Ghoulish Mortals Brings Back Its 2026 Ghoul Pool Game
- - Ghoulish Mortals Brings Back Its 2026 Ghoul Pool Game
Andrea ReiherJanuary 25, 2026 at 6:54 PM
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Some people start the year with a vision board. Others start it with a bracket. And in suburban Illinois, a horror shop called Ghoulish Mortals starts it with something they’re careful to describe as morbid fun, not malice—the annual Ghoul Pool.
At first glance, the name alone sounds like something designed to provoke outrage. But according to the people who run it, the Ghoul Pool comes with a very specific line participants are not supposed to cross.
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“There is a big difference between guessing someone could die soon and actually wanting a person to die,” said Warwick Price in a new interview with the Chicago Tribune. Price runs the annual game with his wife Dove Thiselton at their horror-themed shop in St. Charles, Illinois. “That’s important to understand if we’re going to talk about the Ghoul Pool.”
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Now in its eighth year, the Ghoul Pool is a celebrity death prediction game, free to enter and played strictly for points and dark-humor bragging rights. There’s no cash involved. Winners receive gift cards to Ghoulish Mortals, a store that sells monster art, horror collectibles, and tongue-in-cheek memorabilia.
The rules are simple in theory: contestants submit a list of 13 celebrities and one alternate, drawn from any public figure with a Wikipedia page. At the end of the year, points are awarded based on which predictions came true, calculated by subtracting a celebrity’s age from 105, a system designed to reward risk rather than “safe” picks. It used to be 104, until Kirk Douglas lived to be 103.
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As of mid-January, the most-predicted names for 2026 included Bruce Willis and Donald Trump, tied with 37 predictions each. Close behind were Eric Dane, whose ALS diagnosis has been widely reported, and Dick Van Dyke, who recently turned 100 and remains active.
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Van Dyke, despite his age, ranked only fourth on the list. “People who do well in the Ghoul Pool tend to be those who do a fair amount of research and think hard about who they believe could die in the next 12 months, not who they want to see die,” Warwick said.
That logic explains some of the more surprising names that appeared on ballots. Ariana Grande, 32, received as many predictions as David Attenborough, 99. Other frequently mentioned figures included Chevy Chase, Jesse Jackson, Mel Brooks and Sean Combs.
Meanwhile, some famously death-defying names drew fewer predictions than expected. Rolling Stones member Keith Richards received just four votes. Gene Simmons, Woody Allen and William Shatner also appeared less often than in past years.
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Some comparisons raised eyebrows even among the organizers. “Vladimir Putin has the same number of votes as Billy Ray Cyrus,” Warwick noted.
Thiselton, who says she doesn’t participate officially, admitted she still keeps her own mental list. “I’ve had Dick Van Dyke every year,” she said. “I’ve been thinking 2026 will be my year.”
The Ghoul Pool also includes a long list of bonus categories tied to the circumstances surrounding a death, a detail the organizers readily admit can sound uncomfortable out of context. Some bonuses are relatively straightforward, such as extra points if a celebrity dies in January, on a holiday, or in their sleep, while others reward unusual timing or coincidence, like two predicted deaths occurring on the same day or a pick no one else chose turning out to be correct.
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“But the point is to have fun with something that happens to everyone,” Warwick said. “It is sort of twisted, and also a part of everyone’s life.”
Historically, winners tend to predict a mix of very elderly figures and the occasional shocking younger death. The 2025 winner correctly predicted six passings, including Dick Cheney, Brian Wilson, Marianne Faithfull and Linda Nolan.
“The most anyone has ever gotten right was eight out of 13 picks,” said Thiselton. “Which is like the finger of death right there.”
For the organizers, though, the game’s longevity comes down to one guiding principle. As Warwick put it bluntly: “It’s just people dying.”
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This story was originally published by Parade on Jan 25, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
