Category: Halloween

Anthesteria—Sometimes called the Greek ALL SOULS’ DAY, Anthesteria was a three-day festival in honour of Dionysus held annually at Athens from the 11th to the…

Anoka, Minnesota—“The Halloween Capital of the World.” Anoka claims to be the first U.S. city to put on Halloween celebrations to divert PRANKING. In 1920,…

Alphabet Game— A method of FORTUNETELLING at Halloween parties involving letters cut from a newspaper and then floated in a container of WATER; the letters…

Allison Gross—The title of a Scottish ballad in which the eponymous character, the ugliest WITCH “i’ the north country” endeavoured to seduce a fine young…

Allantide—Cornish name for HALLOW-TIDE; derives from the nineteenth-century (and earlier) custom of giving each member of the family an Allan APPLE on Halloween. Eating the…

All Hollands Day—Hampshire name for All Saints’ Day. The day was celebrated with plum CAKES called “All Holland cakes” or “All Hallan cakes.” A 1902…

All-Hallown Summer— The warm season which sets in about Halloween; sometimes called “the second summer,” or (in America) “Indian summer.” The French call it L’Été…

All Fools’ Day (also April Fools’ Day)—Traditionally held April 1. Although the origin of the day is uncertain, it’s been celebrated as a day of…

Ahoppa Awan Tewa—Zuñi celebration held towards the end of October (the name means “the dead their day”). Food for the dead is thrown on the…

African Americans—The history of African Americans and Halloween mirrors the history of American racism. In his 1904 poem “Hallowe’en,” black poet Charles Frederick White implies…