History UsefulNotes / AllHallowsEve

* '''Movies and television:''' While new {{horror}} flicks usually come into theaters at a steady clip year-round (about once a month), autumn is when the studios decide to stack their release schedule with these films, releasing a new one at least once a week, often with an explicit Halloween tie-in. For instance, during the TurnOfTheMillennium the ''Franchise/{{Saw}}'' franchise marketed itself as a modern-day Halloween tradition, with at least one entry bearing the {{tagline}} "if it's Halloween, it must be ''Saw''", and new installments coming out every October like clockwork... or at least until the ''Film/ParanormalActivity'' franchise blew it out of the water and took its place. Stores that sell or rent out movies will dramatically expand their horror sections around this time, and most customers will be more than happy to oblige. With the rise of home video, the release of new horror movies often gets pushed ahead to August, thereby providing ample time to get them onto DVD and streaming by October without also running into SummerBlockbuster season.\\\

* '''Movies and television:''' While new {{horror}} flicks usually come into theaters at a steady clip year-round (about once a month), October is when the studios decide to stack their release schedule with these films, releasing a new one at least once a week. For instance, during the TurnOfTheMillennium the ''Franchise/{{Saw}}'' franchise marketed itself as a modern Halloween tradition, with at least one entry bearing the {{tagline}} "if it's Halloween, it must be ''Saw''", and new installments coming out every October like clockwork... or at least until ''Film/ParanormalActivity'' blew it out of the water and took its place. Stores that sell or rent out movies will dramatically expand their horror sections around this time, and most customers will be more than happy to oblige. With the rise of home video, this has also been the reason why August has become such a popular time to release horror movies -- it provides ample time to get them onto home video and streaming in time for October without also running into SummerBlockbuster season.\\\

* '''Trick-or-treating:''' A practice that is mostly celebrated by children and their parents (although some will tell you that you're never too old to trick-or-treat), in which the kids go door-to-door asking for candy, saying "Trick or treat!" whenever the door is opened. The "trick" refers to the (mostly idle) threat of performing mischief against the homeowners or their property if no treats are given. No, most of us do not view this as extortion. A house is marked as "open" for trick-or-treaters by the presence of a lit jack-o'-lantern and porch lights. Trick-or-treating usually takes place at very specific hours of the evening (often 5-8 PM) so that kids won't stay out too late. The treats are almost always wrapped candies bought from a store, such as chocolate bars, lollipops, Twizzlers, and candy corn. Sometimes, people giving out candy, not wanting to be bothered to go to the door, choose to rely on the honor system, leaving a bowl of candy that kids are expected to only take small amounts of. Kids being kids, the bowl is usually empty, if not outright gone, halfway through the night. A similar, older tradition in Scotland and Wales is "guising", in which the children are expected to do a "turn" (e.g. recite a poem or tell a few jokes) before they get any sweets. The first written record of the phrase "trick or treat" dates back to 1927 and an article in the ''Blackie Herald'', a local newspaper from Blackie, Alberta, Canada.\\\

Candy apples (apples coated with caramel or toffee) used to be a popular treat, but that ended due to [[MediaScaremongering a scare]] in TheEighties over people putting [[RazorApples razor blades, needles, or poison in the apples]]. [[CowboyBebopAtHisComputer In reality]], the [[http://www.snopes.com/horrors/poison/halloween.asp only proven cases]] of people deliberately spiking kids' candy with poison or drugs were crazy parents who were trying to kill their own children (and one of the most famous cases involved Pixi-Stix, a "safe" wrapped candy), not strangers handing out poison at the door. Hiding pins or needles in Halloween candy [[http://www.snopes.com/horrors/mayhem/needles.asp has been known to happen several times,]] but usually as a prank by one's friends -- and it can just as easily be done with a wrapped Snickers bar as with an apple. There certainly wasn't any conspiracy by [[HollywoodSatanism Satanic cultists]] to murder children as sacrifices to the Dark Lord, as has been claimed.[[note]]Perhaps not coincidentally, the rise of this legend came at the same time as the SatanicPanic of TheEighties, when so-called "Satanic ritual abuse" (now believed by most serious investigators to be an {{urban legend|s}}) was being hyped up by churches and even law enforcement as the latest threat ''du jour''.[[/note]] So basically, nice job ruining our fun, [[MoralGuardians assholes]]. Starting TheNewTens, as more states began fully legalizing recreational marijuana, the new big Halloween candy worry is people giving out THC edibles to children; of course, the fact that a small container of THC gummies runs ''much'' more expensive than regular candy (on average, a container with 10 gummies will cost somewhere in the ballpark of $20) doesn't cross their minds.

