Halloween Traditions, Gruesome history and Culture Around the World

PLAYING PRANKS

As a phenomenon that often varies by region, the pre-Halloween tradition, also known as "Devil's Night", is credited with a different origin depending on whom you ask. Some sources say that pranks were originally part of May Day celebrations. But Samhain, and eventually All Souls Day, seem to have included good-natured mischief. When Scottish and Irish immigrants came to America, they brought along the tradition of celebrating Mischief Night as part of Halloween, which was great for candy-fueled pranksters.

Seeing Ghosts

Celtic people believed that during the festival Samhain, which marked the transition to the new year at the end of the harvest and beginning of the winter, spirits walked the Earth. Later, the introduction of All Souls Day on November 2 by Christian missionaries perpetuated the idea of a mingling between the living and the dead around the same time of year.

Trial by Ordeal : Water

Europe - America : The defendant was bound in the fetal position and thrown into a body of water. Contrary to popular belief, those that sank weren't drowned but were hauled out of the water, and those that floated didn't float because they could swim: If he or she floated, they were guilty, and if they sank, they were presumed innocent.

Napoleon Bonaparte was defeated by bunnies.

France - 1807 - Berthier's men caged them all along the fringes of a grassy field. When Napoleon started to prowl—accompanied by beaters and gun-bearers—the rabbits were released from their cages. The hunt was on. But something strange happened. The rabbits didn't scurry in fright. Instead, they bounded toward Napoleon and his men. Hundreds of fuzzy bunnies gunned it for the world's most powerful man. Napoleon's party had a good laugh at first. But as the onslaught continued, their concern grew. The sea of long-ears was storming Napoleon quicker than revolutionaries had stormed the Bastille. The rabbits allegedly swarmed the emperor's legs and started climbing up his jacket. Napoleon tried shooing them with his riding crop, as his men grabbed sticks and tried chasing them. The coachmen cracked their bullwhips to scare the siege. But it kept coming. Napoleon retreated, fleeing to his carriage. But it didn't stop. According to historian David Chandler, "with a finer understanding of Napoleonic strategy than most of his generals, the rabbit horde divided into two wings and poured around the flanks of the party and headed for the imperial coach." The flood of bunnies continued—some reportedly leapt into the carriage! I guess you could say he had a bad "hare" day!

dia de los muertos

From November 1 to November 2, Mexico and parts of Latin America celebrate Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) to honor those who have passed away. It is believed that the Gates of Heaven open up at midnight on October 31 and the souls of children return to Earth to be reunited with their families for 24 hours. On November 2, the souls of adults come down from heaven to join in the festivities.

PCHUM BEN

From the end of September to the middle of October, Buddhist families gather together to celebrate Pchum Ben, a religious holiday to celebrate the dead. People give foods like sweet sticky rice and beans wrapped in banana leaves, and visit temples to offer up baskets of flowers as a way to pay respect to their deceased ancestors. It's also a time for people to celebrate the elderly.

Halloween = spouse Hunting

"In Scotland, fortune-tellers recommended that an eligible young woman name a hazelnut for each of her suitors and then toss the nuts into the fireplace," History.com noted. "The nut that burned to ashes rather than popping or exploding, the story went, represented the girl's future husband."

ZOMBIES!!

A zombie, according to pop culture and folklore, is usually either a reawakened corpse with a ravenous appetite or someone bitten by another zombie infected with a "zombie virus." Zombies are usually portrayed as strong but robotic beings with rotting flesh. Their only mission is to feed. They typically don't have conversations (although some may grunt a little). Zombie folklore has been around for centuries in Haiti, possibly originating in the 17th century when West African slaves were brought in to work on Haiti's sugar cane plantations. Brutal conditions left the slaves longing for freedom. According to some reports, the life—or rather afterlife—of a zombie represented the horrific plight of slavery.

