Halloween is celebrated in different ways all around the world on October 31st. It’s a time for trick or treating, carving pumpkins, and scary movie marathons. But also fun and frightening facts!
1. You Wouldn’t Want Your Name to Be Among Those Spooky and Deadly Whispers
According to Welsh mythology, Angelystor’s spirit appears every Halloween at the Llangernyw Yew tree, which is located in Llangernyw, Conwy, Wales. It’s around 4,000 to 5,000 years old. The spirit is said to announce the names of the people who’ll die shortly.
2. Don’t Let the Knives Make a Sound
In Germany, people hide all their knives on Halloween. It’s believed that during this time, the veil between the two worlds is so thin that the spirits can pass through it. To avoid getting hurt by those spirits, they must hide their knives or else face the wrath of those they scorned when they were alive.
3. Trick or Treat: How Much Can You Eat?
Trick or Treating is a world-famous ritual. A single trick-or-treater collects around 7000 calories worth of candies. In the U.S., an average American would eat approximately 3.5 pounds of candy. The purchase of candy is estimated to be around 272 million in the U.S.
4. Peek-A-Boo: Don’t Let Them See You!
Being a pagan tradition, Halloween still managed to seep through Christianity but was still not celebrated among Muslim communities. Some countries are more welcoming to the idea of embracing it, but Jordan has banned it even though the young generation is more eager to celebrate, keeping it all low-key and private to avoid any issue with the law.
5. An Apple Peel on This Night Divine May Reveal Your Beau’s Sign
Being a spooky and scary festival, Halloween also has a romantic twist. In some places during the 18th century, women used to throw apple peels over their shoulders to see if they would form the initials of their future husbands. Another ritual, including apples, is Apple Bobbing to find a future spouse.
6. Carve Away: Time to Slay!
Pumpkins are a Halloween staple. Stephen Clarke carved a pumpkin in 16.47 seconds, making it to the Guinness World Record. He is also mentioned in the Guinness World Records for pumpkins again. But this time, it was for carving one ton of pumpkins in a record-breaking time.
7. Lighting the Way So Jack May Shoo Away
An Irish folklore originated jack-o’-lanterns. Stingy Jack fooled the devil and was punished with walking the Earth with burning coal to light the way. He was called “Jack of the Lantern” and shortened to “Jack-o’- lantern.” They are illuminated by people on Halloween to ward off Jack’s spirit and show them the way in the dark.
8. Witch or a Vamp: Don’t Let Your Imaginations Damp
Halloween costumes are a big decision to be made. The goal is to look spook-taculary scary. The most popular costumes are vampires, witches, ghosts, pirates, etc. Among kids, superheroes and princesses are still on the top.
9. Be Brave: Even if It’s Not Your Fav
Even though Halloween is a jolly holiday, it is still one scary event. Some people fear it. They have Samhainophobia — the fear of Halloween. This phobia cannot be treated because the fear of ghosts, witches, and related stuff is real.
10. Born on Halloween: Talk to the Unseen
Some communities deem it a stroke of bad luck if a child is born on Halloween. At the same time, some believed that a child born on Halloween could talk to the spirits. Whether it is true in the essence, the only way is to find out if anyone was born on the same day and ask him!
11. Poor Black Kitty: You Have Our Pity
Black cats don’t deserve to be labeled as bad luck. But they were considered bad luck in the Middle Ages, being the sign of the devil. The fear is still deep-rooted, making them an accomplice to witches and black magic.
12. Games Are Fun Until You See Someone
Games are also an integral part of the Halloween tradition. The most popular game is the Ouija board, used to call spirits. But that looks terrifying, and I wouldn’t recommend it. Too many bad stories about those. The other ones include Ghost Puzzle, Pumpkin Pinata, Halloween Crossword Puzzle, Halloween Treasure Hunt, and Paper Plate Pumpkins.
13. Orange, Black, or White Will All Give You a Fright on the Spookiest Night
Apart from orange and black, white is a traditional Halloween color. It represents the spirits wandering around lonely, especially at night. Apart from Casper, the friendly ghost, I’m good on every seeing one!
14. Hold Your Breath When You Pass the Setting of Death
If you pass by a graveyard during Halloween, you should hold your breath to avoid being possessed by an evil spirit. Or pockets should be inside out to prevent stealing.
15. Load the Mobiles or Take Them on Four Wheels
Apart from spending on candy and décor, people also spend on automobiles. Some of them have even purchased trucks to transport their Halloween paraphernalia, especially the huge skeletons, mummies, huge pumpkin heads, and scarecrows.
