Halloween
aka All Hallows' Eve aka All Saints' Eve
Halloween is on October 31st, though some folks shift celebrations if it falls on a weekday eve so everyone can get reasonable sleep. Or, if you're like me, Halloween is the entire month of October.
Many Halloween customs were brought to America by Irish and Scottish immigrants in the 19th century and we've been having a ball with them since.
The holiday is Christian in origin and possibly has roots in the Gaelic harvest festival Samhain. Despite that, most people I know celebrate it in a secular way. We're here for candy and costumes and spooky stories!
Trick-or-Treat
Trick-or-treating is a kid's dream: you get to dress up and run wild for a night and you get free candy for it too! All you had to do was don a costume and holler the prerequisite "Trick or Treat!"
Afterwards, as someone with siblings, we'd dump out our bags on the living room floor and trade candies. My brother only ate chocolates and grape flavoured candy, so the trades were easy.
The kitchen counter was full of candy for the next month or so, the chocolate mixed with the hard candy and gummies until everything sort of tasted like the other. The taste was enough to be not quite as satisfying, but never so strong I'd decide against having a piece.
I now own a house and unfortunately do not live in a neighborhood that attracts a lot of trick-or-treaters. It's possible many of the community trunk-or-treats have drawn them away, or it could be my street just does not have a significant population of children.
Festive Films
A selection of films that either take place on Halloween or are suitably Halloweeny character ensembles. Wikipedia has a full list of films set during Halloween.
- The Addams Family
- supernatural black comedy, 1991
- The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad
- animated anthology, 1949
2nd segment: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
- Goosebumps
- horror comedy, 2015
- Halloweentown
- fantasy comedy, 1998
- A Haunting in Venice
- mystery, 2023
- The Haunting of the Queen Mary
- horror, 2023
- Hell House LLC
- found-footage supernatural horror, 2015
- Hocus Pocus
- fantasy comedy, 1993
- Hotel Transylvania
- animated monster comedy, 2012
- Late Night with the Devil
- supernatural horror, 2023
- Monster House
- animated supernatural horror comedy, 2006
- Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark
- supernatural horror, 2019
- Scream
- slasher, 1996
- Sleepy Hollow
- gothic supernatural horror, 1999
- When Good Ghouls Go Bad
- horror comedy, 2001
Seasonal Shows
A selection of shows that either take place on Halloween or are suitably Halloweeny character ensembles. Wikipedia has a full list of Halloween TV specials.
- The [New] Addams Family
- any episode, 1964-66 [and 1998-99]
gothic sitcom
- Courage the Cowardly Dog
- any episode, 1999-2002
animated supernatural horror comedy
- Goosebumps
- supernatural horror, 2023
- Monster High
- any episode, 2010-18
animated web series
- Over the Garden Wall
- animated mini-series, 2014
- Scooby Doo
- any episode/film, 1969-present
sometimes supernatural, all comedy mystery
Individual Episodes
- Bob's Burgers
- any Halloween episode, 2012-present
- Even Stevens
- S2.E13 A Very Scary Story
comedy, 2001
- Gravity Falls
- S1.E12 Summerween
animated comedy fantasy, 2012
- Hey Arnold!
- S4.E14 Headless Cabbie
animated comedy, 1999
- Mickey's House of Villains
- animated anthology, 2002
- Silly Symphonies
- Skeleton Dance
animated musical short, 1929
Timely Tales
A selection of stories that either take place on Halloween or are suitably Halloweeny character ensembles. Reactor recently published a good article on stories set on Halloween. This also, as always, a list on Wikipedia.
- The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There
- novel by Cathrynne M. Valente, 2012
note: book two in a series
- Goosebumps
- series by R. L. Stine, 1992-present
- The October Country
- short story anthology by Ray Bradbury, 1955
- Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark
- by Alvin Schwartz, illustrated by Stephen Gammell
short story anthology series 1981-91
Comics
- Devil's Candy
- webcomic by Rem and Bikkuri, 2014-present
- Hollow Fields
- manga trilogy by Madeleine Rosca, 2007-09
- The Illustrated Guide to Monster Girls
- manga by Suzu Akeko, English pub. 2019-22
- Soul Eater
- manga by Atsushi Ohkubo, 2004-13
Non-fiction
- Dennison's Bogie Book
- Dennison Manufacturing Co. 1920
some images used on this page come from this book
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