CANDY CORN

According to some stories, a candymaker at the Wunderlee Candy Company in Philadelphia invented the revolutionary tri-color candy in the 1880s. The treats didn't become a widespread phenomenon until another company brought the candy to the masses in 1898. At the time, candy corn was called Chicken Feed and sold in boxes with the slogan "Something worth crowing for." Originally just autumnal candy because of corn's association with harvest time, candy corn became Halloween-specific when trick-or-treating rose to prominence in the U.S. in the 1950s.

Trial by Ordeal : Bean

Africa : A trial of "Old Calabar" (Akwa Akpa—now part of Nigeria), involving the "E-ser-e," or "the ordeal bean," now known as the calabar bean (Physostigma venenosum). A common use was in trials where someone was accused of witchcraft. The defendant would ingest the calabar beans. If they vomited up the beans, they were presumed innocent, and if they digested the beans they were presumed guilty. Most defendants who digested the beans were killed by their effects. The physostigmine effects of the calabar beans are similar to the effects of nerve gasses that have been used in war...

OGNISSANTI

All Saints' Day, November 1, is a national holiday in Italy. Better known as Ognissanti, the festivities usually begin a couple of days before, when people begin leaving fresh flowers—generally chrysanthemums—on the graves of departed loved ones, as well as complete strangers, turning the country's cemeteries into a beautiful display of colors. Italians also pay tribute to the departed by putting a red candle in the window at sunset, and set a place at the table for those spirits they hope will pay a visit.

Everybody's Seen Lincoln's Ghost ... Including Lincoln

America - Lincoln "saw" his own death several times. The first time he dreamed of visiting his funeral while he lay in state. When he demanded in the dream from the guards stationed at the corpses side who had died he was told that "The president" who was "killed by an assassin. " After his election in 1860, he'd seen a double image of his face reflected in a mirror in his Springfield, Illinois, home. One was his "real" face, the other a pale imitation. Lincoln's superstitious wife, Mary Todd Lincoln, did not see the mirror images, but was deeply troubled by her husband's account of the incident. She prophesied that the sharper image indicated that he would serve out his first term. The faint, ghost-like image was a sign, she said, that he would be renominated for a second term, but would not live to complete it.

A Nuclear Meltdown Obliterated Three People

America - Stationary Low-Power Reactor № 1 (or SL-1), was an experiment, a prototype intended to pave the way for nuclear-power generators meant to serve remote military facilities in the arctic. The SL-1 operated successfully more than two years—it powered the town, in fact—but ultimately it gave the military a devastating lesson in the realities of nuclear power. Shortly after New Year's, 1961, the SL-1 reactor malfunctioned, overheated, shot nine feet into the air, and killed the three people in what was the first peacetime nuclear accident in history. One man was not found for several hours because he was impaled in the ceiling, the other two died from radiation exposure. Parts of the facility had to be be lead lined and buried to protect the public.

The Fox Sisters

America - Their seances with the departed launched a mass religious movement—and then one of them confessed that "it was common delusion" One of the greatest religious movements of the 19th century began in the bedroom of two young girls living in a farmhouse in Hydesville, New York. On a late March day in 1848, Margaretta "Maggie" Fox, 14, and Kate, her 11-year-old sister, waylaid a neighbor, eager to share an odd and frightening phenomenon. Every night around bedtime, they said, they heard a series of raps on the walls and furniture—raps that seemed to manifest with a peculiar, otherworldly intelligence. Margaret Fox did not seem to consider the date, March 31—April Fool's Eve—and the possibility that her daughters were frightened not by an unseen presence but by the expected success of their prank.

Bad Medicine is not what we need!

America ahd Australian - Sen 1884, an Australian ophthalmologist, Carol Koller, discovered that a few drops of cocaine solution put on a patient's cornea acted as a topical anesthetic. It made the eye immobile and de-sensitized to pain, and caused less bleeding at the site of incision—making eye surgery much less risky. News of this discovery spread, and soon cocaine was being used in both eye and sinus surgeries. Marketed as a treatment for toothaches, depression, sinusitis, lethargy, alcoholism, and impotence, cocaine was soon being sold as a tonic, lozenge, powder and even used in cigarettes. It even appeared in Sears Roebuck catalogues. Popular home remedies, such as Allen's Cocaine Tablets, could be purchased for just 50 cents a box and offered relief for everything from hay fever, catarrh, throat troubles, nervousness, headaches, and sleeplessness. In reality, the side effects of cocaine actually caused many of the ailments it claimed to cure—causing lack of sleep, eating problems, depression, and even hallucinations. You didn't need a doctor's prescription to purchase it. Some states sold cocaine at bars, and it was, famously, one of the key ingredients in the soon-to-be ubiquitous Coca-Cola soft drink.

