Happy Halloween! Going to a Halloween party this year? Not sure what to say to someone you just met? To help you be the life of the party we gathered a variety of historical, sweet, and scary Halloween Fun Facts. Use one or use them all as your Halloween party small talk. Check them out below.
Five Halloween Fun Facts from the history books
- The Halloween Holiday that we have come to know and celebrate started out with humble beginnings. The actual birthplace of Halloween dates back to over 2,000 years ago in an area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom and Northern France. The Celts, who inhabited the area at the time, historically are credited with creating Halloween. Though it started out as a Celtic festival it is was not the party atmosphere that we are familiar with today. The festival known as Samhain marked the end of summer and beginning of winter. The Celts associated the beginning of winter with death.
- The ritual of dressing in costume also originated with the Celts during Samhain. During the festival they dressed up as ghosts and evil spirits to hide from real demons and spirits that they believed wandered and roamed their streets.
- The Celts left treats at their doors to appease those same evil spirits that wandered the streets of their towns. They believed the treats would make the spirits happy and that they inevitably would be able to escape death.
- Samhainophobia is the fear of Halloween. Can you guess where that came from?
- The original jack-o-lantern was carved from turnips, potatoes, rutabagas, and beets not pumpkins and illuminated with a candle. They were called turnip lanterns and named after an Irish fellow called Stingy Jack. Irish immigrants brought this tradition to the U.S. with them in the 1800s.
Sweet Halloween Fun Facts
- The National Retail Federation estimates that Americans will spend $2.78 billion on candy in 2017. Though Halloween candy sales are strong, experts are predicting that Easter will take top honors when it comes the amount of money Americans spend on candy. We’ll just have to wait and see.
- Surprise! Candy corn is king. It tops the list as the most popular Halloween candy in six states including Alabama, Idaho, Michigan, New Mexico, Rhode Island, and South Carolina. Many have a love-hate relationship with candy corn. But, whether you like it or not, it’s here to stay. As a matter of fact, candy corn is celebrating its 137th birthday this year. And, one more quick fact—National Candy Corn day is October 30. Don’t forget to celebrate!
- When it comes to candy Americans like their chocolate. Seventy-two percent of treats this Halloween will be chocolate. The most popular chocolate treats for Halloween are Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, Kit Kat Bars, and Butterfingers. Hershey’s manufactures both Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and Kit Kat Bars. The original Kit Kat Bar was manufactured by Rowntree’s of York in the United Kingdom until 1988. And, Butterfingers is a 1923 creation from Chicagoan Otto Schnering.
- In Texas, the three most popular candies are Starburst, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and Almond Joy.
Spooky and the scary Halloween fun facts
- Believe it or not, there cities and towns in the U.S. evoke the spirit of Halloween all year round with spooky and scary names. A few favorites include Hell, MI; Boos, IL; Pumpkin, TX; Black Cat, AR; and Tombstone, AZ.
- Some of our most beloved cities in the U.S. are also the scariest. Chilling ghost tours, stories, and haunted hallways and battlefields are prevelant in such cities as Salem, MA; Sleepy Hallow, NY; Savannah, GA; Key West, FL and Gettysburg, PA.
- Get your scare on. A few of the most terrifying movie classics of all time include Psycho, 1960; Don’t Look Now, 1973; The Exorcist, 1973; Texas Chainsaw Massacre, 1974; Halloween, 1978; The Shining, 1980; The Blair Witch Project, 1999, and newcomer It, 2017.
Enjoy!
