So, where did Halloween come from?

As it's Halloween today (cue spooky music, creaking doors, and Vincent Price's cackle, which never fails to send shivers down my spine), I thought I'd delve into a bit of its history.

The word, Halloween, comes from a mash-up of All-Hallows-Even (evening) (first use recorded way back in 1556) and the name of Celtic festival, Samhain (pronounced sow-een, whatever the actors on "True Blood" call it).

Samhain marked the end of the harvest, the end of the lighter half of the year, and the beginning of some seriously long dark nights. It was also known as a festival dedicated to the dead, and some people still set a place for the dead at the Samhain feast.

The Gaelic custom of wearing a mask and costumes was often an attempt to placate evil spirits. Another method of warding off evil were the candle lanterns. Large turnips were hollowed out, carved with faces, and placed in the window to frighten away the spirits.

In Scotland and Ireland, guising (dressing in costume) is a Halloween custom recorded as far back as  1895 where masqueraders in disguise visited homes to be rewarded with cake, fruit, and money (sounds good to me!).

So, now you're all nice and knowledgeable about where our Halloween name and customs came from, I hope you have a wonderful spookfest this evening. I think I'll be looking out my (admittedly tiny) collection of scary films. If you hear blood-curdling screams, that'll be me, hiding behind a cushion. Did I mention I'm useless with horror films?

Image: zirconicusso / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Halloween fun

As Halloween is on Monday, I thought it a good time to list a few fun things to do :).

1. Trick or Treating (Gee, I bet no one thought of that one ;). Generally, better to do with kids in tow. You might get a few strange looks otherwise.)
2. Scary movie night (And I don't mean the Scary Movie collection, but some movies that can make you jump - great when having a sleepover.)
3. Ghost Walk (Lots of places have them, particularly if there's a long history, and walking through a dark cemetery at midnight, even with other people, is pretty spooky.)
4. Atmosphere (I might be out of touch with its modern incarnation, but this game, that involved a video playing on the TV as the game progressed on the board was great for some frights when the character would flash back onto the screen accompanied by a sudden thunder clap.)
5. Themed costume party or dance (Great fun dancing to Michael Jackson's Thriller along with a guy in a Scream mask, a vampire, and a couple of zombies :))

Whatever you're doing, I hope you all have a fun (but safe) night.

Image: Salvatore Vuono / FreeDigitalPhotos.net