The Hunger Stones Of The Elbe

Germany - A lengthy drought in Europe has exposed carved boulders, known as "hunger stones," that have been used for centuries to commemorate historic droughts — and warn of their consequences. One of the stones on the banks of the Elbe is carved with the words "Wenn du mich siehst, dann weine": "If you see me, weep." The stones are engraved with the following years of famine, drought, and starvation for the poor: 1417, 1616, 1707, 1746, 1790, 1800, 1811, 1830, 1842, 1868, 1892, and 1893

Trial by Ordeal : Fire

Global : The defendant on trial must pick an object out from within flames, or walk over hot coals. If they were burned in the process, they were presumed guilty. In the Hindu version of the trial by fire, a woman suspected of adultery must stand in a circle of flame, or on top of a pyre, and not be burned.

'Trial by Ordeal'

Global: A formerly used criminal trial in which the guilt or innocence of the accused was determined by subjection to dangerous or painful tests (as submersion in water) believed to be under divine control. There were several types commonly practiced around the globe. For example Trial by Snake, Diving and Poison were as horrific as they sound.

Originally, you had to dance for your "treat."

In Scotland and Ireland, young people took part in a tradition called guising, dressing up in costume and accepting offerings from various households. Rather than pledging to pray for the dead, they would sing a song, recite a poem, tell a joke or perform another sort of "trick" before collecting their treat, which typically consisted of fruit, nuts or coins.

DZIEŃ ZADUSZNY

In early November, people across Poland travel to cemeteries to visit the graves of their family members (Dzień Zaduszny is like the equivalent of All Souls' Day for Catholics in the country). The holiday is celebrated with candles, flowers, and an offering of prayers for departed relatives. On the second day, people attend a requiem mass for the souls of the dead.

PITRU PAKSHA

India - For 16 days during the second Paksha of the Hindu lunar month of Bhadrapada, many people in India celebrate Pitru Paksha. In the Hindu religion it is believed that when a person dies, Yama—the Hindu god of death—takes his or her soul to purgatory, where they'll find their last three generations of a family. During Pitru Paksha, the souls are briefly allowed to return to Earth and be with their families. In order to ensure their family's place in the afterlife, one must perform the ritual of Shraddha, which includes a fire ritual. If Shraddha isn't performed, the soul will wander the Earth for eternity. During Pitru Paksha, families offer the dead food such as kheer (sweet rice and milk), lapsi (a sweet porridge), rice, lentils, spring beans, and pumpkins, which are cooked in silver or copper pots and served on banana leaves.

Samhain

Ireland is considered the birthplace of modern Halloween, with its origins stemming from ancient Celtic and Pagan rituals and a festival called Samhain, or Samhuinn (end of the light half of the year), that took place thousands of years ago. Today, both Ireland and Scotland celebrate Halloween with bonfires, games, and traditional foods like barmbrack, an Irish fruitcake that contains coins, buttons, and rings for fortunetelling. For example, rings mean marriage, while coins mean wealth in the upcoming year.

That's Batty!

It's likely that bats were present at the earliest celebrations of proto-Halloween, not just symbolically but literally. As part of Samhain, the Celts lit large bonfires, which attracted insects. The insects, in turn, attracted bats, which soon became associated with the festival. Medieval folklore expanded upon the spooky connotation of bats with a number of superstitions built around the idea that bats were the harbingers of death.

Why Pope Gregory IX HATES cats!

