All Hallows Eve, or as we commonly know it, Halloween, has plenty of spooktastic traditions. From dressing in costumes to apple bobbing (yup, that’s definitely a thing!), this celebration is rich with tradition. And if you want to learn more about Halloween traditions, you’ve come to the exact right place for this is our article dedicated to the festivity and all the customs surrounding it!
So, what can you expect from this article? Well, for starters, a full review of traditional Halloween characters - move over, characters from trendy memes, and give way to ghosts and ghouls! Yup, traditional Halloween costumes were definitely much more conservative, yet ten times spookier than the costumes we mostly see today. In fact, it was believed that the only way to escape the ghosts that come to visit us on All Hallows Eve is to dress exactly like one of them. And costumes aren’t the only thing that varies in Halloween traditions around the world - from different ways of trick-or-treating and jack-o-lanterning to the essence of the festivity; there are plenty of ways to enrich your own way of celebrating this spooky time!
Whether you’re a fan of traditional Halloween or just fishing for ideas to expand the questionnaire on your Halloween trivia, the customs that we’ve rounded up in this article should definitely be of interest to you. So, scroll on down below, give the spookiest traditions your vote and share this article with your friends!
#1 Wearing Scary Costumes
The custom of dressing up also dates back to the ancient Celtic celebration of Samhain. During Samhain, the people would light bonfires and don costumes to fend off ghosts who might ruin their harvests.
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#2 Bobbing For Apples
Europe is where apple bobbing first appeared hundreds of years ago. The game's goal - to predict one's future love life - remains the same despite its many variations. The game was a popular method to bring young lovers together and aid them in determining whether or not they were soulmates.
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#3 Decorating With Black And Orange
Due to Halloween's fall-winter association, black and orange were purposefully chosen as the holiday's colors. Black depicts the long, cold winter and nighttime, whereas orange is the color of fire and the fall season since the hue is reminiscent of harvest.
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#4 Visiting A Halloween-Themed Party
A while back, groups of families would decorate their basements and host "house-to-house" parties for the neighboring kids as a form of entertainment. Kids would spook themselves by moving from basement to basement and encountering different scary settings.
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#5 Putting Pumpkins Outside And Lighting Them
As the Celts used turnips, potatoes, and beets instead of pumpkins, the pumpkin aspect of the tradition is uniquely American. However, the Celts believed that the light within the turnip (or pumpkin) chased away evil spirits, which is why they were placed on porches and window sills to protect those inside the house.
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#6 Telling Scary Stories
Regardless of one's opinions on ghosts and their existence, telling ghost stories is a tradition that has persisted across many cultures, though the manner and motivation for doing so have changed with time. Sometimes, particularly with youngsters, frightening tales are used to discourage particular behaviors. In addition to being employed for entertainment, scary stories featuring supernatural creatures have often been used to explain the unexplainable. Even those who dislike being afraid find things that go bump in the night intriguing, contributing to the millennia-old tradition of recounting ghost stories.
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#7 Hosting A Halloween Movie Night
As soon as the first bunch of Halloween movies was released, binging on multiple scary movies was a no-brainer of an activity to do on Halloween.
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#8 Carving Halloween Jack-O'-Lanterns
Candle-lit pumpkins with spooky faces are a surefire indication that Halloween is approaching. Large turnips and potatoes served as the early canvases in Ireland, where the tradition of carving jack-o-lanterns began. In actuality, Stingy Jack is a character in an Irish folktale from which the name "jack-o'-lantern" originates. Irish immigrants brought the custom to America, the home of pumpkins, quickly establishing it as a holiday staple.
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#9 Making Caramel Apples
Candy apples are said to have been created accidentally in 1908 by candy maker William Kolb from Newark, New Jersey. Interestingly, though, these apples were never intended to be eaten. A new Halloween custom is believed to have started when William Kolb accidentally mixed some apples into his candy syrup.
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#10 Getting Spooked By Black Cats
Black cats have a long history of being associated with witches, witchcraft, and black magic. According to legend, the myth originated when a black cat was seen entering a house that was considered to be inhabited by a witch. Black cats that prowl at night have historically been interpreted as witches, witches' pets, or demons in animal form sent by witches to spy on humans.
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#11 Decorating Your Room
People start putting up their Halloween decorations as soon as early September. While the tradition began as occasional jack-o-lanterns on front porches and maybe a skeleton or creepy spider web, now it's not unusual to see entire neighborhoods decked out in black, with witches, faux graveyards, and even Halloween lights. With Halloween being heavily commercialized, it's estimated that in 2022 Americans will spend around $3.4 billion on Halloween decorations.
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#12 Making Halloween Cookies
When it comes to Halloween cookies, you can go all crazy with the shape, food coloring, icing, and toppings. And you better serve them cookies on your Halloween shindig, so Cookie Monster can pay you a visit.
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#13 Playing In Haunted Corn Maze
With the howling winds of October come haunted mazes. Whether 'playing' or 'surviving' is a more fitting word depends on the maze's difficulty and horror level, as some might be appropriate for the whole family, and some might be adults only. Yet, the haunted corn maze is a place to go for all seekers of spook and thrill. If you have ever wondered what it's like to be the main character of a horror movie, think twice about whether you are willing to take the risk. But beware of the creatures lurking in the dark because you are never alone in the corn maze...
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#14 Candy Shopping For Kids
While this may end in hysteria if the kids don't get the candy they want, candy shopping for kids and trick-or-treaters can be fun and put you in a festive mood.
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#15 Going Trick-Or-Treating The Pagan Way
It is believed that the Celts left food outside their homes for the ghosts and spirits in exchange so they would eat the food and not harm the people inside.
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#16 Lighting Candles And Bonfires
The Celts believed that lighting a candle in the window would ward off evil spirits and prevent them from approaching your door. So would building bonfires.
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#17 Making Halloween-Themed Door Decorations
Whether to help your guests find the entrance to a Halloween shindig or let the trick-or-treaters know that they are welcome to knock on the door, decking your door for Halloween is a clear sign that your household is up for some spookalicious Halloween fun.
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#18 Participating In Pumpkin Carving Contest
Not only are pumpkin carving contests fun, but they often involve a monetary prize! Yet, the key to winning a pumpkin contest is standing out from the pack. You must think outside the box to impress the judges and create something they have never seen before. And that's a challenge!
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#19 Visiting Horror Room
Similarly to seeing a haunted house, visiting a horror room can be no less spooky, if not even more horrifying. Often, horror rooms allow only a limited number of people or a small group to ensure everyone gets the full frightening experience. While visiting the horror room may take no more than two hours, the impressions will keep haunting you long after the visit is over.
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#20 Playing Pranks
During Samhain, the villagers played harmless pranks on one another. Still, it wasn't until much later that the first forms of trick-or-treating as we know it today emerged. In the 18th and 19th centuries, immigrants from Ireland and Scotland brought their Halloween superstitions to America, and their children became the first American masterminds of mischief. Kids cut down shrubs, hooked opposing apartment doorknobs together, hung ropes across walkways to trip people in the dark, rattled or soaped windows, and rattled or soaped shrubs.
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