Halloween is the spookiest time of year when kids and adults of all ages dress up in their scariest costumes, attend parties and get-togethers, and scare the neighbors in hopes of a handful of candy. It is the time of year when hot chocolate and scary movies make the mood intense and perfect for the season.
Want even more fun, spooky facts about this holiday? No need to cast a spell on us with your witch powers. Take a look at 20 of our favorite facts about All Hallows’ Eve.
Fact 1: Halloween is the second-most popular holiday after Christmas. Each year, creepy fans spend more than $9 billion on candy, costumes, and decorations during the scary season.
Fact 2: Witches are very wise women. No, the word witch actually means ‘wise woman!’ The word was derived from the Old English word, wicce.
Fact 3: A fear of Halloween is very real and something that affects thousands of people. Many people suffer from this disorder known as Samhainophobia.
Fact 4: Where did it all start? Halloween is believed to have originated in Ireland. It is the luck of the Irish, I suppose.
Fact 5: The first reference to dressing up in a costume for this celebration was in 1585, in Ireland, of course.
Fact 6: Each year, Americans buy more than 600 billion pounds of candy for ghosts and ghouls’ trick-or-treating at their homes, for parties, and get-togethers. Kids prefer chocolate candy over other types.
Fact 7: More than 4.6 kids dress up as a witch for Halloween, making it the most popular costume year after year.
Fact 8: An old superstition says that anyone who wears their clothes inside out and then walks backward on October 31, they will see a witch at midnight.
Fact 9: USA Today readers ranked Nashville Nightmare the best haunted house in the nation in 2018.
Fact 10: Witches Brew is said to be a deadly concoction prepared by witches. It is also a tasty coffee. Be sure to pick up a bag of coffee and a witches brew mug for yourself, leaving out the ‘deadly’ ingredients.
Fact 11: Over 2,000 haunted houses open each season across the U.S. with over 12,000,000 people attending the attractions.
Fact 12: ‘The House of the Devil’ was the first spooky movie ever made. The film was produced in 1896. Today, hundreds of thousands of horror movie titles offer a good scare for anyone. The Halloween movies fit the occasion wonderfully.
Fact 13: Legend says that a baby born on October 31st has special powers.
Fact 14: Salem, Massachusetts is the self-proclaimed Halloween capital of the world. Anyone who knows the history of Salem understands why they earned the title. It all started with the Salem Witch Trials.
Fact 15: October 31st is the most fun night of the year for kids, but it is also the most dangerous. Children are twice as likely to suffer from pedestrian-related vehicle accidents on Halloween night than during any other time of the year.
Fact 16: New York City hosts an annual All Hallows Eve parade called the Village Halloween Parade. More than 50,000 people participate in the parade which draws two-million spectators.
Fact 17: All Hallows’ Eve was a destructive holiday in its infancy, with many kids playing pranks like one group who, in the late 1800s, tossed a bag made to look like a dead body on a train track. It was so violent that by 1933, some cities considered banning the holiday.
Fact 18: In Mexico, this holiday is celebrated as ‘Day of the Dead.’ Friends and family paint their faces and dress in costumes to gather on November 1 to pray for and honor those who have died. It is part of Catholic tradition.
Fact 19: Pumpkin carving is a tradition for many families. The average pumpkin weighs under 10 pounds. Imagine carving the massive 836-pound pumpkin grown by Norm Craven that set world records in 1993!
Fact 20: Black cats are synonymous with the holiday and feared by many people who think the animal is dangerous or scary. Black cats are said to be associated with witchcraft and evil.
