The History of Halloween: Trick or Truth
Unlike many people’s beliefs, Halloween is not an American creation. It is derived from very old traditions and practices of which we still see remnants of today.
To go back to where it all started, we’re traveling… here actually. Because the origins of Halloween lie with the Celts. The ancient Celts were a widespread group of people whose origin lies in central Europe. The name “Celts” originated from the Greeks, who first encountered them in 540 B.C. and called them Keltoi, which translates to “barbarian” or “foreigner”. The Celts may have seemed barbarian to the Greeks, but they have a vast cultural history.
The end of the harvest season was a magical time for the Celts because it was believed ghosts walked on Earth. They called this Samhain (pronounced sowen). Samhain was a borderline festival. It’s between the Autumn Equinox and the Winter Solstice (the shortest day of the year). It marked the boundary between summer and winter, light and darkness. It marks a threshold with ritual transition and altered states. According to our Celtic ancestors, it’s a brief time when the normal order of the universe is suspended with unusual energy.
I think Halloween was originally from Mexico, because they have their Day of the dead.
Hester Douma
Dressing up
Getting dressed up for Halloween seems to be one of the markers for Halloween. Young men and especially women would dress up by wearing masks and engaged in impersonations. Dressing up for Halloween in this sense was also connected to possible future marriages. The masked virgins were anticipating a possible groom.
Over time, Catholicism spread across the European continent. This included their beliefs and practices, including All Saints’ and All Souls Day. However, contrary to a widely held view, the November date of All Saints’ Day was not chosen to Christianize the festival of Samhain. Festivals commemorating the saints already took place on November 1st in England and Germany. The eve before All Saints’ Day was known as Hallowtide and from then on, there was a link between the different holidays. A few centuries later, Hallowtide would be known all across the world as Halloween.
The origin of Trick-or-treating
Back in Shakespeare’s time, it was a well-established routine for the poor to receive food on Hallowtide in exchange for prayers for dead loved ones who were stuck in Purgatory, the place between Heaven and Hell.
Halloween in danger
During the reformation, purgatory and other catholic beliefs were questioned. Hallowtide was therefore abolished. But many Hallowtide customs survived. This was mostly the case in Catholic areas where official vigilance and religious zealotry were weak. Halloween in Ireland and Scotland also largely remained untouched by the Protestant Reformation.
Even if the customs died out in certain areas, by the mid-17th century Hallowtide and All Souls’ Day were still regarded as a time of supernatural intensity.
The term “Halloween” was born in the 16th century. Ghosts, spirits, and witches were likely to be out and about.
Halloweens in the shade?
After attempting to blow up the Parliament on 5 November 1605, Guy Fawkes night started to eclipse Halloween in England because of the close proximity of the two events.
At the time of large-scale Irish and Scottish immigration to North America, like with the Irish potato famine between 1845 and 1850, Halloween had a strong tradition of guising and pranks. Guising is the custom of disguising oneself in a fancy outfit, often with a mask, and then visiting other people’s houses. These practices had supernatural intensity and usually a set of games and rituals that often addressed the fortunes of love rather than the prospect of death, or life beyond death.
Halloween only became a real North American staple in the 19th century. However, Halloween quickly adapted to the North American way of life. Meaning, it was celebrated in more commercial ways. By the end of the 19th century, everyone tried to get a grain of the festivities. Halloween started to be commercialised in different aspects. Apples and other fruits and nuts for example were being advertised and sold for the holiday. This is also when candy started being cultivated.
Over time, however, the divinatory aspects of Halloween that were very prevalent in Ireland and Scotland lost their appeal. Community-regulated courtship was also no longer part of the original tradition.
America is definitely where Halloween is from, I think they invented it about 70 years ago
Constance Dubos
At the turn of the 20th century, Halloween was increasingly fashioned as a peer-group festival. The symbols and artifacts had also become more commercial and standardised, including bats and black cats. By 1920 bats and black cats were as familiar to Halloween as witches. All of these aspects and ghosts, jack’o’lanterns, and the colours orange and black were now an obvious part of Halloween.
Halloween gets scary
The quest for scary thrills actually intensified in the wake of the Tylenol scares in September 1982 and the rumors of Halloween sadism. Between September and October of 1982, 7 people were killed due to the poisoning of Tylenol painkillers that were laced with cyanide. The culprit was never caught. Because of its close proximity to Halloween, people started to associate it with the holiday.
After that, haunted houses etc. were actually promoted as an alternative to trick-or-treating to enjoy a ‘safe scare’ with fake blood, vampires and shrieks and clanks, Frankenstein, bats, and monsters, often from Hollywood pictures.
Haunted houses
Haunted houses became popular in the wake of the Tylenol scares. This was initially organized by community centers for children to enjoy a safe scare. But, in time, entrepreneurs saw the potential to market it to children and teenagers. In 1991 there were between 1000 and 2000 haunted houses on offer for Halloween. Each of these could attract up to 40 000 visitors during the two or three weeks they were open.
Halloween films
In the 1930s the horror genre in film became much more popular. It’s not clear when exactly the cinema became the venue for a ghostly and scary Halloween, But by 1960, horror films were definitely part of Halloween and starting in the 1970s the horror genre really became the dominant genre at Halloween. The “Halloween” franchise seems a logical choice as the most classic Halloween film. However, the first Halloween film had little to no relation to the actual holiday; besides the title and the killer, Michael Myers.
He was just a killer who murdered babysitters on Halloween. Its sequels, starting from the third film are more related to Halloween. Not always in a literal sense, but more about the themes they’re about. Michael Myers himself, for instance, is depicted as the ultimate evil, he’s a mythic, elusive bogeyman, with superhuman strength and someone who can’t be killed by stabbing, bullets, or even fire.
Into the 2000s
At the start of the Millennium, Halloween still had some rudimentary links to harvest, with pumpkins and apples. But it was still predominantly seen as a children’s festival.
Through standard media and the heavy influence of the United States on the rest of the world, the way the USA changed Halloween customs spread across Europe and the rest of the world. Therefore, many actually believe Halloween originated in North America. The modern version of Halloween was largely shaped in the United States, however, the origins of Halloween go back here, to the UK and Ireland.
Today
Starting in the 2010s, Halloween again became a holiday for all. Celebrities of all ages started dressing up in extravagant costumes and showing these off on social media. These days, Halloween - especially the costumes - almost seem like a contest. Who has the best costume? Which is the scariest, weirdest or sexiest? This sometimes leads to strange costumes. Heidi Klum, for example, dressed up as a worm for Halloween this year.
The big question that remains is what will happen next? Halloween is already a really big holiday in the US, almost taking up the entire month of October. Will this spread to the rest of the world? It’s definitely possible, since Halloween decorations and costumes are widely available at a low cost. One thing we know for sure, it will only get crazier, and maybe even scarier…
Do you have a question about the article or want to have a chat about it? On Wednesday, 30 November at 3 pm, I will do a Q&A on Instagram. Send your questions to @hilde_mertens1998.