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Costume Parties

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The majority of Halloween parties and events will be themed ones.  Some groups and families opt for a traditional theme such as vampires or witches or even zombies.  There are also traditional fancy dress events such as for Mardi Gras or a plain, old-fashioned masked ball.  Children usually love costume parties which have been themed around a favorite superhero or princess or cowboy or cartoon character.  If the party is to be held at a home, then there are a few things to keep in mind.

Parties where adults dress up and have a great time have been around for hundreds of years and were popular in Europe amongst the gentry and royalty.  Perhaps even Vlad, who was the inspiration for Count Dracula and vampire folklore, held parties in his castle in Transylvania.  A modern party planner needs to think of a theme first, then plot out accessories and costumes as well as many decorations and even games.  Movies can be rented that are themed, along with the party, although this is usually for a smaller and more intimate group.

Half the fun of a costume party is trying to guess who is under that Luke Skywalker or Mr. Spock or Cinderella or mad monster costume and mask.  If children are present, a party cannot get too wild or gory.  The whole point of a great costume party is having fun and slipping into another character — if only for an evening.  A family meeting is called for in order to settle on a theme and costumes and certain accessories need to be ordered a few weeks ahead of time, so that if there’s a backorder, substitutes can be made.

Food recipes abound for Halloween parties and items such as purple punch with dry ice spilling over, and floating eyeball ice cubes always make an impression.  Kids love Gummy worms anyway and other creatures may be draped over a punch bowl.  Finger sandwiches, literally looking like fingers, can be created and any food served at a party may be laid out on a appropriately-themed buffet table.  It’s best to keep glass away from a party and often, decorated and disposable glasses and cups can be bought, along with other party supplies.

A lot of costumers love to make their own costumes year after year, or enhance and update their outfits annually.  This depends on how much time there is to do all of the sewing and gathering and hot-gluing etc.  A person’s own clothing may be used as a base for the outfit and this can also be time-saving.  One year, a movie theme may be hot, or a group of characters, and another year they are relegated to the dungeon of costume parties and outfits.  A few classic ensembles are vampires, mummies, zombies, animals, celebrities and politicians.  Some of the costumes at any random party defy description.

If there are several messy games that are to be set up then consider using the backyard.  Children should have their games and creative area and the adults may have a few separate ones.  The outside of the house or building can also be well-decorated with cobwebs and jack o’ lanterns and spiders and bats, if the theme is a generic Halloween scary one.  Remember lighting (red or purple or black lights are wonderful and atmospheric) as well as sound FX and motion.  Anytime a skeletal hand emerges from a box or a croaky voice ways “welcome” trick or treaters get a real kick out of it.  Remember to decorate age appropriately.

Costume party planners can put on a fantastic “spread” and themed party. If they use a little creativity and whatever is at hand, supplemented by a few purchased decorations and accessories and supplies.  A good and well-planned party will be long remembered and talked about at the office or at school, the next day.

Animals That Symbolize Halloween

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Animals that symbolize Halloween have become associated with Halloween over the generations to end up being a large part of the holiday. It could have something to do with the fact that the first Halloween “costumes” were animal skins worn by the Celts. More than likely, they have just been picked along the way because of individual animal’s connection to certain things that represent the scary or the supernatural.

Generally, most of the critters that have come to symbolize Halloween are nocturnal. This seemed fitting for being connected to evil spirits, witches or vampires who rule the night. Cats, bats and owls have all been linked to things that go bump in the night, especially during Halloween.

Black Cats = Animals That Symbolize Halloween

This symbol has become so tied into Halloween tradition and the occult that owners of black cats are advised to keep their pets indoors for a few days prior to Halloween so they are not stolen. Pet shelters and cat rescue groups will not adopt out the onyx haired felines for up to a week before the holiday. Black cats are even part of the superstition that if one crosses your path, you will have bad luck or even die.

Cats have been given a bad rap since being linked to witches. Folklore has made these creatures pets or “familiars” of witches throughout history. This link is so intertwined that, during the witch trials, cats were often killed for being evil just as the reported witches were. Ironically, some stories claimed witches would sacrifice these animals during rituals or kill them to use in brews for spells and curses. That is the main reason frogs get linked to witches and Halloween, as well.