* '''Mischief Night, [[IHaveManyNames aka]] Devil's Night, Gate Night, Goosey Night, Moving Night, Cabbage Night, Mystery Night, Mat Night, or October 30:''' Remember how we said that there was a conscious effort to de-emphasize the "pranks and mischief" elements of Halloween in favor of more family-friendly activities such as trick-or-treating? Well, those former elements never went entirely away, and nowadays the night ''before'' Halloween (by whichever name you wish to call it) is when many teenagers choose to go out and raise a little hell, thereby keeping alive the tradition of Halloween as a night of pranks and mischief long after the day itself became more sanitized. Pranks usually involve petty vandalism -- such as strewing toilet paper around trees and bushes, [[ProducePelting throwing eggs]] (preferably [[{{Squick}} rotten]]) at houses and cars, rubbing soap or wax on windows, and smashing jack-o'-lanterns -- and/or harmless practical jokes like [[DingDongDitchDistraction ding-dong-ditch]].\\\

* '''Mischief Night[=/=]Devil's Night[=/=]Gate Night[=/=]Goosey Night[=/=]Cabbage Night[=/=]Mat Night[=/=]October 30:''' Remember how we said there was a conscious effort to de-emphasize the "pranks and mischief" elements of Halloween in favor of more family-friendly activities such as trick-or-treating? Well, the former never went entirely away, and nowadays the night ''before'' Halloween (by whichever name you wish to call it) is the one when many teenagers choose to go out and raise a little hell, thereby keeping alive the tradition of Halloween as a night of pranks and mischief long after the day itself became more sanitized. Pranks usually involve petty vandalism -- such as throwing toilet paper into trees, [[ProducePelting throwing eggs]] (preferably [[{{Squick}} rotten]]) at houses and cars, rubbing soap or wax on windows, and smashing jack-o'-lanterns -- and/or harmless practical jokes like [[DingDongDitchDistraction ding-dong-ditch]].\\\
However, in certain places (most infamously [[UsefulNotes/{{Detroit}} Detroit, Michigan]] and [[OopNorth the north of England]]), the night is associated with far more serious acts of vandalism, including [[PyroManiac arson]], putting fireworks in mailboxes, breaking windows, and setting fires in the street. As a result, the police tend to step up their patrols on October 30 to deter vandals. In addition, some parts of the UK put age restrictions on buying items like eggs, flour, and toilet paper around Halloween, in order to prevent under-16s from buying such items for vandalism.

* '''Mischief Night[=/=]Devil's Night[=/=]Gate Night[=/=]Goosey Night[=/=]Cabbage Night[=/=]Mat Night[=/=]October 30:''' Remember how we said there was a conscious effort to de-emphasize the "pranks and mischief" elements of Halloween in favor of more family-friendly activities such as trick-or-treating? Well, the former never went entirely away, and nowadays the night ''before'' Halloween (by whichever name you wish to call it) is the one when many teenagers choose to go out and raise a little hell, thereby keeping alive the tradition of Halloween as a night of pranks and mischief long after the day itself became more sanitized. Pranks usually involve petty vandalism -- such as throwing toilet paper into trees, [[ProducePelting throwing eggs]] (preferably [[{{Squick}} rotten]]) at houses and cars, rubbing soap or wax on windows, and smashing jack-o'-lanterns -- and/or harmless practical jokes such as [[DingDongDitchDistraction ding-dong-ditch]].\\\
However, in some places (most infamously [[UsefulNotes/{{Detroit}} Detroit, Michigan]] and [[OopNorth the north of England]]), the night is associated with far more serious acts of vandalism, including [[PyroManiac arson]], putting fireworks in mailboxes, breaking windows, and setting fires in the street. As a result, the police tend to step up their patrols on October 30 to deter vandals. In addition, some parts of the UK put age restrictions on buying items like eggs, flour, and toilet paper around Halloween, in order to prevent under-16s from buying such items for vandalism.

