Halloween Trivia

Children love Halloween. They get to dress up and do scary things and best of all they get treats. Here is a little bit of Halloween trivia for you. Did you know that many think the Druids were the first to celebrate Halloween? Their festival Samhain, on November 1st, was a time to honor the dead at the end of their harvest season. Through the years, the night became known as Eve of All Hallows, Hallow Even, then finally Halloween.

But that still does not explain the trick or treat and costume part of Halloween that children enjoy today. That part of Halloween trivia is also rooted in the Druid’s festival Samhain. On the evening before the festival, food was left on the doorsteps. This food was supposed to ward off the hungry spirits of the dead and keep them from entering the house. To keep the same spirits from bothering them, people out celebrating the festival would dress up so the spirits would not recognize them. Over the years, the tradition changed to children dressing up as the spirits themselves and home dwellers offering the “spirits” candy to keep them out of their homes. The popular costumes of that era, ghost, goblin and witch, are still very popular as Halloween costumes today.

Did you know that bats drinking blood is not just a Halloween myth? There are bats that live in Central and South America that do drink blood. However, they do not care about human blood. They look for blood of cattle, birds and even horses. Do you like to carve a pumpkin for Halloween? The largest one ever weighed in at 1,446 pounds. And while you may thinks kids are the only ones that enjoy Halloween, statistics show that 67% of adults also celebrate! Now you have a little bit of Halloween trivia to think about next time the holiday rolls around.