- Halloween Costumes and Masks
- Halloween Decorations
- Halloween Special Effects
- Halloween Makeup and Prosthetics
- Halloween Props and Accessories
A Short History of Halloween
Halloween, or Hallow E’en as pronounced by the Irish, dates back 2000 years and was conceived by the Celts who lived in the area of what is now called Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern France. The word actually means “All Hallows Eve” or the night before All Souls Day, what later became known as All Saints Day.
For the Celts, the New Year began on November 1st and was associated with the end of the fall harvest and the beginning of a dark cold winter, a time when a lot of people tended to die. They believed that the transition into the New Year was a boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead that came into flux, and the ghosts of the dead would come to visit. Through the influence of the conquering Romans, the Celts began celebrating Samhain on October 31st by building bonfires and donning costumes made of animal heads and skins, dancing around and burning crops and animals as sacrifices to appease the gods. Story and fortune telling abounded and the Celts believed that the presence of the ghosts assisted the Druids, or Celtic Priests, in predicting the future.
Some Halloween Traditions
In the 1840’s, Irish immigrants fleeing the potato famine brought the Halloween tradition to the shores of the New World. While the tradition of “Trick or Treat” is thought to have originated in Medieval Europe, such pranks as tipping over outhouses and unhinging fence gates were prominent in New England at the time.
A man named Jack lived in Ireland and was a drunkard and a prankster. Somehow, Jack managed to trick the Devil up a tree and trapped him there by carving a cross on the trunk. After making a deal that Satan would not tempt him again, Jack let him down the tree. When Jack died, God would not let him through the pearly gates because of his misspent life, and the Devil wouldn’t let him in Hell because he had tricked him. Satan gave Jack a burning ember to guide him through the frigid darkness between heaven and hell, which Jack placed in a hollowed out turnip to keep it glowing. In America, they discovered that pumpkins make much better Jack O’ Lanterns, and are used to ward off evil spirits.
Halloween in America Today
Just a couple if decades ago, the streets were full of trick or treaters of all ages, dressed in costumes of witches and goblins and begging for candy through the neighborhoods of America. Those that fell in disfavor would often wake up to find their houses wrapped in toilet paper or pummeled with raw eggs.
Today, the practice of trick or treating has pretty much disappeared, largely due to mans distrust of his fellow man, justifiably or not. Infants and toddlers are dressed up and paraded through pre-approved neighborhoods with parental escorts. Needless to say, the tricks are out and only the treats remain.
For adults Halloween is still celebrated – just usually in somebody’s house behind closed doors. Perhaps that’s the way it should be. After all, certainly no good can come from a bunch of incognito grown ups drinking in the spirits on All Hallows Eve!
