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Of the many Halloween traditions, most of their origins are rather obscured by history. While some may be rooted in ancient pagan beliefs, others seem to come from a later time such as during the medieval period. Of course, pumpkins may be traditional because they tend to ripen during the fall and are readily available. While some explanations may be easy to come by, others are still shrouded in mystery. For example, where exactly did the pointed witches’ hat come from? The classic witch or old hag on a broom has been a Halloween tradition for many centuries, but the unusual pointed hat is one of the most common features found in paintings that go back hundreds of years, but does not evolve from the Medieval times as other common features of the witch or “old hag” image that is so common. During Medieval times, witches were depicted in painting wearing a number of different types of hats as was common in the day for many people. New types of …

Halloween is a holiday that both adults and kids of all ages can revel in. Dressing up is something that everyone enjoys and Halloween is the perfect opportunity to let it all loose. People love to dress up and let their hidden side come out. Halloween costumes are often influenced by popular culture for both young and old. Adult costumes range from traditional themes to celebrities, pop culture stars and other fun pop culture influenced costumes such as notable decades of style such as the 80s. Children love to dress up as favorite characters or fantasies such as princesses. The most popular Halloween 2011 costumes reflect a good sampling from all of those costumes. The most popular Halloween 2011 costumes were Angry Birds, Black Swan, Captain America, Green Lantern, and Where’s Waldo. All of these costumes reflect a sort of geeky side to those who put them on. Sure everyone wants to be a super hero, but let’s be honest, the adults who put them were or likely still are …

  Halloween trick or treating is a fun time for everyone. Dressing up in ghoulish garb and knocking on doors is a classic activity when 31 October comes around. Here are some relatively harmless tricks to play on those who are ill prepared or too tight to give you the treats you desire. Remember, stay away from elderly people who can get scared during this night and only perform tricks on those you know who should have been better prepared! Coin stuck to the doorstep If an ill prepared miser sends you packing without a treat you can test their stinginess with a simple trick. Take super glue, fix a coin to their doorstep and ring the doorbell. Now hide quickly and watch. Guffaw as the home owner tries desperately to pick up the glued coin. Priceless! Detachable finger Get a fake finger from a joke shop. Cover it in ketchup or fake blood and keep it in your hand. Ring the doorbell and shout ‘trick or treat!’ If they …

One of the most fun parts of Halloween is being able to dress up in a fancy dress costume of your choosing so that you can have a fantastic night out. Whether you are attending a fancy dress party or your child is dressing up to go trick-or-treating, a fancy dress costume is a must. One of the most important parts of this costume is the make-up, which can give an air of authenticity to any costume so that you can scare the wits out of people – or at least get them talking. There are both general make-up tips as well as tips that are specific to the costume you choose to wear. Let’s start with the general tips, the ones you will need to use no matter what Halloween costume you wear. The first of these is to plan ahead. Don’t wait until the last minute to choose your costume or to order/purchase your make-up. For one thing, you might not get what you want because the stock …

Do you have Samhainophobia? Do you know how to meet a witch on Halloween night? Do you know why the colours orange and black signify the holiday of Halloween? These are just some of the crazy facts and scarcely known trivia that hover around Halloween. This is the haunting time of year, the time we associate with the harvest and death. Traditionally it has been a time to celebrate the dead and the harvest and for people to protect themselves from the dead who have crossed over into this world. These days Halloween is a day of fancy dress, parties, trick-or-treating, and decorating one’s house to look scary. However, let’s take a look at some of the little-known facts because they are very intriguing in their own right. Do not squash a spider on Halloween night, eat it instead. Of course, if it’s a cookie:) First of all, this holiday is just loaded with superstitions. For instance, you had better not squash a spider on Halloween because if you see …

Halloween has grown in popularity over the years and one of the most exciting things about this holiday celebration is the decorating that takes place. It is so much fun to decorate your home and garden to look like a spooky place of terror and there are a variety of ways to make this happen. While store-bought decorations are frightful and can really produce a nice effect, home-made ones are often better, looking more authentic and being cheaper than the store-bought alternatives. With a little imagination, time, and effort you can make your home look incredible spooky inside and out. Let’s start with the inside. You will want to decorate the walls and the table if you are having a party. You can hang shredded cheesecloth around the walls and ceilings and this will create a nice effect, especially when combined with the effects of black light bulbs. You can make home-made ghosts in a number of ways. If you can spring for white helium filled balloons, then you can …

Many holidays have animals associated with them. There is the Easter bunny and chicks at Easter and, of course, reindeer at Christmas, but Halloween has the most animals associated with of all the holidays. It is at Halloween that the creepy, crawly animals come out, the ones that like the night, and the ones that have been associated with death and superstition for hundreds of years. These are the animals that we like to dress up as when we attend those fancy dress parties and that children like to portray when they go trick-or-treating. What animals are they? Let’s take a look. Most of the animals associated with Halloween are nocturnal, which means they are the animals that are awake during the night. This gives them an air of mystery and intrigue and it means that it is easy to associate them with the dead. The bat is the perfect example of a nocturnal animal that is intimately associated with Halloween. The bat often lives in caves and comes out …

Having a Jack-o-lantern at Halloween is a must and even though the traditional Jack-o-lantern in Ireland and Scotland in days gone by were carved out of turnips, the preferred choice these days is the pumpkin. Pumpkins are bigger and easier to carve and this means that people can really carve something creative and wonderful into the pumpkin. Now wonderful does not just mean the standard scary smiling Jack-o-lantern. Those are nice, but let’s face it – they have been done and done again for decades. They are overdone! Now is the time to create something even more wonderful and exciting. So what can you do with your pumpkin? First we’ll start with the basic preparations. You need to cut the top off the pumpkin, cutting around the stem. Then you need to scoop out all the messy insides. Remember to try to flatten the inside bottom of the pumpkin so that the candle can sit there easily. Now you are ready to carve and now you can consider how you …

Music is such a cornerstone of human society. It is something that brings about laughter and tears, it brings back memories of people and of times gone by, and it brings up emotions for everyone. We have music that was written for certain occasions and holidays and then there is music that has just become associated with these special times. Halloween is one such holiday. There is a wide variety of awesome, fun, and chilling music that we associate with Halloween and this music is fantastic to play at a Halloween party or to have on in the background when you have trick-or-treaters come to your door. Let’s start with the famous pop and rock stars who have created songs that over the years have become favourites at Halloween. Of course, the first one that comes to mind for most people is Thriller by Michael Jackson and this may be the most popular of all Halloween songs, especially since Vincent Price does a voice over on the track. Other popular …

The tradition of celebrating Halloween with the modern day concept of haunted Halloween attractions may have started in North America 20 years ago, but the UK has certainly stepped up to the plate and answered the call. There are plenty of haunted and otherwise scary Halloween attractions in the UK that are well worth a visit. Haunted houses are a sure fire hit with just about everyone. And what about some good old-fashioned farm Halloween attractions, which can include a haunted hay ride, haunted barn, corn maze, and pumpkin patch. Of course, England has something that North America does not and it makes for a great and frightful time at Halloween. Castles! That’s right. There are plenty of real live authentic castles throughout England and other parts of the UK and these are ideal for some truly scary Halloween fun. Let’s talk about haunted houses and haunted castles, since they two are very similar. After all, a castle is really just a very large house. Haunted houses were once nothing …