The 19th century also saw substantial [[UsefulNotes/TheIrishDiaspora Irish]] and Scottish migration to the New World, and these immigrants brought Halloween traditions with them. Back in this time, Halloween in North America was more of a celebration of Irish and Scottish heritage than anything else, much like Columbus Day is for Italian Americans. It was commemorated with parades, large feasts, apple bobbing, and other divination games (mostly based around romance and marriage), as well as pranks and mischief. By the turn of the 20th century, the "pranks and mischief" had become the defining feature of Halloween, turning it into a night of hooliganism and vandalism. As a result, the Boy Scouts and neighborhood groups started working to turn Halloween back into a safe celebration, organizing trick-or-treating events based around the old practice of "guising" to redirect the focus of the festivities away from violence. With Halloween now becoming a popular celebration outside of Welsh, Irish and Scottish neighborhoods, retailers jumped at the opportunity for a new holiday to commercialize. While this commercialization first began in the early decades of the 20th century (mass-produced costumes started appearing in [[TheGreatDepression the 1930s]]), it really took off after UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, and it hasn't stopped since.

* '''Mischief Night[=/=]Devil's Night[=/=]Gate Night[=/=]Goosey Night[=/=]Cabbage Night[=/=]Mat Night[=/=]October 30:''' Whatever you want to call it, the night before Halloween is a night when many teenagers choose to go out and raise a little hell, keeping alive the tradition of Halloween as a night of pranks and mischief after the day itself became more sanitized. Pranks usually involve petty vandalism, such as throwing toilet paper into trees, [[ProducePelting throwing eggs]] (preferably [[{{Squick}} rotten]]) at houses and cars, rubbing soap or wax on windows, and smashing jack-o'-lanterns.\\\

The 19th century also saw substantial [[UsefulNotes/TheIrishDiaspora Irish]] and Scottish migration to the New World, and these immigrants brought Halloween traditions with them. Back in this time, Halloween in North America was more of a celebration of Irish and Scottish heritage than anything else, much like Columbus Day is for Italian Americans. It was commemorated with parades, large feasts, apple bobbing, and other divination games (mostly based around romance and marriage), as well as pranks and mischief. By the turn of the century, the "pranks and mischief" had become the defining feature of Halloween, turning it into a night of hooliganism and vandalism. As a result, the Boy Scouts and neighborhood groups started working to turn Halloween back into a safe celebration, organizing trick-or-treating events based around the old practice of "guising" to redirect the focus of the festivities away from violence. With Halloween now becoming a popular celebration outside of Welsh, Irish and Scottish neighborhoods, retailers jumped at the opportunity for a new holiday to commercialize. While this commercialization first began in the early decades of the 20th century (mass-produced costumes started appearing in [[TheGreatDepression the 1930s]]), it really took off after UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, and it hasn't stopped since.

The 19th century also saw substantial [[UsefulNotes/TheIrishDiaspora Irish]] and Scottish migration to the New World, and these immigrants brought Halloween traditions with them. Back in this time, Halloween in North America was more of a celebration of Irish and Scottish heritage than anything else, much like Columbus Day is for Italian Americans. It was celebrated with large feasts, apple bobbing, and other divination games (mostly based around romance and marriage), as well as pranks and mischief. By the turn of the century, the "pranks and mischief" had become the defining feature of Halloween, turning it into a night of hooliganism and vandalism. As a result, the Boy Scouts and neighborhood groups started working to turn Halloween back into a safe celebration, organizing trick-or-treating events based around the old practice of "guising" to redirect the focus of the festivities away from violence. With Halloween now becoming a popular celebration outside of Welsh, Irish and Scottish neighborhoods, retailers jumped at the opportunity for a new holiday to commercialize. While this commercialization first began in the early decades of the 20th century (mass-produced costumes started appearing in [[TheGreatDepression the 1930s]]), it really took off after UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, and it hasn't stopped since.

All Hallows' Eve. All Saints' Eve. November Eve. Samhain. October 31. Whatever you call it -- and whether you like it or not -- [[AntiquatedLinguistics Hallowe'en]] is a holiday that has pretty much ingrained itself into American (and, [[EaglelandOsmosis in turn]], global) culture.

And finally, with so much controversy over its alleged pagan history, what do actual pagans think about it? Celtic pagans (of both the [[UsefulNotes/NeoPaganism neo-pagan]] and reconstructionist variety) consider the season to be a holy time of year, and make offerings to the gods and the ancestors. A fair number of UsefulNotes/{{Wicca}}ns, however, feel that the modern, Western incarnation of the holiday is offensive, since they see it as promoting old stereotypes and caricatures of "{{wicked witch}}es" that serve to make people suspicious and fearful of real-life pagans and witches. (Incidentally, one ''Series/BostonLegal'' episode, "Witches of Mass Destruction", featured conservative Christians and hardline Wiccans [[EnemyMine teaming up against Halloween]], which is sad.)