Do Americans believe in paranormal beings? What poll shows as Halloween nears

Brendan Rascius, Miami Herald on Oct 28, 2025

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For many Americans, the spooky season is about more than just costumes and candy.

A substantial slice of the country believes in the existence of eerie supernatural beings, including ghosts and demons, according to a new YouGov survey, which comes just days before Halloween.

A majority of Americans also believe they’ve had at least one encounter with the paranormal, and many are convinced they possess paranormal powers of their own.

The poll sampled 1,136 U.S. adults Oct. 1-6, and it has a margin of error of about 4 percentage points.

Paranormal beings

Respondents were asked whether they regard as real the following beings: demons, psychics, ghosts, vampires and werewolves.

Demons and psychics were viewed as the most credible, with 43% and 42% of respondents, respectively, expressing belief in them.

A slightly smaller share, 38%, said they believe in ghosts, while 36% said they acknowledge the existence of “other supernatural beings.”

In contrast, just 6% said they believe in vampires and werewolves.

When these results were broken down by partisan affiliation, some significant differences emerged.

A majority of Republicans, 56%, said they believe in demons, while 32% of Democrats said the same. This divide was narrower on the subject of ghosts (45% versus 37%).

Women were also more likely than men to express belief in most of the listed entities, including psychics (47% versus 36%).

Paranormal experiences

A majority of respondents, 60%, also said they’ve had at least one of 13 paranormal experiences listed.

Thirty-five percent said they’ve felt “a presence or unknown energy,” while 32% said they’ve “smelled an unexplained odor.”

Additionally, 26% said they have “heard the voice of someone who wasn’t there,” and 17% said they’ve watched “an object move without explanation.”

One in ten said they’ve seen an angel, and just 7% said they’ve seen a demon.

Additionally, significant minorities of respondents expressed that they themselves possess paranormal abilities.

Close to one-quarter, 23%, said they have “the ability to psychically sense others’ emotions or auras,” while 10% said they have “the ability to psychically see events in the future.”

Further, 9% said they can perceive the sounds of ghosts, and 7% said they can communicate with deceased individuals.

On these questions, differences across partisan affiliation and gender were mostly muted.

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