Illustration by Jota Han
Halloween is coming on the 31st October, but do you know the origins of the scariest day of the year? How will you be celebrating and what spooky shenanigans do you have planned? Today’s blog post will tell you everything you need to know about the history of Halloween and give you some funny ideas for joining in with the celebration.
The origin of Halloween
Halloween has roots stretching back more than 2,000 years to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in), which marked the end of the harvest season and the beginning of the darker half of the year. People gathered around bonfires and wore costumes, while Samhain was also associated with a time when the boundary between the living and spirit worlds was believed to become blurred.
Hundreds of years later, Christian traditions became associated with older customs. November 1 became All Saints’ Day, also known as All Hallows’ Day, making October 31 All Hallows’ Eve – eventually shortened to Halloween. All Souls’ Day followed on November 2. Traditions such as medieval ‘souling’, when people went from door to door in return for food, and later ‘guising’ helped pave the way for modern trick-or-treating. By the late 1800s, Halloween parties and community celebrations were becoming increasingly popular.
Funny things to do on Halloween
It’s a day for dressing up and making mischief so now’s your chance to do something funny. We think these illuminated stick figure costumes are hilarious and are just the right combination of scary and silly! Fancy dress outfits don’t need to cost a fortune on Halloween; just adding a few low-cost accessories such as a witch’s hat, cat ears or skeleton mask to your usual black clothing can turn a regular outfit into something scary.
At this time of year there are plenty of scary maze experiences and haunted houses opening up their doors for brave folk to explore. If you don’t mind jumping out of your skin, this could be a fun activity for a group to do. You can award a prize to your bravest buddy if they manage to survive a terrifying trail without screaming.
If you’re staying in on Halloween night, why not watch a scary movie with your friends? Or if that’s too freaky for you, how about finding the Halloween episodes of your favourite sitcom box sets and re-watch those. If you want to get a bit of a party going, browse Spotify’s Halloween playlists to find some themed music for your evening in.
Scary Socks
Even if you’re working or going to college on Halloween it doesn’t mean you can’t get involved in all the spooky shenanigans. Why not pull on a pair of scary socks underneath your suit trousers to get into the Halloween spirit (pun intended!)? Screamy Ed adds a crazy orange, red and black pattern to your outfit and his face will shock your friends when you take off your boots. You can also choose to build your own paper model.
Crazy carved pumpkins
A fun day out in October is a trip to the local pumpkin patch. Little ones will enjoy choosing and picking their own pumpkin and adults can get a cool selection of colourful gourds that’ll look great on Instagram. Once you get your pumpkins home, carving them together as a family is a fun activity. Grown-ups can cut the pumpkin and youngsters can help to scoop out the seeds. If you need inspiration for a fun pumpkin design head over to Pinterest and hit search. They don’t need to be scary faces; we’ve seen plenty of cats, smiling pumpkins, city landscapes and even Disney princesses!
Spooky Toes
For a Halloween look with a literary twist, Edgar Allan Toe brings a little mystery and the macabre to your feet. Inspired by the master of spooky stories, he’s the perfect sole-mate for dark October nights. Slip him on, kick off your shoes and let Edgar Allan Toe do the haunting.
