Halloween History

10 terrifying facts and legends about Halloween, All Souls Day and all Saints Day.

14:45 31 October 2016

The spookiest time of the year is finally here. In the UK, where Halloween is celebrated on October 31, the American tradition of dressing up, carving pumpkins and children trick or treating is observed. Meanwhile, November 1 is when Christians remember all saints and martyrs throughout history. This is followed by All Souls Day, which is celebrated on November 2, when people remember their departed loved ones. 

 

Around the world, many countries have their own weird Halloween traditions that can easily freak you out. Below are the top 10: 

 

·       Scare off evils by wearing scary masks – Wearing masks to scare off evils was adopted by pagans during Samhain. The masks back then were made from animal skins and heads but thankfully, they are much less gruesome these days.

 

·       It used to be turnips, not pumpkins – The British tradition of carving scary faces into a vegetable was originally done with turnips. Later on, pumpkins were used because they were cheaper than turnips.

·       Halloween decoration or real body – In 2012, an actual corpse was mistaken as part of a Halloween display by a postman. Dale Porch collapsed on the porch steps after working the overnight shift on November 2. Thinking it was not a real body, the postman did not seek medical help.

 

·       Those who bite into a Halloween cake and hit a thimble will be unlucky in love – part of the Halloween tradition in colonial American involved the baking of a Halloween cake. They include various things and if you bite on a thimble, you may consider it as a symbol of bad luck with the ladies or gentlemen. 

 

·       A Somerset village has its won deeply creepy Halloween celebration -  The Halloween celebration at villages of Hinton St George and Lopen in Somerset involves children marching around with jack o’lanterns begging for candles and money. They are led by a Punkie King and Punkie Queen - and they sing a song. 

 

The song goes:

 

"It's Punkie Night tonight 

"It's Punkie Night tonight 

"Adam and Eve would not believe 

"It's Punkie Night tonight."

·       Michael Myer’s wore a $2 William Shatner mask in the movie Halloween – The movie, which had $325,000 budget, had to use the cheapest mask available from a local fancy dress shop. The prop department found a $2 mask of William Shatner, which they modified a bit to make it scarier. It later became one of the iconic images of horror cinema. The movie made $70million at the worldwide box office.

 

·       Hide the knives if you’re in Germany – One of the Halloween traditions in Germany is hiding the knives so returning spirits may not accidentally injure themselves.

 

·       Enjoy the Beans of the Dead if you’re in Italy – In Italy, they have a traditional Halloween recipe, which looked like a macaroon. It’s called Fave dei Morti or Beans of the Dead.