Bats and Halloween

There are a few reasons these winged creatures have become linked to Halloween and all things otherworldly. The first is the presence of bats during the very first Halloweens. It is said that during Samhain, the original Halloween, great bonfires were built to ward away evil spirits. Because fires attract bugs and bugs attract bats, there was a great presence of bats during these activities. It was viewed that the bats were connected to the spirit world trying to get through, but still frightened off by the roaring flames.

The other reason bats have become a symbol of evil is their connection to vampires. Since early stories of Dracula and vampires have often included bats, in one way or another, they have long been thought of as evil as well. Vampires were thought to turn into bats to fly through the night and be able to get into rooms with great ease. It was also thought that bats would live in the high arches of castles where vampires resided. By the way, these critters turn up in witches’ brew recipes as well.

Owls and the Halloween Connection

Found hidden deep in the tree branches of dark woods, late into the night that haunting screech can be the only thing one hears. While it may be pleasant now, imagine walking a dark wooded path alone long before modern times. This could be a very unsettling noise. A reminder you are not alone and yet unable to see the creature making sounds nearby.

Like bats, owls would take flight during those first Samhain events. They would fly close enough to the fires to snag bugs, or lower for rodents, and seemed to be linked to the spirit world. Like cats, owls have also been connected to witches for being their companions. It doesn’t help that a witch in a Grimm’s fairy tale does transform into an owl.

Crows and the Macabre 

It is almost safe to say that if an animal comes in all black, it could be considered linked to the supernatural and scary. Crows have long been thought to become present to represent a bad omen. This could be why this creature has come to symbolize Halloween. Also, they are sometimes believed to be companions of witches and certainly a common part of their brews to cast spells.

A group of crows circling overhead, called a murder actually, has become a tale of superstition claiming someone will die. Of course there are plenty of cultures and folklore that consider a single crow or a murder of crows to be good luck, but when it comes to Halloween, crows are seen as devious. Edgar Allan Poe may not have helped the matter with his classic chilling poetic account of “The Raven” who comes knocking, knocking at his chamber door.

There are other animals that symbolize Halloween, but these are some of the more traditional and common ones.

Animals Linked to, or That Symbolize Halloween

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Black cats are one of the symbols of Halloween and have gotten a bad rap a few hundred years ago, when they were associated with witches.  Due to ignorance and fear about diseases such as the Bubonic Plague and how they were spread (fleas on rats), and because cats in general were not much liked, the Black Death spread and decimated thousands upon thousands of people.  If the cats could have been left to do their natural thing — hunt rodents — all may have been prevented.

Cats still retain that imagery of Halloween and black ones in particular — although today, black cats are more likely to be sitting in the front window, curious about trick or treaters walking by on the sidewalk, than be involved in all of that “tom foolery”.

Few people even today, can truly say they love vampire bats.  They have been linked to Halloween, especially after Bram Stoker’s Dracula was written and loved as a great horror story by the Victorians.  After vampires came to be associated with Halloween, some true incidents were dug up that appeared to relate to or further symbolize Halloween.  A bloodthirsty Vlad the Impaler loved to put his enemies’ heads onto spikes surrounding his castle and these acts further added to the vampire lore.  Vampires and Count Dracula are reputed to be able to turn into bats and escape.  The real vampire bat does drink blood, but in small amounts and usually from cattle or goats.

In old Hebrew legends there was a woman who turned into an owl and preyed upon infants and expectant mothers.  The Greek shad a tale of monsters who loved the dark as well as dining on children.  There’s another strange tale, this one from India of a creature who liked to hang upside down during daylight hours, and who had no blood of its own.  Naturally, it had to get blood from other living beings.  Being drained of blood by a bat or vampire (in legend) tends to lend it to Halloween tales and associations.

Real vampire bats have a chemical in their saliva which prevents blood from clotting, and this is so they can “dine” longer.  Most bays do not carry rabies and most eat insects,  Wild bats are not encouraged as pets and the Organization for Bat Conservation does their best to spread knowledge about these flying mammals.

Wolves used to be common in Europe and during the 1500s, villagers in Germany found both half eaten humans and farm animals lying around.  They thought that wolves were the hunters.  When they tracked down a certain wolf, it turned into a werewolf and became someone they knew from the village.  A pamphlet was made to describe this event and this is how the werewolf came into our imaginations and legends.  There have been tall tales of wolves and bats and vampires and who knows what else mixing it up in epic battles, down through the ages.

Wolves howl at the moon and are hunters by nature.  They are cunning and intelligent and our first domesticated dogs may have been, or come from wolves.  At times, wolves were believed to be associated with the devil. There is conflict between property owners and wolves some of the time and the animal has faced extinction.  It has slowly returned due to releases from captive breeding populations.

