences instead of one is much better for readability. Don’t forget that it’s “donuts,” not “doughnuts,” according to our style (AP disagrees).

**Cinnamon sugar dust always gets all over the place when I eat apple cider donuts. My fiancé hates cleaning up after me, but she’d have to pry my fall tradition from my cold, dead hands.**

You know what they say: "It's not how you fall, it's how you get back up that matters." But maybe...uh...you should probably stay down. At least for a while. Let your mind rest. ... No, I didn't hear any growling, why do you ask?

Some blood was shed, but you fought valiantly and the spirits will speak of your bravery long after you're gone.

Not bad!

You've made the BuzzFeed copy desk proud and lived to see another day. Treat yourself to a Pumpkin Spice Latte as a reward.

Nicely done!

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Grammar Quiz: The Spooky Season Spectacular

As Halloween approaches, the aroma of pumpkin spice is in the air and midnight copyediting ghouls are coming to stalk your Google Docs. Do you have the mettle to survive the attack of the red pen? (This quiz uses BuzzFeed house style, and you can find our full guide here.)