Eat, drink, and be scary.

“Eat, drink, and be scary” is a modern, anonymous Halloween-season slogan that plays on the much older proverbial line “Eat, drink, and be merry,” a phrase long associated with festive indulgence and, in English, often linked to biblical language (e.g., Ecclesiastes 8:15). The Halloween variant likely emerged through late-20th- or early-21st-century commercial and party culture—appearing on greeting cards, invitations, decorations, and social-media captions—where “merry” is swapped for “scary” to fit the holiday’s playful horror aesthetic. Because it circulates as a catchphrase rather than a literary quotation, it is typically unattributed and difficult to pin to a single first publication.

The line humorously reframes convivial celebration in Halloween terms. “Eat” and “drink” evoke feasting and partying, while “be scary” invites participants to adopt the holiday’s performative fright—costumes, spooky decor, and mock menace. The joke depends on the familiar cadence of “Eat, drink, and be merry,” so the altered final word signals both continuity (a party is still a party) and seasonal transformation (merriment becomes theatrical spookiness). As a slogan, it functions less as moral counsel than as an invitation: indulge, socialize, and embrace Halloween’s playful inversion of the ordinary through masquerade and controlled fear.

1) “Eat, drink, and be scary!”
2) “Eat, drink & be scary.”
3) “Eat, drink and be scary—Happy Halloween.”