3 Spooktacular Halloween Facts

Each fall, millions of people scour online Halloween stores for the perfect costume. With a never-ending variety of costumes, sweet treats, scary movies, and haunted houses, what's not to love about Halloween? Unfortunately, this spooky holiday only comes around once a year. But that doesn't mean you can't enjoy it all year long! To help you get in the Halloween mood, we're going to share some spooktacular facts about Halloween.

1. Halloween has Irish origins
   While many people think about St. Patrick's Day when it comes to Irish celebrations, Halloween was actually established in Ireland. Halloween stems from Samhain, an ancient pagan festival that was celebrated over 2,000 years ago by Celtic people. This Celtic festival was for the dead -- Celts would dress up in costumes and leave treats for wandering spirits. While their costumes probably like the baseball zombie costumes, female jester costumes, or space cadet costumes we see today, they dressed up nonetheless. The Irish Celts invented typical Halloween aspects we all enjoy today, like the jack-o-lantern. With these strong Irish routes, Halloween is considered by some to be more Irish than St. Patrick's Day.
 
2. Trick-or-treating was influenced by cartoons
   While one of the most popular Halloween activities of going door to door to ask for candy has been around for a very long time, cartoons helped re-popularize it into what it is today. Trick-or-treating dates back to medieval times and was brought to America during the 20th century. However, during WWII, the tradition died off due to sugar rations. But luckily, once the sugar ration ended, comics and cartoons like the "Peanuts" Halloween special helped bring back the activity.
 
3. Jack-o-lanterns were not always made from pumpkins
   Jack-o-lanterns were originally made from turnips, beets, and potatoes. While pumpkins have taken over the Halloween traditions, the use of other vegetables dates back to an old Irish tale about a man called Stingy Jack. The story goes that Stingy Jack tricked the Devil into making a deal that involved the Devil never claiming his soul when he died. When Jack finally died, the Devil couldn't claim his soul so God sentenced Jack to roam Earth with only a burning coal to be used for light. He put the coal into a turnip to use as a lantern, giving way to the name "Jack o' Lantern". From then on, people would carve faces into vegetables to scare away Stingy Jack and other spirits.

Hopefully, these Halloween facts furthered your love for this weird and unusual holiday. Thanks to today's online Halloween stores, we can have access to Halloween items all year long. But if you're waiting to search the online costume stores until fall, you're sure to find other ways to keep Halloween in your heart until then.

If you're looking for an online Halloween store to provide your spooky fix, check out the Halloween Spot. With costumes galore, you're sure to find whatever you're looking for.