Halloween has always been a time for candy, pranks, costumes and things that go bump in the night. “Trick or Treat” is a phrase used countless times on the night of October 31. Children and teenagers roam throughout the neighborhood streets, ringing doors and asking for candy. There seems to be no reason behind the request today, besides the joy of gluttony; however, this common phrase does retain a history.
Back in the early 1900’s, neighboring children would vandalize shops or stores on Halloween night and would often “dress-up” so as not to be recognized. In hopes of gaining protection, shopkeepers would give out a loaf of bread or sweets to children to protect their shop from the vandals.
The term “trick or treat” came from these events, and although it died down heavily during the Depression and World War 2, it came back permanently afterwards when the baby boom occurred across the nation.
The 1950’s brought about the first sale of bite-sized candy to hand out on Halloween night, effectively concreting this tradition into America’s roots.
Along with the tasty part of Halloween, there is always the ominous side that makes this holiday exhilarating to so many. Growing up, every child hears about vampires that will suck blood, ghosts that will haunt dreams and witches that will cackle in the night sky.
Being older, these monsters seem infantile compared to brain-sucking zombies, black-haired grudges and psychopaths who turn human flesh into coats.
The international concept of a vampire stemmed from Bram Stoker’s classic novel Dracula, which includes all of the regular vampire lore people hold in their minds today. However, Stoker’s novel was not all fiction; it was based off of a real-life figure called Vlad Tepes, more morbidly known as Vlad the Impaler.
Vlad was most known for his extremely violent nature and grisly fascination with beheading people. It is rumored that he beheaded up to 100,000 men, women and children of Wallachia.
He once insisted on having dinner outside as his guards cut off body parts and impaled people while he ate. It is obvious why vampires now seem so scary. Ghosts were the first-ever “monsters” to be mentioned with the holiday of Halloween or “Samhain”. It was believed that on “All Hallows Eve” the lines between the world of the living and the dead became blurred.
On October 31, the spirits were said to come back from the dead and haunt the surrounding inhabitants. To precaution this, many people would “dress-up” to look as though they were one of the undead in hopes of being overlooked by the ghoulish specters.
Along with ghosts, there was always talk of witchcraft. Witches have been around for ages, always showing up in myths, stories and religion.
Witches are commonly viewed as ugly, warty old women who are often seen mixing a brew of hair-raising ingredients, cackling through the night sky on a knobby broomstick or casting spells on those who displease them.
The fear of witches mainly stemmed from the people’s fear of being turned into a toad or seeing evil spirits called up from their pasts. The witches themselves seemed scarier once they became taboo and were always on the minds of the people.
Senior Charles Cooper said, “We scare little kids and trick-or-treat [as part of our Halloween tradition].”
Today, Halloween is less traditional and more commercialized. In America, trick-or-treating is merely a fun pastime and celebration for the day of frights. People no longer dress in only scary costumes but anything that doesn’t represent their typical selves.
“I am going to be a ninja for my brother, because he used to always say ‘sss, sss, sss- ninja’,” said sophomore Erica Shurtleff.
Trick-or-treating has typically lessened in ages and is now seen as a child’s tradition. “It’s dumb because people think it’s not cool if you dress up for Halloween. Forget them,“ said junior Anthony Caban.
People today throw costume parties and often decorate their houses for the season with pumpkin, ghosts, skeletons, black cats. “We party the night away,” said junior Cody Jackson.
Halloween is one of the most looked- forward to holidays just because it offers everything: family fun, traditions, costumes, monsters, haunted houses, the all important candy, and the feeling of sheer excitement brought on by the macabre foreboding that meanders in the air.
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