History Of Halloween
Other Names
All Hallows Eve
Samhain
All Hallowtide
Feast of the Dead
Jack-o-lantern- This came from an 18th century Irish folktale in which a man named Jack convinced the Devil to climb an apple tree. When he did this, Jack, cut a cross into the tree which trapped the Devil within the branches. When he died he was not allowed into heaven for this cruelty and the Devil would not let him into Hell. So he was forced to walk the earth for eternity. The Devil felt sorry for him and gave him a piece of coal to light his way. Jack then put this into a turnip that he had been eating.
Halloween was called All Hallows Eve. This meant the evening before all saint's day. Hallow is an English word for saint so it was shortened to Halloween.
Halloween is the holiday for the most candy sold and the third largest party occasion.
Los Dios de Los Muertos (The Days of the Dead) is celebrated in Mexico between Oct. 31st and Nov. 2nd to remember their deceased loved ones. They display everything that the dead had liked when they were living. Favorite foods, beverages, ect. in hopes that they will return home that night. After the celebrations they go to the cemeteries as the spirits leave them once more, but they know that next year they will be able to be with them again.
The Celts often believed that Oct. 31st was the day that the dead walked the Earth.
Halloween is also during Harvest season when the crops were picked and the fields were left to dry and wither away which... I guess somehow made people remember their dead loved ones.
People began having costume parties which included games like bobbing for apples in the 1800s.
Trick or Treating originated in Ireland centuries ago and has been customary in North America since the 1920s.
Positive Aspects Of Halloween For Society
From Halloween Army
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Halloween is a fun, enjoyable holiday that gives some people the chance to dress up in strange costumes, and gives kids the opportunity to stuff themselves on candy until they are literally unable to eat any more. Carving jack-o- lanterns has a pleasure all its own as well - the smell of the pumpkins themselves is a reminder of the harvest season, and the sight of them gleaming orange in the sun is as attractive as fields dotted with cornshocks or any of the other decorations associated with Halloween. When they are lit at night, the glow of their strange faces - friendly or menacing, as the whim of the carver determined - is pleasantly mysterious, a reminder of the past and of the timeless changing of the seasons.
Halloween is a lot more than just a chance to dress up or carve pumpkins, however. It's also a moment that lets people step back from the driving needs of our modern commercial society, remember the places we came from, and get in touch with the people in our neighborhoods in a pleasant, relaxing way. Halloween is a social experience as much as an opportunity to put up some special decorations, and there can be no doubt that like several other holidays, it has a positive effect beyond the basic fun that people have.
Trick-or-treating isn't just a way for children to collect some candy, for example. Putting on their costumes and going from door to door for handouts of food, these kids are also getting in contact with many of the people of their area. They have an opportunity to meet people they might not otherwise have met, renew their acquaintance with people they've seen before but have been too busy with school and life to see, and build their social skills a little in a relaxed way that gives them a reward for coming in contact with other folks. The people in the neighborhood who hand out the candies also have the chance to meet the kids and sometimes their parents, and make the friendly gesture of handing out treats and welcoming people to their doors - filling everybody involved with a neighborly feeling.
Costume parties give people who are too old for trick-or-treating the chance to play dress-up, and also to socialize in a relaxed way. The fact that they're at least partly disguised by their costumes, even if everyone knows exactly who they are, also encourages people to relax and get to know others better. The wearing of whimsical costumes gives everyone who attends these parties a sense of shared fun and taking a break from everyday life together.
Other events, like lighting bonfires, taking haunted house tours, and so on, also make Halloween an opportunity for some healthy interaction between local people, without the constraints and formality that other season's parties or gatherings might have. And, just as importantly, Halloween, like other holidays, gives the individual mind some respite from the 'rat race' - a breathing space that lets our tension drain away and that reminds us that there is more to being human than working or worrying about bills.
Tell others about this.
Horror through History
The horror genre is most often identified with tales of the unnerving, and of inhuman specters that lurk in the darkness. Thrill seekers love horror because of its high-tension and uncertainty. Through eerie thriller novels, Old Time Radio, and film the horror genre continues to leave it's audience in suspense.
Tales of ghosts, monsters, and murders all fall under horror fiction. These books are written with the intention of scaring the reader. Horror fiction is sometimes categorized under speculative fiction or supernatural fiction. In the late 18th century Horace Walpole's Castle of Otranto (1764) and Anne Radcliffe's Mysteries of Uldolpho (1794) were two popular horror novels. The year 1818 would bring Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and Bram Stoker's Dracula. These novels would later become quite popular on-screen. One of the early horror writers was Edgar Allan Poe. Some of his works include The Tell Tale Heart, The Raven, The Black Cat, and The Pit and the Pendulum. He is now considered to be one of the masters of horror fiction. Algernon Blackwood's The Willows is recognized as one of the best ghost stories. One of the most accomplished horror novelists of today is Stephen King. He is well-known for his work on such novels as Carrie and Pet Sematary.
From the 1920s through the 1950s the most popular form of entertainment was Old Time Radio (OTR). This featured American radio programs which included many horror, mystery, and thriller shows. Some of these shows include The Creaking Door, The Hermit's Cave, and Murder at Midnight. One of the first horror programs was Lights Out. This would later become adapted into a television show in 1949. Escape, another horror show, was very popular for Vincent Price's narrations. His haunting voice set the mood for "Three Skeleton Key". This was a tale about three men who found themselves trapped in a lighthouse by thousands of rats. It is said to be Escape's most famous recording. Old Time Radio also opened the door for hoaxes, such as the eventful night of October 30, 1938. The Mercury Theater on Air played out a dramatization of Orson Welles' War of the Worlds. This broadcast would cause mass hysteria and dominate news headlines.
Between 1896 and 1930 German filmmakers would produce the first horror movies. Georges Méliés' The Devil's Castle in 1896 was possibly the first horror movie produced. Movies that would soon follow are The Hunchback of Notre-Dame and Nosferatu (an adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula). The universal monsters would be introduced between 1930 and 1950. Dracula and Frankenstein were filmed in 1931, The Mummy in 1932, and The Wolf Man in 1941. Movies in the 1950s generally focused on alien invasions and horrific mutations to people, plants, and animals. The 1950s also featured Edgar Allan Poe themed movies that starred Vincent Price. The 1960s brought about psychological horror. Movies such as Psycho in 1960 showed that people can be monsters too. One of the most popular movies of this decade was George Romero's Night of the Living Dead. Horror in the 1970s is often called the occult genre. The ྂs included gory, satanic movies with sexual overtones. Movies such as Rosemary's Baby, The Exorcist, and The Omen clearly illustrate this. The end of the decade would mark the beginning of the overproduction of teen slasher films. This would begin with Halloween in 1978. This would later bring about the A Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th series in the 1980s, and the Scream series in the 1990s. The modern day horror film industry has focused on the adaptation of video games to film. Two instances of this are Resident Evil in 2002 and Silent Hill in 2006. Some movies such as Rob Zombie's House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil's Rejects are 1970s themed.
Through eerie thriller novels, Old Time Radio, and film, the horror genre continues to leave its audience in on the edge of their seats. All of these elements through history have succeeded in making the art of horror what it is today.