People in the middle ages ate bread made from a hallucinogenic grain.  This may have led them to think that certain villagers had turned into wolves and become werewolves, especially on a night lit by a full moon.  Wolves howl as communication to other pack members and as a warning to non-pack members.  Wolf-dog hybrids are not encouraged.

Haunted houses are home to lots of spiders — very large spiders.  Most of them are made from latex or rubber, but the spider has long been linked to Halloween.  There are many types of spiders and they come in  a large variety of sizes and colors.  A large tarantula relative eats birds.  Most humans fear spiders, although most spiders are beneficial to humans.  In England, a spider in the house meant good luck.  Spiders can grow their legs back. There are way more than 35,000 species of spiders in the world.

One other animal that symbolize Halloween is a snake.  They are most often feared because a lot are venomous and people have died from snake bites.  Some are constrictors and huge, like pythons and anacondas.  Most snakes are beneficial to humans in that they keep a check on the rodent and insect populations.

Traditions of Halloween

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Celtic people are responsible for the core of Halloween, as it was first celebrated in their traditions and folklore. They formed a society about 800 BC. Celts were located in the UK, part of Turkey (rather odd!) and a lot of Western Europe. They held a big party close to the end of October which was called Samhain. This was to recognize the end of Summer and the harvest, no doubt. Celts thought that the connection and separation between the real world and the world of the dead and spirits, was thin at this time of year. Friends and relatives returned for a short stay and often in the form of a black cat, which is why that symbol can still represent Halloween. 

After harvest, food was offered to the gods. Almost like a modern food drive, they went door to door for food donations, which they then gave to the deities. Young people from that time asked for kindling and firewood for a bonfire, which they made on top of a hill. This tradition of going from door to door may have been the root for trick or treating. Sacred bonfires were often lit during Samhain, in order to honor the Celtic gods. An ember was kept from the bonfire and villagers would light their own fires when they returned home. 

A gourd or turnip was used to carry the ember as it would be sheltered from the wind and not burn the wet gourd or turnip pulp. Evil spirits dwelled amongst the Celts, or so they thought, so on a long dark walk home they would disguise themselves in costumes and also scare away the spirits by carving fierce faces on the ember holders. This also carries through to today with lit pumpkins and costumes. Pumpkins are considerably easier to carve than a small turnip or beetroot or gourd. 

Neopagans and wiccans continue to celebrate Samhain to this day as they base a lot of their faith on the ancient Celts. Some traditions were based on the Celtic ones but some have evolved from other sources. The Jack O’Lantern came from a 17th century Irish folktale. The devil took pity on a departed soul who was not allowed into either heaven or hell, and gave him a burning coal to light his way as he wandered around the globe. This Jack took to carrying the ember in a partially eaten turnip. 

Apples have been associated with goddesses for a long time, as they were with Adam & Eve, There association with immortality, knowledge and resurrection has made them an icon. A five-pointed star is revealed if an apple is sliced through its equator. A pentagram came from this symbol, it’s thought. The latter is a goddess symbol for Gypsies, ancient Egyptians and Celts, and contemporary Wiccans and others. Bobbing for apples and trying to grab a dangling apple was a game for singles who, if they grabbed an apple, were said to be in line for a marriage proposal.

If someone peeled an apple in front of a mirror lit with candles (one would hope that they’d keep their eyes on the knife!), then an image of a future spouse was supposed to appear. If the peeler could make a long string of peel then this was said to “guestimate” how long a person would live. On All Souls Day, Christians from Europe would go door to door asking for currant buns or soul cakes. If they got any, they’d pray for the homeowner’s relatives. 

All Hallow’s Eve was the original name for Halloween. This meant the evening right before All Saints Day. Hallow meant saint in old English and the phrase was eventually shortened to Halloween.

Halloween Ghost Stories

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Ghost Stories

There isn’t a more appropriate time of year for sharing ghost stories than Halloween. Swapping ghastly tales of freight at slumber parties, around a bonfire or at a Halloween costume party helps get in the spirit of holiday. Whether made up on the spot or handed down through the generations, spooky stories are perfect for all ages around and on Halloween.

I’m Not Making This Up, I Swear

From all points around the globe, ghost stories emerge. Just like watching a horror movie that claims to be true, the most terrifying haunted tales are the ones that are supposed to be based on real events. This isn’t that far a stretch since all one has to do is turn on the television and pick from one of several shows where people are hunting down “actual” ghosts in haunted places.