16. No Need to Scream: Seeing a Spider Means You’ll Be Seeing Green
As creepy as spiders seem, they are considered a good omen, especially on Halloween night. Spotting a spider is regarded as great luck, denoting that a loved one is watching over you. It also symbolizes wealth and prosperity.
17. A Nun or a Priest: Not Invited to This Feast
Halloween is about dressing up as your favorite character from a movie, book, or real life. But it’s strictly forbidden to personify a nun or a priest, especially in Alabama. This disrespect towards religion may cost $500 to rule breakers.
18. First in Celebrate: First in Decorate
Anoka and Salem are two American cities that are self-proclaimed Halloween Capitals. They take their title very seriously and celebrate with full zeal and zest. The towns are painted orange and black to commemorate the holiday.
19. For Salem Witch Trails: People Travel Miles
Salem, or the Witch City, is famous for its extravagant Halloween decor. In history, Salem had witch trials from February 1692 until May 1693. Nineteen people were executed in the process of witch trials.
20. Christmas or Halloween: Hard to Choose Between
Halloween is the second-highest commercial holiday after Christmas. Its popularity is still rising as it is celebrated by other faiths alike. An average American spends around $100 on decorations, costumes, and candy.
21. Share Your Food: or Forever Be Pursued
Halloween is known as The Festival of the Hungry Ghosts in Hong Kong. The natives believe that during this time, the gates of hell are open for the spirits to haunt them. In order to bring peace and luck and save themselves from the spirits, they offer food to their ancestors to gratify their souls.
22. Chocolate, Chocolate Everywhere, for the World’s Sweetest Affair
Reese’s cups are the highest-selling candy during Halloween, especially the peanut butter cups. Snickers and MnMs follow close behind. Reese’s Candy has annual sales of around $2 billion.
23. Little Kids: Little Monsters
According to some studies, children become naughtier during this time. It happens mainly because of the impressionable nature of children. It leads them to believe that they are depicting monsters.
24. Wiccan New Year
Wiccans celebrate Halloween as the New Year. They believe both worlds (the dead and the undead) are closer during this time. It is their time to celebrate their ancestors. It is the celebration of new beginnings and commemorating the dead.
25. Mask Up: Save Lives
Back in the olden times, Celtics worried that they would bump into ghosts visiting the Earth, so they would wear masks to avoid exposure. It would hide their identity so they would roam freely without being apprehended by a ghost. It also would seem as if they are fellow spirits.
26. Faux or Real: Touch and Feel?
The earliest Halloween celebrations were as creepy as wearing dead animals’ carcasses on their heads! These carcasses were also known to be first-ever Halloween costumes. As time passed, people shunned (thankfully) the natural skin for the faux ones.
27. Burn Bone: Burn
Halloween romanticized bonfires so much that people also light them on other occasions. It’s derived from the phrase “bone fire.” The priests would throw cattle bones into the fires during Samhain (Celtic New Year).
28. Need a Candy? Have a Joke Handy!
Des Moines, a city in Iowa, has a tradition called Beggars’ Night. In this ritual, kids won’t get the candy unless they tell a joke or have a trick up their sleeve! So, have a stock of tricks and jokes ready to satisfy your sweet tooth.
29. Anti-Halloween: Best Not Be Seen
Even though it’s celebrated worldwide, France and Australia are anti-Halloween and consider it an American influence. So they are against proclaiming it as a holiday. Even though people find a way to celebrate it, however, it is still not recognized as a proper holiday.
30. Die on Hallows Eve? No One Will Believe
In 2005, a woman hung herself off on a tree in Delaware. Her death was unreported for hours because her body was mistaken as a Halloween decoration. A passerby would have just appreciated the originality of the décor so they could not notice her.
31. Want to Know If You’ll Be Wed: Bake a Dumb Cake on the Day for the Dead
Halloween cakes, called “dumb cakes,” used to be a way of telling someone’s future. Atlas Obscura explains the practice of dumb cakes: “It was a baking ritual conducted by young, unmarried women across the United Kingdom and North America from the 1700s up to the mid-1900s.
Universally, the goal was the same: to discover the identity of their future husbands with what one encyclopedia called ‘a dreaming bread.’ Dumb cakes were once part of an enormous tradition of soothsaying foodstuffs. Rings hidden in cakes and mashed potatoes could reveal who was next to be wed.”
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