Halloween trivia: 102 amazing facts about this day

Halloween is a celebration that is celebrated around the world on October 31st. It is believed that many traditions originated from Celtic harvest festivals.

So let’s dive into some trivia and facts about this day.

Halloween or Hallowe’en is a celebration observed in several countries on 31 October
It is a contraction of Hallows’ Even or Hallows’ Evening
Also known as Allhalloween, All Hallows’ Eve or All Saints’ Eve
The 31st of October is the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Hallows’ Day
It begins the three-day observance of Allhallowtide
The time in the liturgical year dedicated to remembering the dead
Including saints (hallows), martyrs, and all the faithful departed
It is widely believed that many Halloween traditions originated from ancient Celtic harvest festivals
Particularly the Gaelic festival Samhain
That such festivals may have had pagan roots
And that Samhain itself was Christianized as Halloween by the early Church
Some believe, however, that Halloween began solely as a Christian holiday
Separate from ancient festivals like Samhain
Halloween activities include trick-or-treating (or the related guising and souling), attending Halloween costume parties, carving pumpkins into jack-o’-lanterns, lighting bonfires, apple bobbing, divination games, playing pranks, visiting haunted attractions, telling scary stories, as well as watching horror films
In many parts of the world, the Christian religious observances of All Hallows’ Eve, including attending church services and lighting candles on the graves of the dead, remain popular
Although elsewhere it is a more commercial and secular celebration
Some Christians historically abstained from meat on All Hallows’ Eve
A tradition reflected in the eating of certain vegetarian foods on this vigil day
Including apples, potato pancakes, and soul cakes
The word Halloween or Hallowe’en dates to about 1745
And is of Christian origin
The word “Hallowe’en” means “Saints’ evening”
It comes from a Scottish term for All Hallows’ Eve (the evening before All Hallows’ Day)
In Scots, the word “eve” is even
This is contracted to e’en or een
Over time, (All) Hallow(s) E(v)en evolved into Hallowe’en
Although the phrase “All Hallows'” is found in Old English “All Hallows’ Eve” is itself not seen until 1556
Development of artifacts and symbols associated with Halloween formed over time
Jack-o’-lanterns are traditionally carried by guisers on All Hallows’ Eve in order to frighten evil spirits
There is a popular Irish Christian folktale associated with the jack-o’-lantern
Which in folklore is said to represent a “soul who has been denied entry into both heaven and hell”
In Ireland and Scotland, the turnip has traditionally been carved during Halloween
But immigrants to North America used the native pumpkin
Which is both much softer and much larger, making it easier to carve than a turnip
The American tradition of carving pumpkins is recorded in 1837
It was originally associated with harvest time in general
Not becoming specifically associated with Halloween until the mid-to-late 19th century
The modern imagery of Halloween comes from many sources
Including Christian eschatology, national customs, works of Gothic and horror literature (such as the novels Frankenstein and Dracula) and classic horror films (such as Frankenstein and The Mummy)
Imagery of the skull, a reference to Golgotha in the Christian tradition
It serves as “a reminder of death and the transitory quality of human life”
It is consequently found in memento mori and vanitas compositions
Skulls have therefore been commonplace in Halloween, which touches on this theme
Traditionally, the back walls of churches are “decorated with a depiction of the Last Judgment, complete with graves opening and the dead rising, with a heaven filled with angels and a hell filled with devils”
A motif that has permeated the observance of this triduum
One of the earliest works on the subject of Halloween is from Scottish poet John Mayne, who, in 1780, made note of pranks at Halloween
“What fearfu’ pranks ensue!”, as well as the supernatural associated with the night, “Bogies” (ghosts), influencing Robert Burns’ “Halloween” (1785)
Elements of the autumn season, such as pumpkins, corn husks, and scarecrows, are also prevalent
Homes are often decorated with these types of symbols around Halloween
Halloween imagery includes themes of death, evil, and mythical monsters
Black, orange, and sometimes purple are Halloween’s traditional colors
Trick-or-treating is a customary celebration for children on Halloween
Children go in costume from house to house, asking for treats such as candy or sometimes money, with the question, “Trick or treat?”
The word “trick” implies a “threat” to perform mischief on the homeowners or their property if no treat is given
The practice is said to have roots in the medieval practice of mumming, which is closely related to souling
