Luis Farage
We all love Halloween, is that time of the year where we can impersonate our favorite characters from fiction, TV, monsters, famous people and tons of other creatures. We visit hunted houses, go to parties or simply eat candy and chocolate until we can’t feel our teeth anymore (the dentist favorite one). For these and many other reasons Halloween the most fun and scary night of all year, and with it around the corner we decided to bring you some of the spookiest facts of the holiday we all love and fear.
For these and many other reasons Halloween is the most fun and scary night of all year, so we decided to bring you some of the spookiest facts we know about this spooky holiday.
13. It makes (and costs) tons of money
This might not sound scary at all, but it can be for your wallet. Halloween is the 2nd highest grossing holiday in United States, only being passed by Christmas.
Each year nearly $3 billion is spent in human’s costumes and $330 million in costumes for pets, yes that is only in costumes. Add on that the decorations, seeing the props, candy and any other thing you might need and you have the usual $8 billion that is spent yearly.
12. All Hollow’s Eve
In the ancient days when Christianity was expanding they adopted one of the first Halloween celebrations (Samhain), a renamed it as All Hallows’ Eve.
The name comes from the belief of spirits and evil creatures being able to roam around, so the Christians decided to fight them with one of the best ways they could thought: Through the pride of angels, saints, and God. So in that way, they would force the evil out
11. It’s older than Christ
Halloween has been tracked to be originated around 4000 B.C., in what is nowadays the U.K. mainly in Ireland. That means that this celebration has been around at least through 6.000 years.
10. Treat or Treat!
We go back to the Samhain and the Celtic people. During the celebration, they used to place food and treats for the spirits, especially for the good ones and to keep the bad ones satisfied and away. A bit more creepy than you thought.
A bit more creepy than you thought.
Also, the term is more recent that we might think. Its was first used in Alberta, Canada in 1927
9. Owls
Owls aren’t that scary at all. But if you lived in the medieval times they sure where. During the Middle Ages, it was thought that if you saw an owl on this date, someone was going to die.
A bit more scared of them?
8. Jack-o’-lanterns
The Jack-o’-lantern tradition was born in Ireland. And the first ones that they made were not out of pumpkins seeing they were of turnips. I think you believe us, by the photo upwards, that they’re a bit scarier with turnips.
7. Jack O’Lantern
No, you’re not seeing double and we didn’t make a mistake. Is the true story behind this fundamental Halloween tradition. According to the Irish legend, there was a stingy thieve named Jack who trick the devil several times and was forbidden entrance into both heaven and hell. He was condemned to wander the Earth, waving his lantern to lead people away from their paths.
Impressively the legend has a scientific explanation. When swamp gasses interact with decaying matter will sometimes give off a strange light that seems to vanish when you get closer. So people in antiquity believed these were trapped souls who couldn’t enter heaven or hell. Some legends say the Irish created jack-o’-lanterns as a means of honoring those souls trapped in purgatory, but their mocking faces were also used to scare away evil spirits.
6. Black cats
An iconic symbol of Halloween and origin of tons of superstitions. The first isn’t a good end for the cats since in ancient times during the Samhain celebration, some times, the druids would throw cats into a fire, often in wicker cages, as part of divination process.
Also during Christianity times people thought they where a symbol of bad luck as they where thought as disguised witches
5. Spiders
Another Halloween classic figure. But they’re more than a spooky bug used to scare us. According to legends if you see a spider during Halloween’s eve its the spirit of a loved one that has past away. So you shouldn’t squash them, just in case.
4. Date with a witch
If you really really really need to see a witch, according to the folk and myths you should wear all your clothes inside out and walk backwards on Halloween night. At midnight the witch should appear.
3. Tricky costumes
During the Samhain festival the celts thought the dead and the spirits walked through Earth, so they would wear costumes to blend in with them and to trick the evil ones, in a way to avoid their souls to be taken away.
2. Lord of Death
As the Samhain festival was to recognize the end of Summer, the beginning of Fall and the gathering of the crops, this was applied as well to the magical aspects of this day. According to old folk myths it was said that on these day the Lord of Death would gather the souls of the living.
1. Harry Houdini
Well maybe not all the facts where scary, but they where informative and fun at least. But we saved the most mysterious and intriguing fact to the end. And that is the death of the mythical and probably the most famous magician of all times, Harry Houdini.
Houdini was a figure surrounded by mystery across his life and even though he was a public figure there are tons of things in his life that are more in the umbral of doubt and uncertainty. He had a bit of magical halo around him, more than any magician you would know.
He died on October 31 of 1926 as the result of appendicitis brought on by three stomach punches, but his death is still surrounded with mystery.
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