45 Fun Facts About Scary Halloween

Which ancient Celtic festival is considered one of the origins of modern Halloween traditions?

Many Halloween traditions are believed to have originated from Samhain, an ancient Celtic festival that marked the end of summer and the harvest, and was associated with the boundary between the living and the dead.

What vegetable was originally used to carve jack-o'-lanterns in Ireland?

The name is tied to the legend of Stingy Jack, doomed to roam the Earth with only a hollowed turnip to light his way.

Which author is credited with writing the novel 'Dracula'?

Bram Stoker, an Irish author, published Dracula in 1897, telling the story entirely through letters, diary entries and newspaper clippings.

The word "zombie" is believed to come from the traditions of which place?

In Haitian tradition the reanimation is the work of a bokor, a sorcerer, rather than a virus.

In spiritualism, what substance is believed to be exuded by mediums during séances?

Ectoplasm, in spiritualism, is a substance or spiritual energy that psychical researchers claimed was 'exteriorized' by physical mediums during séances. Scientists have debunked these claims as hoaxes.

Halloween is the vigil of which Christian feast day?

Halloween is the eve of All Saints' Day, 1 November; All Souls' Day follows on 2 November, completing the three days of Allhallowtide.

Which term names an object, often inscribed with symbols, believed to bring good luck or ward off evil?

A talisman is credited with magical or protective powers, or with bringing its owner good fortune; the Greek evil-eye charm is one that guards against malevolent gazes.

What kind of magic is traditionally used for evil or selfish ends?

Black magic is magic worked for evil or selfish ends; the medieval Church lumped it with witchcraft, which the 1486 treatise Malleus Maleficarum set out to prosecute.

Which Irish Halloween fruitcake is baked with a ring, a coin and other charms hidden inside?

Barmbrack is the Irish Halloween fruit loaf baked with charms; the ring foretells marriage within the year, while the pea means no wedding is coming.

Which early silent film is considered one of the most influential vampire movies, featuring Count Orlok?

Nosferatu (1922), F. W. Murnau's unauthorized Dracula adaptation, renamed the count and cast Max Schreck as Orlok, who brings plague to the town of Wisborg.

During the 1692–93 witch trials in colonial Massachusetts, how many convicted people were hanged?

Fourteen women and five men were hanged, and one more man was pressed to death for refusing to enter a plea.

Which studio's monster series brought Dracula, Frankenstein and the Phantom to the screen in the 1920s and 30s?

The 1931 Dracula was such a hit that the studio rushed Frankenstein into production the same year.

In English and Celtic folklore, a black cat crossing your path is traditionally a sign of what?

In Britain and Ireland a black cat crossing your path is good luck; sailors' wives kept black cats for the same reason, while Americans read the cat as an ill omen.

Which horror subgenre presents recorded media supposedly discovered by characters in the story?

Found footage films such as The Blair Witch Project (1999) present the story as recovered recordings; Cannibal Holocaust used the same device in 1980.

Baking and sharing which food door to door at Allhallowtide is a suggested origin of trick-or-treating?

Soul cakes were shared 'for all christened souls'; Shakespeare mentions 'souling' in The Two Gentlemen of Verona, and children going door to door in costume were 'guising'.

Which fictional creature is usually depicted as vulnerable to silver and resistant to almost everything else?

Werewolves are the monster said to be killed only by silver; in Curt Siodmak's 1941 Universal screenplay the werewolf dies from blows of a silver-headed cane.

Which killer, who attacks teenagers in their dreams wearing a striped sweater and bladed glove, stalks A Nightmare on Elm Street?

Freddy Krueger was played by Robert Englund in the original, which also gave Johnny Depp his film debut.

Count Dracula's surname is thought to derive from the patronymic of which ruler?

Vlad the Impaler (Vlad III) ruled Wallachia in three reigns; his father Vlad II Dracul gave him the patronymic Drăculea, 'son of Dracul'.

Which 'Master of Suspense' made The Birds in 1963 and turned up in cameos in most of his own films?

Alfred Hitchcock's films earned 46 Academy Award nominations, yet he never won Best Director despite five nominations.

What year was George A. Romero's influential zombie film 'Night of the Living Dead' released?

Night of the Living Dead premiered in Pittsburgh on 1 October 1968, shot in black and white by George A. Romero for roughly $114,000.

Which horror writer created Pennywise the Dancing Clown and the fictional town of Derry, Maine?

Stephen King set It, his 1986 novel, in Derry, one of the fictional Maine towns that recur across his horror fiction.

What is a ghost that makes itself known through loud noises and moving or broken objects commonly called?

