20 Fun Halloween Facts to Test Your Knowledge of This Big Festival

If Halloween is your favorite holiday, it's never too early to begin the festivities.

With this in mind, we're here to celebrate all that relates to the colors orange and black with a compilation of fun Halloween facts that you're going to find utterly fascinating (and horrifying).

Halloween fun facts

Halloween was first celebrated 2,000 years ago

Halloween's origins may be traced back to the ancient Celts who inhabited what is now northern France, the United Kingdom, and Ireland, according to History.com. 

On October 31, which happened one day before the Aztec, Toltec, and Mayan communities celebrated Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, they observed a celebration called Samhain. 

On this day, which marked the beginning of winter and their new year, people believed that the dead had risen from the grave.

best spooky halloween costumes

Fun facts about Halloween history

Jack-o'-lantern comes from the Irish legend of Stingy Jack

Stingy Jack declined to pay for the drink when he invited the devil to have one with him. So he persuaded the devil to turn himself into a coin so he could store it beside a silver crucifix in his home. 

He stated he would release the demon if Jack left him alone and did not take his soul after a year. 

A year later, Jack tricked the devil once more, but this time, God saved him from hell. Jack was sent forth into the night with a flaming coal inside a turnip that had been cut.

Turnips, beets, and potatoes were the traditional materials used to make handmade lanterns. This tradition spread to Scotland and Ireland, then to the United States, where pumpkins were replaced.

The meaning behind black and orange

Halloween fun facts about the colors

According to the Library of Congress, the ancient Celts believed that orange signified the fall harvest and black represented the "death" of summer. This is why black and orange are the colors associated with Halloween.

Find out more here: Why are orange and black the Halloween colors?

Chicken feed was the previous term for candy corn

Despite the beliefs of many, candy corn did not initially receive its name because it tastes like chicken feed. Since maize was the primary grain used to feed hens, George Renninger, the inventor, dubbed the innovation "Chicken Feed" and adorned the box with a vibrant rooster.

 

Trick-or-treating was once postponed

This came about as a result of the sugar shortage during World War II, which apparently made it challenging to make sweets. Still, those confectionery companies did everything they could to get back up and running as soon as the rationing was lifted.

Trick or Treat?

Halloween candy sales in America would fill six Titanics

In a single Halloween week, Americans consume about 600 million pounds of candy, or two pounds of candy each person. 

Vox's data wizards calculate that one big mound of Halloween candy could fill six Titanics!

Women used to play Halloween games to know their future husbands

Halloween used to be associated more with romance than Valentine's Day. The New York Times claims that early 20th-century Halloween celebrations often took advantage of women's yearning for sexual relationships. 

In one game, she had to cut off the apple's skin and toss it over her shoulder, with the idea being that the peel that landed there would symbolize the initials of her future suitor.

Another fun fact about Halloween

Transylvania is a real place

Despite being well-known for its vampire mythology, Transylvania is not a mythical place. It is actually a location located in the heart of Romania.

A city in South Carolina changed its name to "Halloween"

The "City of Halloween" was Conway, South Carolina's new name in 2022. It's called that just in October, but it celebrates Halloween with a parade, tons of decorations, and an abundance of costumes.

Several Americans pretend not to be home on Halloween

Fun facts Halloween

Some Americans refuse to answer the doorbell when trick-or-treaters (or anybody else) hand out candy. Furthermore, a 2021 YouGov survey found that 21% of respondents, or one in five Americans, said they don't spend Halloween night at home.

Halloween was once known as “Black Halloween”

Before costumes and trick-or-treating, Halloween was a time for pranks.

The prank quickly got out of hand, and in 1933 vandals caused millions of dollars worth of property damage nationwide, giving rise to the name "Black Halloween."

Popular Halloween costumes

Fun facts about Halloween costumes

Halloween outfits might be silly, funny, or cute. According to The Visual Capitalist, the most common adult Halloween costumes in 2023 were Barbie, princess, witch, fairy, and Spider Man.

You may also like:

• Best spooky Halloween costumes

• Best Halloween costumes from movies

The word "witch" comes from the Old English wicce

"Witch" is derived from the Old English word wicce, which meant "wise woman" and was originally considered a favorable term.

“The Conjuring” is based on true life events

The Conjuring film

Based on the real case files of paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, the horror movie follows a family as they relocate into a haunted home in Burrillville, Rhode Island.

Reese's Cups are America's favorite candy

Enjoy your Reese's anyway you want—it's Halloween! According to CandyStore.com, M&Ms and Hot Tamales were the next most popular candies, just behind Reese's Cups.

Discover other popular candies in our guide to “What is the most popular Halloween candy in America?”

 

Pumpkins were not carved in the past; turnips were

Originally, the Irish and Scottish carved turnips as a way to honor the spirits of the dead. After coming to the United States, they found that carving pumpkins was much easier, and the rest is history.

Read more: Why do we carve pumpkins on Halloween?

The record for the quickest pumpkin carving

The record for pumpkin carving

While most pumpkin carvers do it for pleasure, in 2013 Stephen Clarke, a competitive pumpkin carver, set a new record by creating his masterpiece in just 16.47 seconds. 

For the pumpkin to be qualified, it has to have mouths, noses, eyes, and ears.

Halloween isn't Day of the Dead (and vice versa)

Despite the misconception that Halloween coincides with the Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos), this is untrue. 

This almost three-thousand-year-old Mexican tradition honors dead family members. It should not, however, be associated with Halloween traditions such as costumes and candy.

Day of the Dead

Halloween postcards used to be a thing

From 1905 until 1920, more than 3,000 Halloween postcards were made in large quantities. For years, individuals sent Halloween greetings via mail until the phone became the main form of communication.

Europe doesn't celebrate Halloween like the U.S.

Halloween was first celebrated in the US by immigrants from Scotland and Ireland, but it wasn't until decades later that the rest of Europe adopted the holiday. 

Even while the holiday is now observed in a number of European countries, it hasn't grown as commercialized as it has in the US.

Fun facts on Halloween in Europe