Just even within the United States there are plenty of areas that boast a spirit world claim to fame of being the most haunted area, town, city or community. From these paranormal hot spots plenty of ghost stories emerge. So much in fact that many places now offer ghost walks where tourists or locals can take a guided stroll and hear some of the accounts of the ghostly activity.

There are countless books of ghost stories or hauntings specific to different regions. Pick a city, town or state and do a search for that location’s hauntings to have more home based ghost stories for Halloween time. New Hope, Pennsylvania, for example, has been labeled possibly the most haunted nook of America. Type in “haunted New Hope PA” and there are plenty of ways to find stories or ideas from around the area to create some that could sound true to guests huddled around at a Halloween party.

Tales, Folklore, Urban Legends and Myths

As previously mentioned, many spooky accounts come from another source or even from personal accounts of paranormal events. Many ghost stories though, are the result of folklore, urban legends, myths or even rumors. In these cases there is rarely ever a way to trace it down to the original storyteller other than someone’s claim that it really did happen to a friend’s sister’s ex-boyfriend.

Usually, with this type of tale, everyone has heard some version of it, with the names and minor details changed. A good example of an urban legend of this nature would be the story of “Bloody Mary.” The name often changes and, in fact, a similar idea was explored in the 1992 movie “Candyman” in which the lead female was researching urban legends. Also, the number of times it takes to say the name varies from 3 all the way up to 20, but the basic idea stays the same. After an explanation of how Mary died, and this is where stories can really vary or just be made up, the listening audience and story teller gather by a mirror in a room lit only by a single candle. By chanting the name together a certain number of times, Bloody Mary’s spirit will appear behind the humans in the mirror.

Why Ghost Stories Have Become So Popular 

Ghost stories are obviously beloved because of their ability to raise those hairs on the back of necks, cause goose bumps and generally frighten even the most devoted skeptics. Tales of things that go bump in the night have also been created to give people explanation where no other reasoning seems to be. Humans are quite perplexed by and fascinated by death and what happens to souls on the other side. Haunting theories claim that a spirit may be trapped if there was a murder, suicide or otherwise overly traumatic death. The idea being the spirit has a difficult time moving on to final rest and become trapped in a spot where they either died or a place that was familiar or near and dear to them.

Any Halloween get together is sure to be a thriller if chilling tales of the paranormal are on the itinerary. The important part is to keep them age appropriate. It is also a wise idea to not make it the very last thing people leave the party with, so having a more upbeat event following the round of ghost stories is a kind way to enable guests to go home and actually be able to sleep through the night. Whether or not they choose to try summoning up Bloody Mary in front of their own bathroom mirror is their choice.

History and Origins of Halloween

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The Halloween.bizbiz Articles and Information pages have information about everything we can think of related toHalloween.

The categories are listed on this page, but include everything from the History of Halloween, Halloween food, Halloween Costumes, pumpkin carving, trick or treating,  to Halloween Around the World plus a whole lot more.

History and Origins of Halloween

One of the world’s oldest holidays, Halloween didn’t start out as a holiday for costumes, trick-or-treating or carving pumpkins.  The Halloween celebrated today has elements of several different religious and cultural traditions.  The name Halloween is an abbreviation of “All Hallows Eve,” a traditional name for the Catholic holiday of All Saints’ Day.

Halloween wouldn’t be what it is today if not for the Celtic holiday of Samhain, an ancient celebration of the spirits of the dead.  A Roman festival called Feralia is another Halloween inspiration.  Although Feralia occurred in February, it was a public festival where citizens made offerings and sacrifices to calm the spirits of the dead so they wouldn’t haunt the living.

The original Celtic holiday of Samhain occurred on November 1, not October 31.  Samhain was one of the most important holidays for Celtic people, and its festivals were conducted by their priests, the Druids.  On Samhain, the Celtic people believed that the spirits of those who had died over the course of the year would mingle with the living before traveling on to the afterlife.  In addition to the spirits of departed souls, other supernatural creatures like fairies and demons came out “to play” during Samhain.  Festivals and celebrations were meant to aid the good souls on their way, and keep bad spirits from doing harm to the living.  Samhain also celebrated the harvest, and foods associated with fall, such as apples, pumpkins, spices and cider, were part of the early traditional celebrations.

Read more in the History of Halloween section.

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