Top 10 facts about Hallowe'en
TODAY is Hallowe’en, the night before All Saints’ Day, when witches are said to take to the air and wreak havoc.
1. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, it should be spelled ‘Hallow-e’en’ as the name is a contraction of ‘All-Hallow-even’.
2. The date of October 31 was chosen as it was the last day of the year in the old Celtic calendar in which the year began on November 1.
3. Hallowe’en had its origins in the Celtic festival of Samhain marking the final harvest of the year.
4. Ghoulish costumes were worn to frighten away spirits of the dead looking for bodies to possess.
5. The magician and escapologist Harry Houdini died on Hallowe’en in 1926…
Irish immigrants introduced pumpkin carving in the US. In Europe, turnips had been used
6. ...and Mussolini became prime minister of Italy on Hallowe’en in 1922.
7. The first four Halloween films were released just before Hallowe’en. The closest to the day was Halloween II, released on October 30, 1981.
8. The mask the killer wore in the first Halloween film was a Captain Kirk death mask from Star Trek sprayed white.
9. Irish immigrants introduced pumpkin carving in the US. In Europe, turnips had been used.
10. In the USA, an estimated $7bn a year (£4.3bn) is spent on Hallowe’en celebrations.