It’s the most spook-tacular time of the year! And what better way to celebrate than by learning a few fun facts about Halloween? Here are the top 30 interesting facts about Halloween day:
Top 30 Interesting Facts About Halloween
1. There is almost a consensus that the origin of Halloween is in ancient Celtic festival namely Samhain.
2. The word “Halloween” was derived from “All Hallows’ Evening” which is also known as “All Hallows’ Eve”.
3. Halloween day is celebrated on the last day of Oct i.e 31st October.
4. Western people believe that Halloween is the haunted night when different ghosts & spirits come to our world and haunt the living.
5. On this special occasion general people tell scary stories to their kids and watch horror movies. That’s why horror movies are released on this day every year.
6. A popular old tradition on Halloween is to go “trick-or-treating”, where kids dress up in costumes & masks and they visit nearby houses and relatives to receive sweets, snacks or even sometimes money.
7. “Trick-or-treating” has its origin in British areas of Ireland & Scotland, where people would dress up as evil spirits & go door to door for asking food or money in funny mood.
8. In some areas of the world most likely in United States of America, Canada and Australia, people love to celebrate Halloween by decorating their homes and building with spooky decorations for example ghosts, skeletons and witches.
9. The most famous tradition of this event is related to pumpkins. Pumpkins are often carved beautifully into lanterns called “Jack-o’-lanterns” & placed outside houses on Halloween night as a good omen.
10. The tradition of carving pumpkins into Jack-o’-lanterns has its roots in Ireland, where people thought carving turnips into lanterns could ward off evil spirits.
11. “Trick-or-treating” is not just a fun activity for kids as in recent years adults have gotten in on the fun by dressing up in costumes/masks and going door to door in search of candy.
12. There are also some strange popular superstition about this occasion, such as some people think that if you wear your clothes inside out & walk backwards on Halloween night, you will be able to see a witch at midnight.
13. Halloween is a popular time for parties and other social gatherings. In this way it has become a source of socializing.
14. Different funny games are played in Halloween parties like bobbing for apples and pin the tail on the black cat.
15. Now a new trend has been adopted by many people in USA as they dress up their pets in scary costumes.
16. Black cats are considered unlucky globally that’s why they are are generally associated with Halloween. Owls and bats are also considered the symbol of Halloween as they are too considered mysterious creatures.
17. In some cultures people believe your any relative will die within a year if you see bat on this occasion.
18. All Hallows’ Day is also famous with the title of All Saints’ Day and it is a Catholic holiday that honors Christian saints & martyrs.
19-Halloween is believed to be a combo of different festivals, including the Roman festival of Pomona, All Saints’ Day and the Celtic festival of Samhain.
20-The Celts believed that the boundary between the living world and the world of the dead people was blurred on Halloween and the ghosts and spirits roamed the earth on this night by crossing the boundary line of living world and death world.
21-Some people believe that bonfires can prevent evil spirits to harm you on this night.
22-Researchers and historians believe that the custom of trick-or-treating has its root in 9th-century European custom called souling. On souling, poor people would go door-to-door begging for food in exchange for prayers for the dead persons.
23-The practice of dressing up in scary costumes on Halloween also has roots in ancient Europe as it is thought that Celts would dress up in animal skins & heads to keep evil spirits away from them.
24- Halloween was brought to North America by Irish and Scottish immigrants in the 19th century. In Canada, the holiday is known as “Reveillon,” which comes from the French word for “awakening” and In Mexico it is known as “El Día de los Muertos,” which means “Day of the Dead.”
25-Orange and black are the 2 traditional colors which are associated with Halloween. Orange is considered the symbol of fall harvest, where as black is universally associated with death & darkness.
26-In the Middle Ages, Halloween was known as “All-hallowed-Even” and it comes from the old English words for “hallowed” & “eve.”, “Hallowed” means “holy,” where as “eve” means “evening.”.
27-“Halloween” was 1st time used as a term in the 16th century but now it has become the 3rd most popular holiday in the Western countries after Christmas and Easter.
28-The Halloween parade is a popular event that takes place in many cities around the world. It is an occasion where people dress up in costumes, masks and parade through the streets. The parade usually features music, costumed individuals, decorations, as well as food and beverage concessions.
29-The most popular Halloween costumes are witches, vampires, super heroes, Dracula, mummies, cartoons and zombies.
30. More than 50% of western people prefer to wear costumes and masks on Halloween.
