Spooky Halloween facts

• Halloween is one of the world’s oldest traditions, it began in Ireland and dates back 2,000 years to the Celts, who called it Samhain.

• The Halloween costume actually had a practical purpose – the Celts would dress up in order to blend in with spirits. Our printable masks for Halloween make for some great costume ideas.

• In the Celtic calendar, 1st November was the start of the new year, and they celebrated their version of New Year’s Eve known as All Hallows Eve. They believed that in the transition between years, on the night of October 31st, the human and spiritual worlds become less secure and spirits that died recently would rise up and roam the earth.

• When All Hallow’s Eve was co-opted by Christians, the new tradition became to dress up as the devil in the belief that Satan would flee when he saw people mocking him and attacking his pride.

• Witches used to be honoured and were known as ‘the crone’ amongst the Celts until fear of older women, particularly those who didn’t marry, spread and the kindly figure of the crone morphed in the popular mind into a cackling evil witch.

• The name ‘witch’ comes from the old Saxon word ‘wica’ and it means ‘wise one’.

• The last legal witch hangings in England took place in Bideford, Devon and the last in Scotland took place in Dornoch, Sutherland.

• During World War II when sugar was rationed, trick or treating began to disappear; luckily today it’s back and bigger than ever!

Traditions and traditional things

• The tradition of adding pranks into the Halloween mix started to turn ugly in the 1930s and a movement began to substitute practical jokes for kids going door to door collecting sweets…

• …But trick or treaters used to receive fruits and nuts, not chocolate and sweets.

• Orange and black, the traditional colours, are believed to have originally represented the harvest (orange) and death (black).

• A pumpkin is just a type of squash that grows orange in time for Halloween. But they aren’t only orange, they also come in white, blue, green, purple and even black. Why not get creative this Halloween?

• Clowns are top of most people’s creep lists. This is down to their exaggerated physical characteristics, strange voices, their cologne, and a certain ‘je ne sais quoi’.?

The Legend of "Stingy Jack"

There is a folktale behind the famous jack-o-lantern. According to the story, Stingy Jack invited the Devil to have a drink with him. True to his name, Stingy Jack didn’t want to pay for his drink, so he convinced the Devil to turn himself into a coin that Jack could use to buy their drinks. Once the Devil did so, Jack decided to keep the money and put it into his pocket next to a silver cross, which prevented the Devil from changing back into his original form.

Jack eventually freed the Devil, under the condition that he would not bother Jack for one year and that, should Jack die, he would not claim his soul.?

The next year, Jack again tricked the Devil into climbing into a tree to pick a piece of fruit. While he was up in the tree, Jack carved a sign of the cross into the tree’s bark so that the Devil could not come down until the Devil promised Jack not to bother him for ten more years.

Soon after, Jack died. As the legend goes such an unsavory figure was denied entrance to heaven but also denied access to hell because of the Devil’s grudge. Instead, he is forever doomed to wander the darkness carrying his lantern, carved with a tormented face.

Just for fun

• A useful precaution on Halloween is to hold your breath when walking past a graveyard so you don’t get possessed by an evil spirit. Also, you should turn out your pockets so you don’t accidentally carry a ghost home!
• Another way to keep those pesky evil spirits at bay is to light a bonfire. Spirits are terrified of the light and heat created by fire, and would much rather skulk around in the dark.
• Halloween folklore deems that if you see a bat fly around a house three times or more, someone inside will die.
• People used to believe owls were witches in disguise.

• The original “pumpkins” were actually turnips because we didn’t have pumpkins in Ireland.
• When you spill salt, pick it up and throw it over your left shoulder to blind the devil.
• Never, ever, ever, ever answer the first knock at the front door on Halloween. Ever.
• Ring a bell at Halloween to scare evil spirits away, and the bell must be real - it won’t work with an iPhone app!
• There is hardly ever a Room 13 or a 13th floor at a hotel. It is highly unusual to find one. But if you’re on the 14th floor, you know what floor you’re really on…