Italy ( Europe) - There are two types of people in this world: cat people, and not cat people. Pope Gregory IX, who held the papacy from 1227 to 1241, most definitely fell in the second camp — largely because he believed that the fluffy hairball-hackers embodied Lucifer himself. Gregory based his theory on "evidence" from Conrad of Marburg, a papal inquisitor. Apparently torture produced some pretty convincing confessions from people who worshiped the devil and his black cat. However, history shows that the Black Death, which ravaged Europe in the mid 1300s, was actually caused by rats and the fleas on them. Which means that killing off the rats' main predators was probably not the best idea.

The Exploded Skulls Of Pompeii

Italy - The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79 famously destroyed the city of Pompeii by burying it in volcanic ash. However, Pompeii was far from the only victim. Nearly half a dozen towns were destroyed by the volcano, and a group of archaeologists have made a discovery that reveals how the inhabitants of one of those other towns perished. According to the research, many of the citizens of nearby Herculaneum died because the volcano's intense heat made their heads explode.

CARVING HALLOWEEN JACK-O'-LANTERNS

Jack-o-lanterns, which originated in Ireland using turnips instead of pumpkins, are supposedly based on a legend about a man name Stingy Jack who repeatedly trapped the Devil and only let him go on the condition that Jack would never go to Hell. When he died, however, Jack learned that Heaven didn't really want his soul either, so he was condemned to wander the Earth as a ghost for all eternity. The Devil gave Jack a lump of burning coal in a carved-out turnip to light his way. Eventually, locals began carving frightening faces into their own gourds to scare off evil spirits.

KAWASAKI HALLOWEEN PARADE

Japan - At the end of every October for the past 21 years, nearly 4000 costumed Halloween enthusiasts from all around the world have gathered in Kawasaki, just outside Tokyo, for the Kawasaki Halloween Parade, which is the biggest parade of its kind in Japan. However, not everyone can simply join in the festivities. The Kawasaki Halloween Parade has strict guidelines and standards for participating, so you have to apply for entry and pay a fee before the parade begins (watching, however, is free).

Queen Victoria's Stalker

Nicknamed " The boy Jones" The story of possibly the original celebrity stalker has been fully chronicled for the first time. "He was a very solitary character but he was not schizophrenic or classed as mad, just odd. "....He never washed, which is why people thought he was a chimney sweep." "He was a very solitary character but he was not schizophrenic or classed as mad, just odd. "He gained access to the palace through unlocked doors or unshuttered windows on the ground floors - there was no royal security in those days," he said. "He was caught three times and admitted being in there a fourth time but it was likely he was there many other times.

Frankenstein's Monster

On a cold, damp night in the summer of 1816, Mary Shelley had a dream about a man who gave life to a monster. The original idea for Frankenstein began as a doctor obsessed with reanimating, or reawakening, the dead. Victor Frankenstein creates life, true, but when it awakens, he immediately regrets what he's done.

THE HUNGRY GHOST FESTIVAL

On the 15th day of the seventh lunar month, which is around mid-August to mid-September, the people of Hong Kong celebrate the Hungry Ghost Festival. In several parts of East Asia, people believe that spirits get restless around this time of year and begin to roam the world. The festival is a way to "feed" these spirits both the food and money they need for the afterlife. It's part of a larger month-long celebration that also features burning paper and food offerings.

GOING TRICK-OR-TREATING, THE SCOTTISH WAY

Other researchers speculate that the candy bonanza stems from the Scottish practice of guising, itself a secular version of souling. In the Middle Ages, soulers, usually children and poor adults, would go to local homes and collect food or money in return for prayers said for the dead on All Souls' Day. Guisers ditched the prayers in favor of non-religious performances like jokes, songs, or other "tricks."

PANGANGALULUWA

Pangangaluluwa is a tradition in the Philippines in which children go door to door, often in costumes, where they sing and ask for prayers for those stuck in purgatory. While the rituals have increasingly been supplanted by trick-or-treating over the years, some towns are working to revive Pangangaluluwa as a way of keeping the tradition alive, and as a local fundraiser.

