Halloween: a short-ish history

Anyone could see that the wind was a special wind this night, and the darkness took on a special feel because it was All Hallows' Eve. – Ray Bradbury, The Halloween Tree

It all starts with Samhain…

Every Halloween, you’ll get people in the UK whining that it’s an American invention that doesn’t belong here.

And every Halloween, I roll my eyes and don’t even engage them in conversation, which is my general policy, no matter how much I want to tell them that they’re just bloody wrong.

Luckily for my blood pressure alone, I think the fact that Halloween actually started on these isles is becoming increasingly common knowledge, even if no-one knows how to pronounce the original festival (like ‘sow-un’, as in piggy ‘sow’ not chucking-seeds-about ‘sow’).

Samhain, which means ‘summer’s end’ in Gaelic, was an ancient Celtic festival that heralded the beginning of winter and the ‘darker half’ of the year. As this was thought to be a ghostly time of year when the spirit realm brushed up against the physical world, the Celts honoured the dead by burning the bones of sacrificed animals (which incidentally gives us the word ‘bonfire’). There was, of course, also a feast and some people even wore costumes made from animal skins or heads.

And sticking to the costume theme, ‘guising’ (presumably short for ‘disguising’) doesn’t date that far back but it does come from the Middle Ages, when people dressed up as evil spirits on Halloween in order to blend in and avoid being terrorised as they went from house to house to receive offerings for warding off evil. As for carving fearsome faces into various root vegetables, that seems to date from the 17th Century.

Irish immigrants naturally took these customs to America, where pumpkins were much more readily available, and guising gradually morphed into trick or treating. And yes, this shinier, more modern version of Halloween was imported back to us, although we still tend to do scarier, gorier costumes than our stateside cousins.

All Hallowtide

These days, Halloween celebrations are more or less over in one night. But in the Christian calendar of centuries past, Halloween (or All Hallows Eve) was just the beginning of three days of commemoration, known as All Hallowtide. All Saints Day, 1 November, is the day to remember all saints and martyrs throughout Christian history (and it’s still a public holiday in many countries, such as France), while All Souls Day on 2 November was when priests encouraged their flock to pray for the souls of the departed.

I like to celebrate All Hallowtide and its glorious mishmash of traditions, both Christian and pagan, rather than just Halloween. This was influenced by my time in Mexico, when I celebrated Halloween, Day of the Dead, and Hanal Pixan at the same time, the latter two of which do extend to the 2 November (sidenote: if you’ve never seen Coco, please do – it’s a beautiful, authentic portrayal of the celebration).

Freaky fun facts

·         John Keats was born on Halloween 1795

·         Robert Burns of ‘Auld Lang Syne’ fame actually wrote a poem called ‘Halloween’

·         If you’re looking for books set at Halloween, Ray Bradbury’s Something Wicked This Way Comes and Hallowe’en Party by Agatha Christie are two good shouts

·         As for films, aside from the obvious, Casper, Hocus Pocus, and Ginger Snaps all happen around Halloween (as does the end of The Addams Family)

The Witching Season in Coldharbour

Halloween is a very significant date in Coldharbour, especially those in 1923, 1969, and 1985. It will also be the setting for a later book in the series. But for now, let’s look back at 1984, when four teenagers attempt a séance…

When Alex turns around, she sees …

Herself.

More or less.

Herself and Matthew and Sam and Shaz in all their growing pains glory.

“You don’t have to take part,” Alex – well, Lexy as she was (is?) then (now?) – says, “we only need three people in the circle.”

Shaz – Shazza – backs away from the table.

“I might just let you three do it.”

“Sammy?” Lexy asks.

“I’m fine with it,” Sammy says, “as long as it works how it should.”

“Why wouldn’t it?”

“Cos we’ve never done this before,” Sammy says, “and I think Shazza’s right to have questions. You do hear stories about the Dead. Edda knows loads.”

“There’s nothing to be afraid of,” Lexy says. “Remember, most of Mouse’s best friends are Dead.”

Something wicked this way comes.

Happy Halloween!