Poltergeist is German for 'rumbling ghost' or 'noisy spirit', a name for physical disturbances rather than apparitions.

Which accused man in the 1692 Massachusetts witch trials died under torture for refusing to enter a plea?

Giles Corey, about 81, was pressed under stones for two days in September 1692 after refusing to plead; his wife Martha was hanged days later.

What iconic mask does the character Jason Voorhees wear in the 'Friday the 13th' film series?

Jason Voorhees first donned the hockey mask in Friday the 13th Part III (1982); it has identified him in every film since.

Which film was the first horror movie nominated for the Best Picture Oscar?

The Exorcist (1973) earned ten Oscar nominations including Best Picture; William Friedkin directed it from William Peter Blatty's adaptation of his own 1971 novel.

Which mythical creature is a harbinger of death, its mournful wailing said to foretell a family member's passing?

The banshee of Irish folklore keens for the dying and was said to summon the death coach with her cry, or travel alongside it.

Frankenstein grew out of an 1816 ghost-story contest proposed by which poet during a rainy Swiss summer?

Lord Byron's challenge to Mary, Percy Shelley and John Polidori produced a novel by an 18-year-old, published anonymously in London on 1 January 1818.

Which character wears a white mask and wields a large knife in the "Halloween" film series?

Michael Myers's white mask in the 1978 Halloween was a William Shatner Captain Kirk mask, painted white and bought for under two dollars.

What is the name of the red-haired killer doll, possessed by a serial killer's spirit, in the Child's Play franchise?

Chucky is so central that the Child's Play franchise, created by Don Mancini, is colloquially known by his name.

Which figure from Washington Irving's 'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow' pursues Ichabod Crane?

The Headless Horseman, the ghost of a Hessian soldier in Washington Irving's 1820 tale, chases Ichabod Crane; Ireland's dullahan is a similar figure.

Which of these is a popular Halloween game involving apples floating in water?

Apple bobbing, also known as ducking for apples, is a traditional Halloween game where participants try to catch apples floating in a tub of water using only their teeth.

What type of creature is often depicted as dwelling in graveyards and feeding on corpses?

Ghouls are mythical creatures, often associated with Arabic folklore, that are said to dwell in cemeteries and consume the flesh of the dead.

Which horror franchise features Jigsaw, who builds elaborate traps to test his victims' will to live?

Saw (2004), directed by James Wan, introduced John Kramer, the Jigsaw killer whose traps force victims to prove they value their lives.

Irish and Scottish immigrants carried most Halloween customs to North America during which century?

Mass Irish and Scottish immigration in the 1800s, especially after the 1840s famine, brought Halloween customs to North America; American influence later exported the holiday worldwide.

Which horror director created the 'Halloween' film series and composed its theme music?

John Carpenter directed, co-wrote (with producer Debra Hill) and scored the 1978 original; its piano theme, in 5/4 time, is his own composition.

Which internet-born figure is an unnaturally tall, thin humanoid with a featureless face and a black suit?

A near-fatal 2014 stabbing in Waukesha, Wisconsin, carried out by two girls in his name, inspired the documentary Beware the Slenderman.

What is a 'grim reaper' commonly associated with?

The Grim Reaper is the personification of death, a robed skeleton with a scythe; the image spread across Europe after the Black Death of the 14th century.

What is the demonically possessed doll featured in a series of modern horror films called?

Annabelle is a notorious haunted doll, central to a series of horror films within 'The Conjuring' universe, based on alleged real-life paranormal events.

Which 1941 monster movie starred Lon Chaney Jr. as Larry Talbot, cursed after a bite in Wales?

The full moon was never shown or mentioned in the 1941 film; it was retconned in for the 1943 sequel.

The Ouija board received its commercial patent in which year?

It was sold as an innocent parlor game until spiritualist Pearl Curran popularized it as a divining tool during World War I.

What is the name of the ancient practice of attempting to communicate with the dead?

The point was usually divination: the dead were summoned to foretell events or reveal hidden knowledge.

Which horror film is known for its iconic shower scene, accompanied by screeching violin music?

Bernard Herrmann wrote the all-strings score, and Saul Bass storyboarded the shower scene.

Whose 1819 tale "The Vampyre" introduced the charismatic, aristocratic bloodsucker to English fiction?

His villain, Lord Ruthven, went on to star as the antihero of a whole series of vampire plays.

Which horror film franchise features a character named Pinhead, leader of the Cenobites?

The series is based on Clive Barker's novella The Hellbound Heart, and Doug Bradley played the grid-headed Cenobite in the early films.

What is the traditional name for a witch's book of spells and rituals?

The word comes from the Old French grammaire, once used for any book written in Latin.