Because the movie Halloween (1978) was on such a tight budget, they had to use the cheapest mask they could find for the character Michael Meyers, which turned out to be a William Shatner Star Trek mask. Shatner initially didn’t know the mask was in his likeness, but when he found out years later, he said he was honored.
https://www.factretriever.com/halloween-facts
“Some teeth long for ripping, gleaming wet from black dog gums. So you keep your eyes closed at the end. You don’t want to see such a mouth up close. before the bite, before its oblivion in the goring of your soft parts, the speckled lips will curl back in a whinny of excitement. You just know it.”
Pinhead: Explorers… in the further regions of experience. Demons to some, angels to others.
Sugar rationing during World War II halted trick-or-treating.
After the rationing ended, the tradition grew into what we’re familiar with today. Candy companies started launching advertising campaigns to capitalize on the ritual.
https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/holidays/halloween-ideas/a35150/halloween-facts/
And in the way of children, he did feel something and knew they were no longer alone. A great hush had fallen over the woods; but it was a malefic hush. Shadows, urged by the wind, twisted languorously around them.
– Stephen King
Christians, in an effort to convert pagans, changed Samhain in the 11th century to a three-day celebration from October 31st to November 2nd. The first night of this holiday is called All Hallow’s Eve, which eventually became Halloween.
I definitely do not like Halloween. I don’t like masks, creepy clowns, dark things, goblins or witches. They’re not just my thing.
Tyler Perry
Fears of poisoned Halloween candy are unfounded.
One of parents’ biggest fears is that their child’s Halloween candy is poisoned or contains razor blades.
In reality, this fear is almost entirely unfounded. There are only two known cases of poisoning, and both involved relatives, according to LiveScience. In 1970, a boy died of a heroin overdose. The investigators found it on his candy, but in a twist they later discovered the boy had accidentally consumed some of his uncle’s heroin stash, and the family had sprinkled some on the candy to cover up the incident.
Even more horrifically, in 1974 Timothy O’Bryan died after eating a Pixy Stix his father had laced with cyanide to collect on the insurance money, according to Smithsonian Magazine.
https://www.businessinsider.com/13-facts-you-never-knew-about-halloween-2013-10
The Thing on the Doorstep
“The previous evening I saw upon the stair,
A little man who wasn’t there,
He wasn’t there again today
Gracious, how I wish he’d leave… “
Antigonish (William Hughes Mearns)
The average American eats about 3.4 pounds of Halloween candy – the weight of a small chihuahua in a Halloween costume!
https://www.ef.com/wwen/blog/language/13-thrilling-facts-bet-didnt-know-halloween/
“No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality; even larks and katydids are supposed, by some, to dream. Hill House, not sane, stood by itself against its hills, holding darkness within; it had stood so for eighty years and might stand for eighty more. Within, walls continued upright, bricks met neatly, floors were firm, and doors were sensibly shut; silence lay steadily against the wood and stone of Hill House, and whatever walked there, walked alone.”
— Shirley Jackson, The Haunting of Hill House
The word “witch” comes from the Old English wicce, meaning “wise woman.” In fact, wiccan were highly respected people at one time. According to popular belief, witches held one of their two main meetings, or sabbats, on Halloween night.
http://www.darkshadowghosttours.com/100-halloween-fun-facts.html
“For no mere mortal can resist the evil of the thriller.”
— Vincent Price, “Thriller”
The owl is a popular Halloween image. In Medieval Europe, owls were thought to be witches, and to hear an owl’s call meant someone was about to die.
https://www.theholidayspot.com/halloween/facts.htm#MJ6w1CVQVq0oyIsD.99
“There’s no honorable way to kill; no gentle way to destroy; there is nothing good in war except its end.”
– Abraham Lincoln
Did you know people use to dance for treats on Halloween?! Trick or treaters in medieval times would go door-to-door asking for treats and in return would dance, sing, or pray.
When witches go riding, and black cats are seen, the moon laughs and whispers, ‘tis near Halloween.
~ Author Unknown
For many women in the early 20th century, Halloween was about finding love.
Games like Snap Apple were popular, in which participants could only use their teeth to bite into an apple suspended from a stick — and the first one to succeed would marry.
Women also used to toss apple skins over their shoulders, hoping the scraps would land on the floor in the shape of their future husband’s initials.
He may not enter anywhere at the first, unless there be some one of the household who bid him to come, though afterwards he can come as he please.
Pumpkin carving in bulk is a popular Guinness World Record. The proud Halloween enthusiasts of Highwood, Illinois took the record in 2011 with 30,919 simultaneously lit Jack-O-Lanterns.
https://www.mic.com/articles/17477/halloween-history-13-strange-facts-on-why-we-celebrate-halloween
Harry Houdini, the Hungarian-born escape artist and illusionist, defied and “escaped” death many times. Ironically, his ultimate demise came on Halloween night in 1926. A student hammered him in the stomach one night in late October, before he was able to brace himself to properly withstand the blows. A fever took hold of him, as well a serious case of appendicitis. He continued to perform more shows, but a little more than a week later, on October 31, he died from his injuries.
“Demons are like obedient dogs; they come when they are called.”
― Remy de Gourmont
Come back next Thurs for the completion of my home decor and party from 2003 on Halloween
and on Saturday we;ll have Odds and Pieces (or something like that that fits right into the season…..and heaven (or Hell) knows what my Friday thing will be.
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