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Halloween Facts and Trivia

Edward K.
Come October 31st and the first thing that strikes the mind is Halloween. There are many Halloween facts which most people do not know. For example, do we know that it is also referred to as a Reformation Day? Or that it is also called All Hallow's Eve? Here are some Halloween facts and trivia.
Halloween. Orange and Black. Costume Parties. Celebrations Galore. Trick or Treat. This is what we think of when speaking about Halloween. But besides the obvious celebrations, there are many other facts waiting to be explored. Being celebrated for almost 2000 years, Halloween is a major festival in the US.
Regarded as the Celtic New Year, Halloween typically celebrates the end of the summer and the beginning of the winter. Another way of putting it is that Halloween celebrates the end of the summer, also known as the lighter side of the year, and marks the beginning of winter, also known as the darker side of the year.
Traditionally celebrated around a bonfire, with scary stories and song and dance, the festival has evolved a long way in the last 2000 years. Commercialization has captured this festival as well, and candy sales of over 2 billion dollars make Halloween the sweetest festival around.

Celebrations

Popular celebrations during Halloween include 'Trick or Treat', where usually children dress up in Halloween costumes and go 'Trick or Treating' to neighbors' houses.
The idea is to get a treat, else they 'threaten' to trick or curse the owner or the property.
Growing and decorating pumpkins is another popular Halloween celebration, followed by most people. Making a Jack-o-Lantern, which is basically a hollowed out pumpkin with a candle placed inside, is another widely followed activity.
In some areas, this decoration is followed so avidly that people grow special pumpkins for the festival. In the ancient days, Jack-o-Lanterns were placed on the doorsteps of houses to ward off ghosts and evil spirits.

Halloween Facts and Trivia

Fun Facts

With a history of a few thousand years and the way Halloween traditions have evolved over time, there is an abundance of facts and trivia about this festivity. While bonfires may not be the norm today, the old tradition of narrating and listening to scary stories is still in practice.
Here is a compilation on some interesting facts about Halloween and some trivia questions that you can riddle your friends with.
  • All Saints Day, celebrated on 1st November, is a day for the saints in Christendom, who don't have a special day in their name. Christians celebrate a mass known as the 'All Hallow's Mass' on this day. The day prior, thus came to be known as All Hallow's Eve or Halloween.
  • European immigrants, who used to celebrate the harvest with ghost stories, song and dance around a bonfire, were responsible for bringing Halloween celebrations to North America.
  • The colors associated with Halloween have always been Orange and Black. Black represents death and darkness, while orange represents the fall harvest.
  • Trick-or-treating is so popular in the US, that the amount spent for Halloween is in excess of 2.5 billion dollars annually, in the US alone.
  • Sales of candies for Halloween amounts to almost 2 billion dollars annually, making this one of he most commercial festivals in the US.
  • The chocolate bar, Snickers, is the most popular candy bar for trick-or-treat candy giveaways.
  • Besides Christmas, no other festival sees so much money spent, as Halloween.
  • Orange, one of the colors associated with Halloween, is one of those words in the English dictionary, which have no rhyming word for it!
  • Jack-o-Lanterns, a candle placed in an hollowed out turnip or pumpkin, were originally used to keep away spirits or ghosts on Halloween.
  • Decorating pumpkins and making the best Jack-o-Lanterns has become a popular activity for Halloween, with prizes as high as 25,000 USD offered for the biggest and the best decorated pumpkin.
  • Weighing 1446 pounds, the world's largest pumpkin was part of a Halloween festival in Ontario, Canada.
  • Halloween figures in the list of phobias as well, with Samhainophobia being an intense fear of Halloween.
  • In Mexico, Halloween is celebrated as the Day of the Dead.
  • The correct spelling of Halloween is Hallowe'en.

Trivia

With its scary legends and superstitions, the Halloween festival also makes for a great round of trivia. With all its ancient history, the amount of stories, myths and legends associated with Halloween can indeed boggle the mind. Here are just a few questions to see if you are on the right track to getting to know more about this amazing festival.
Q. If you stare into the mirror at midnight on Halloween, what does superstition say you are going to see?
A. Your Future Spouse

Q. What were the first Jack-o-Lanterns made of?
A. Turnips

Q. Which ancient festival has Halloween evolved from?
A. Samhain, or the Celtic New Year
Q. Which Halloween creature has a long middle finger, unibrow and tattoos?
A. Werewolf

Q. In the Salem Witch Trials, how many witches were purported to be burnt at stake?
A. None
So, how many did you know? There is much more to Halloween than just partying and trick-or-treating. But at the end of the day, a holiday is a holiday, so get out your costumes and disguises, scare people as much as you can, go tricking or treating, and enjoy this Halloween.