These feast days included All Hallows’ Eve, Christmas, Twelfth Night and Shrove Tuesday
Mumming practiced in Germany, Scandinavia and other parts of Europe
Involved masked persons in fancy dress who “paraded the streets and entered houses to dance or play dice in silence”
In England, from the medieval period, up until the 1930s, people practiced the Christian custom of souling on Halloween, which involved groups of soulers, both Protestant and Catholic
Going from parish to parish, begging the rich for soul cakes, in exchange for praying for the souls of the givers and their friends
In the Philippines, the practice of souling is called Pangangaluwa and is practiced on All Hallow’s Eve among children in rural areas
People drape themselves in white cloths to represent souls and then visit houses
There they sing in return for prayers and sweets
In Scotland and Ireland, guising (children disguised in costume going from door to door for food or coins) is a traditional Halloween custom
It is recorded in Scotland at Halloween in 1895 where masqueraders in disguise carrying lanterns made out of scooped out turnips, visit homes to be rewarded with cakes, fruit, and money
The practice of guising at Halloween in North America is first recorded in 1911
There a newspaper in Kingston, Ontario, Canada reported children going “guising” around the neighborhood
American historian and author Ruth Edna Kelley of Massachusetts wrote the first book-length history of Halloween in the US
The Book of Hallowe’en (1919), and references souling in the chapter “Hallowe’en in America”
In her book, Kelley touches on customs that arrived from across the Atlantic
While the first reference to “guising” in North America occurs in 1911, another reference to ritual begging on Halloween appears, place unknown, in 1915, with a third reference in Chicago in 1920
The earliest known use in print of the term “trick or treat” appears in 1927, in the Blackie Herald Alberta, Canada
The thousands of Halloween postcards produced between the turn of the 20th century and the 1920s commonly show children but not trick-or-treating
Trick-or-treating does not seem to have become a widespread practice until the 1930s
With the first US appearances of the term in 1934
And the first use in a national publication occurring in 1939
A popular variant of trick-or-treating, known as trunk-or-treating (or Halloween tailgating), occurs when “children are offered treats from the trunks of cars parked in a church parking lot”, or sometimes, a school parking lot
In a trunk-or-treat event, the trunk (boot) of each automobile is decorated with a certain theme
Such as those of children’s literature, movies, scripture, and job roles
Trunk-or-treating has grown in popularity due to its perception as being more safe than going door to door
A point that resonates well with parents, as well as the fact that it “solves the rural conundrum in which homes are built a half-mile apart”
Halloween costumes are traditionally modeled after supernatural figures such as vampires, monsters, ghosts, skeletons, witches, and devils
Over time, the costume selection extended to include popular characters from fiction, celebrities, and generic archetypes such as ninjas and princesses
Dressing up in costumes and going “guising” was prevalent in Scotland and Ireland at Halloween by the late 19th century
A Scottish term, the tradition is called “guising” because of the disguises or costumes worn by the children
In Ireland the masks are known as ‘false faces’
Costuming became popular for Halloween parties in the US in the early 20th century, as often for adults as for children
And when trick-or-treating was becoming popular in Canada and the US in the 1920s and 1930s
There are several games traditionally associated with Halloween
Some of these games originated as divination rituals or ways of foretelling one’s future, especially regarding death, marriage and children
During the Middle Ages, these rituals were done by a “rare few” in rural communities as they were considered to be “deadly serious” practices
In recent centuries, these divination games have been “a common feature of the household festivities” in Ireland and Britain
They often involve apples and hazelnuts
In Celtic mythology, apples were strongly associated with the Otherworld and immortality, while hazelnuts were associated with divine wisdom
Some also suggest that they derive from Roman practices in celebration of Pomona
Haunted attractions are entertainment venues designed to thrill and scare patrons
Most attractions are seasonal Halloween businesses that may include haunted houses, corn mazes, and hayrides
The level of sophistication of the effects has risen as the industry has grown
The first recorded purpose-built haunted attraction was the Orton and Spooner Ghost House
Which opened in 1915 in Liphook, England
This attraction actually most closely resembles a carnival fun house, powered by steam
The House still exists, in the Hollycombe Steam Collection