Happy Halloween, Mag fans! While you’re planning your costumes and getting ready for a night of trick-or-treating, we thought we’d round up some weird, fascinating and utterly unbelievable facts about Halloween! How many of these did you already know?
10) Halloween is an ancient celebration! It dates back about 2,000 years to a Celtic festival of the dead called Samhain (pronounced Sow-en). This festival was celebrated for two days, starting on November 1.
9) More candy is sold on October 28 than any other day of the year.
8) Halloween’s official colours were chosen because black symbolizes darkness and orange symbolizes the fall harvest.
7) Halloween in Mexico is called Día de los Muertos, or “Day of the Dead” in English. This three-day celebration honours the dearly departed, who supposedly return to their graves on October 31.
6) In the Celtic times, Jack-O-Lanterns were carved out of large turnips rather than pumpkins.
5) The name Jack-O-Lantern came from the Irish folktale “Stingy Jack”. The story is about a man who’s trickster ways made him unfit for both heaven and hell. According to the tale, his soul still walks along the living, using a carved “lantern” to light his way.
4) A fear of Halloween is called “Samhainophobia”.
3) Watch out, Spider-Man! In Hollywood, there’s a $1,000 fine for using silly string on Halloween.
2) Love Snickers? We do too! And this snack is also the most popular Halloween treat!
1) The first known mention of trick-or-treating was in 1927 in Canada (Blackie, Alberta, to be exact)!