Mexico, Spain and Latin America.
Latin culture celebrate All Souls’ Day on November 2nd which begins with a 3 day celebration starting on the evening of October 31st, known as Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). This celebration isn’t, as it is commonly believed to be, a Latin version of Halloween, however the two holidays share some traditions. This celebration honours the dead who are believed to return to the land of the living on Halloween. On October 31st, Latin families decorate their homes and build alters to leave offerings (ofrendas) and their loved ones favourite food items. The prominent symbols that are related to the Day of the Dead are skeletons (Calacas) and skulls (Calaveras). During the festivities, people commonly wear skull masks and eat sugar candy in the shapes of skulls. You can wish someone a happy Day of the Dead by saying “Feliz dia de los Muertos”.
Ireland and Scotland.
Celebrated every year on October 31st, Halloween is the spookiest time of the year and is spent running around in costumes playing trick or treat with friends. The origin of Halloween date back all the way to ancient Celts, particularly those in Ireland and Scotland, and the festival of Samhain, pronounced Sah-win, who lived in the UK around 2000 years ago. Ancient Celts would mark the end of their summer and harvest time with the festival and would begin their new year on November 1st. The Celts associated winter time with human death and thus believed that on the night before the New Year, the boundary between the land of the living and the land of the dead was at its thinnest; this would allow the spirits of the deceased to return to earth. These days, Ireland celebrates this time in a more traditional way. In the countryside, bonfires are lit and children get dressed up in costumes and spend the evening trick or treating. Many families will have parties and play games like Snap-Apple, which involves people trying to take a bite out of a hanging apple, bobbing for apples and treasure hunts. Traditionally an Irish fruitcake known as Barnbrack is eaten, which is baked with a treat baked inside. This treat can vary but it is believed to tell the eaters future. For example, if a ring is found, the person eating will soon get married whereas a piece of straw means a prosperous year is coming.
Jack-O-Lanterns originated in Ireland after the story of Stingy Jack, who played a trick on the devil and was cursed to wander the earth with a lantern made of a turnip as he was not allowed to enter heaven or hell upon his passing. These days’ pumpkins are more commonly associated with the holiday as they were the local produce in America when the holiday gained popularity.
Some adoption centres refuse to adopt black cats around Halloween for fear that they may be used for nefarious purposes. In ancient times, black cats would have been used in satanic rituals in the lead up to Halloween and were often linked to Witches in medieval Europe. However some adoption centres are going the other way and promotion the adoption of black cats, often a symbol of bad luck, and use screening and interviews to weed out anyone who isn’t genuinely looking for a fur-ever pet.
Trick or Treat originally began when the poorest children in the village would beg door to door for food and money. In exchange for the generosity of those who gave, the children would pray for the souls of their recently deceased loved ones, this became known as ‘souling’. The act of dressing up as something spooky came from an act called ‘guising’, because what better way to escape the angry eyes of spirits than by dressing up as one.
Vampires – These creatures survive by drinking their victims' blood; they are often portrayed as having supernatural abilities, such as the ability to transform into bats and immortality. Vampire-like creatures are scattered throughout human history, dating back to ancient Mesopotamia, however our current perception of vampires comes from European folklore. There are many famous vampires in literature, from Lestat de Lioncourt to Edward Cullen but the most notable is Count Dracula from Bram Stoker’s gothic classic, Dracula.
Witches – The history of witches is a complex and often misunderstood one which is intertwined with religious beliefs, social fears and cultural biases. The term Witch has evolved over the years, but it generally referred to someone who boosted supernatural powers and would be associated with magic or witchcraft. Prior to the Middle Ages, those we would deem witches would have been natural healers, Pagans or Wiccans. With the advancement of the catholic church, these practices were deemed witchcraft and anyone thought to be practicing them would be eradicated. Witch hunts became widespread in various parts of the world, most notable being the Salem Witch Trails in America and the Pendle Witch Trails in Lancashire. Some notable witches from literature are Macbeth’s Witches from Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, The Wicked Witch of the West from L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and even Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter series, although she isn't the classical portrayal of evil.
Werewolves – Known for their ability to turn from human to a wolf with a full moon, Werewolves have been part of folklore across various cultures for centuries. In the Greek mythology, Zeus turned the mortal Lycaon into a wolf; an example of werewolf related stories in ancient writings. There were many stories of how a werewolf came to be, from demonic possession to being born a werewolf. There is every possibility that those believed to be werewolves suffered from hypertrichosis, a condition where the body would grow course excess hair in areas that would not normally have any hair. Werewolves in fiction are few and far between but some tales can be found in The Werewolf of Paris by Guy Endore and his novel The werewolf of London, which served as the basis for the 1935 film. In more modern literautre, Jacob Black and his family are a tribe of werewolves like creatures, human who can transform to a wolf at will, in the Twilight series.
