Sponsored by The Costume Shop
“It’s Halloween. Everybody’s entitled to one good scare.”
All Hallow’s Eve. The Devil’s Birthday. The Witching 24-Hours.
Whatever name you know it by, chances are it conjures up memories of trick or treating, spooky costumes and scary stories.
Here are six reasons why Halloween is our favourite holiday…
1. First and foremost, it’s an Irish holiday…
The origins of Halloween are rooted in the celtic holiday of Samhain which marked the end of Autumn and the harvest season.
Feasts were held to honour departed souls who had entered our realm, the realm of the living. Alongside the souls of the deceased it was believed that supernatural being made their way over, and that not all of them were good.
People started carrying carved turnips and wore costumes in an attempt to deter these spirits. This tradition came to North America from Irish and Scottish immigrants in the 18th century, but with pumpkins replacing turnips.
Most nations barely have one holiday to offer the world so to have two holidays – and two of the funnest holidays – coming from our small island is no mean feat. Sorry England. We know you have Guy Fawkes’ night where everybody gets together to drink warm lager, gang burn a puppet and to pine for the day you had an empire. We’re sure it’s fun in it’s own way.
But it’s not St. Patrick’s Day and it’s definitely not Halloween.
The tradition has now come full circle as Derry City was voted the best Halloween destination in the world!
2. Traditions
Some other Samhain traditions that have since been incorporated into Halloween include going from house to house to gather food, fuel and offerings for the festival.
In the 12th century there was a tradition to pray for souls trapped in Purgatory that involved visiting neighbours to get treats that had been especially baked for the occasion.
In the 18th century, corn husks and scarecrows were also incorporated as Halloween decorations.
Trick or treat is probably the most famous tradition associated with Halloween where kids go from door to door collecting sweets. Another proud Halloween tradition is slightly bigger kids, who are too old to trick or treat, stealing the smaller kids sweets.
3. The monsters
Human beings spend a good chunk of their time trying to find things to distract us from the fact we’re definitely going to die. These distractions can take many shapes including Mrs Brown’s Boys and Candycrush.
Not only does Halloween acknowledge death, it revels in its chaos and gives us permission to feel scared. There are lots of monsters associated with Halloween, but the greatest is our collective fear. This is why it’s an excellent time of year to prank your more scaredy cat friends.
While we’re on the topic of monsters, every few years there’s a razor-blade-in-an-apple scare despite there being no record of this ever happening. (Also, whoever gave out that apple would get severely “tricked”by the neighbourhood children. The apple would remain uneaten and would be instead repurposed as a makeshift Halloween missile).
4. The horror films
Turn down the lights, close the curtains and make sure the doors are locked.
There are few joys greater in life than truly scaring the bejesus out of yourself and the cold nights leading up to Halloween are a perfect time to check out some quality horror films.
If it’s a cult horror you’re after, The Evil Dead trilogy is mad, scary fun.
Clip via John J. Rambo
If you’d prefer to see a horror about a cult then check out the wonderfully unsettling The Wicker Man.
If you’d like to see a horrific remake of the same film, check out the Nic Cage section on youtube.
5. The parties
It’s Hallowe’en weekend and there’s usually a few parties to attend.
Whether it’s a small, intimate affair…
… or something a bit bigger…
… nothing beats a really fun Halloween party.
Just make sure you haven’t all been lured to the same house by a monstrous former acquaintance whose life you accidentally helped ruin. Historically, that won’t end well.
6. The costumes
The best part of Halloween is going all out on a cool costume.
Whether you goal is to scare…
… terrify…
… or confuse…
… no Halloween is complete without a proper disguise to get you in the spooky spirit.
Sponsored by The Costume Shop
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ podcast – listen to the latest episode now!
