The fall season is right upon us, which of course means that Halloween is right around the corner! Halloween quickly turned into one of my favorite holidays to celebrate while in college, not only because of how much fun it is to dress up and go out with your friends for an entire weekend, but also because of all of the festive movie nights and candy eating that comes with it. It’s just such a fun holiday, with so many excuses to have fun nights with your friends, which I love (and am trying to get as many in as possible during my senior year). And coming in to add even more excitement to the holiday, Instagram is implementing some brand-new Halloween features to get users in the spirit.
As of Oct. 23, Instagram’s Halloween 2025 Easter eggs and hacks have arrived, spanning from new elements in the DMs to different Halloween-themed Story elements like fonts and effects. Last year, Instagram also added new features for the holiday, including the ability to AI-generate images of people with new Halloween costumes on, fun effects in Stories and Reels, and secret phrases in DMs and Notes, which would trigger Halloween themes when certain words were used (and, don’t worry, this feature has made a comeback). This year, the new batch of Halloween goodies are available on the app for users, which includes a mix of both old and new features!
These new Halloween features will be available in the Instagram app until Nov. 3. Here is everything you need to know about them.
DM Doodles & Stickers
There will now be a colored marker feature in Instagram’s DMs where users can draw doodles on the DM page for the other people to see. You will also be able to drag and drop different stickers and emojis anywhere in the chat as well. These are perfect for adding a spooky element to your messages; you could draw ghosts, bats, pumpkins, or anything else that gets you in the Halloween mood!
Notes Secret Phases
Instagram also used this feature last year, and the idea behind it is that when users use certain words or emojis in the Notes section on their profile, new themes and animations will be triggered that match the holiday! So, for Halloween, if you use certain trigger words (like “Happy Halloween,” “Halloweekened,” and spooky emojis), the Note will change colors to orange, green, or purple, and it can also trigger fun Halloween-themed animations that users will just have to discover for themselves.
New Spooky Fonts
Users will also have access to new Halloween-themed fonts to use on their Stories and Reels. The font will be a Paranormal font, and will also have a spooky effect, and it will be inspired by old classic horror movies.
Restyle AI Tools to Get Costume-Ready
Instagram’s new Restyle tools will make it super easy to add elements to your photos to touch up your costume (or even add an entire one if you really procrastinated on your costume planning). You can add Halloween accessories, like witch hats and jack-o-lanterns, and even change your hair color! You can also use the retouching tools to remove unwanted objects.
Spooky Story Frames
During the Halloween season, Instagram users will be able to use different frames in the app to add borders and frames to their Instagram Stories. The borders will all be Halloween themed; there will be ones with bats, spiderwebs, and pumpkins. Get creative!