EATING CANDY APPLES

People have been coating fruit in sugar syrups as a means of preservation for centuries. Since the development of the Roman festival of Pomona, the goddess often represented by and associated with apples, the fruit has had a place in harvest celebrations. But the first mention of candy apples being given out at Halloween didn't occur until the 1950s.

Day of Dracula

Romania - People from all around the world flock to celebrate Halloween at Vlad "The Impaler" Tepes's purported home at Bran Castle in Transylvania, Romania (although it was never actually his castle, and there's been a long-running debate over whether he ever even visited the site). There are a number of guides and inclusive travel packages in Romania that offer tours and parties at Count Dracula's castle for Halloween

The Direwolf Of Yakutia

Russia - The severed head of the world's first full-sized Pleistocene wolf was unearthed in the Abyisky district in the north of Yakutia. The Pleistocene wolf's head [by its self] is 40cm long, so half of the whole body length of a modern wolf which varies from 66 to 86cm.

GOING TRICK-OR-TREATING, THE AMERICAN WAY

Some sources argue that our modern trick-or-treating stems from belsnickling, a tradition in German-American communities where children would dress in costume and then call on their neighbors to see if the adults could guess the identities of the disguised guests. In one version of the practice, the children were rewarded with food or other treats if no one could identify them. In other sources it was bribery to children keep them from playing pranks.

Mummy

The Ancient Egyptians believed that when a person died they made a journey to the next world. They believed that in order to live in the next world their body had to be preserved. A preserved body is called a mummy. ... The earliest Egyptians buried their dead in shallow pits in the desert.

AWURU ODO FESTIVAL

The Awuru Odo Festival marks the return of dearly departed friends and family members back to the living. Lasting up to six months, the holiday is celebrated with feasts, music, and masks before the dead return to the spirit world. Although the Odo Festival is an important ritual, it happens once every two years, when it is believed the spirits will return to Earth.

GORGING ON CANDY

The act of going door-to-door for handouts has long been a part of Halloween celebrations. But until the middle of the 20th century, the "treats" kids received were not necessarily candy. Toys, coins, fruit, and nuts were just as likely to be given out. The rise in the popularity of trick-or-treating in the 1950s inspired candy companies to make a marketing push with small, individually wrapped confections. People obliged out of convenience, but candy didn't dominate at the exclusion of all other treats until parents started fearing anything unwrapped in the 1970s.

Black Cats being spooky!

The association of black cats and spookiness actually dates all the way back to the Middle Ages, when these dark kitties were considered a symbol of the Devil. It didn't help the felines' reputations when, centuries later, accused witches were often found to have cats, especially black ones, as companions. People started believing that the cats were a witch's "familiar"—animals that gave them an assist with their dark magic—and the two have been linked ever since.

Go Panthers and Halloween!

The classic Halloween colors can also trace their origins back to the Celtic festival Samhain. Black represented the "death" of summer while orange is emblematic of the autumn harvest season. Go TMI!

GOING TRICK-OR-TREATING, THE PAGAN WAY

There is a lot of debate around the origins of trick-or-treating. One theory proposes that during Samhain, Celtic people would leave out food to placate the souls and ghosts and spirits traveling the Earth that night. Eventually, people began dressing up as these otherworldly beings in exchange for similar offerings of food and drink.

LIGHTING CANDLES AND BONFIRES

These days, candles are more likely than towering traditional bonfires, but for much of the early history of Halloween, open flames were integral in lighting the way for souls seeking the afterlife.

Bobbing for Apples

This game traces its origins to a courting ritual that was part of a Roman festival honoring Pomona, the goddess of agriculture and abundance. Multiple variations existed, but the gist was that young men and women would be able to foretell their future relationships based on the game. When the Romans conquered the British Isles, the Pomona festival was blended with the similarly timed Samhain, a precursor to Halloween.

Wearing Costumes

With all these ghosts wandering around the Earth during Samhain, the Celts had to get creative to avoid being terrorized by evil spirits. To fake out the ghosts, people would don disguises so they would be mistaken for spirits themselves and left alone.