DETAILS:
The Cutest Haunted House Ever!
Get ready to be ghosted — but in the cutest way possible! Meet Hakim the Haunted House, an adorably spooky member of the 2024 SpookyBumz Series II collection from Russ/Jazwares. Measuring approximately 7.5 inches, Hakim is an irresistibly soft, squishy beanbag plush designed in the shape of a charming little haunted house, with a wonderfully whimsical Halloween personality. His soft purple-and-pink exterior is covered in delightful embroidered details, including black bats, spiderwebs, windows, a front door, and his mischievous-looking eyes and smile. A bright blue textured roof adds an eye-catching pop of color, while soft black feet complete his delightfully haunted architecture. And because every BumBumz has a personality of its own, Hakim's bio quote delivers one of the best jokes in the collection: Of all the BumBumz, Hakim is "Most likely to ghost you." Hilarious, spooky, and perfectly on theme! Hakim also includes his small matching character sticker attached to the tag, making him an especially fun find for collectors.
Hakim was part of the six-character SpookyBumz Series II 7.5-inch Halloween lineup, alongside Garret the Gargoyle, Pep the Potion Bottle, Zaine the Zombie, Seamus the Spider Web, and Claudette the Cauldron. SpookyBumz are part of the collectible BumBumz family, a line of tactile, sensory-friendly plush characters known for their exceptionally soft, squishy construction and signature bean-filled bottoms that help each character sit upright and squish down. Unlike generic plush, every BumBumz is a named collectible character with its own personality, Bumzdate (birthday), and matching sticker — giving fans a reason to collect, rather than simply own, these adorable stuffed companions. There is always another BumBumz character to meet, gift, and add to the shelf, making the growing collection part of the fun. Hakim's combination of vivid Halloween colors, embroidered detailing, and unmistakable haunted-house silhouette makes him particularly fun to display during the spooky season, while his compact 7.5-inch size makes him easy to add to a plush collection, Halloween display, shelf, desk, or haunted-house-themed decorative motif.
Retired And Rare!
And here's the part collectors will really want to know: the 2024 SpookyBumz Series II collection was a seasonal Halloween release and has since been retired, meaning these characters are no longer being manufactured or offered as part of the current retail lineup. As a result, individual Series II characters — including Hakim — have become increasingly difficult to find, giving this little haunted house an appealing retired, hard-to-find, and collectible status. For fans of BumBumz, Halloween plush, spooky collectibles, or simply adorable characters with a wicked sense of humor, Hakim is a particularly charming piece of the 2024 SpookyBumz lineup and a fun little ghost from Halloweens past. Whether you're assembling the complete six-character Series II squad or simply looking for an unusual retired Halloween plush to add to your collection, Hakim is one haunted house that's much more likely to sit on your shelf than disappear into the night!CONDITION:
New with tag.
Please see photos.
To ensure safe delivery all items are carefully packaged before shipping out.
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*ALL PHOTOS AND TEXT ARE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OF SIDEWAYS STAIRS CO. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.*
"BUM BUMZ BY RUSS — OFFICIAL HOME OF THE PLUSH
Bum Bumz Plush — Collectible Stuffed Animals by Russ
Meet Bum Bumz: irresistibly squishy, huggable plush toys from Russ, each with a bean-filled bottom, a name and a story all their own. From food-shaped favourites to cosmic characters and licensed friends, there’s a Bum Bumz plushie for everyone to collect....
ABOUT THE BUM BUMZ BRAND
What Are Bum Bumz Plush Toys?
Bum Bumz are collectible plush toys from Russ, the plush maker families have trusted for decades. Every Bum Bumz plushie is soft, squishy and weighted with a signature bean-filled bottom, so it sits up, flops just right and feels wonderful to hug. What makes them special is that each one is a character — with its own name, personality and little backstory to discover.
From food-shaped Bum Bumz like Coffee-Mug Murray and Hot-Chocolate Hallie to cosmic characters, holiday friends and licensed favourites such as Hello Kitty and Ted Lasso, the range keeps growing across 4.5-inch, 7.5-inch and 12-inch sizes. Whether you’re buying a first Bum Bumz teddy for a little one or hunting the newest release for your shelf, these are the trending plushies made to be collected, not just cuddled.
Looking for the Bum Bumz official website experience? You’re in the right place — ... brings every character together so fans can meet the whole crew in one spot. You’ll sometimes see the name typed as ‘Bum Bums’, but it’s Bum Bumz: squishy, collectible and made by Russ. Whether you want a first Bum Bumz teddy, a shelf full of BumBumz plushies or a gift set of Bum Bumz stuffed animals, this is where the complete range of Bum Bumz toys comes together to browse, compare and collect." (thebumbumz)
"Jazwares, LLC is an American company headquartered in Plantation, Florida that designs and manufactures toys and other consumer products. As of 2022, the company is owned by investment holding company Berkshire Hathaway. The company is best known for its Squishmallows plush toy line.
History
Jazwares was founded in Sunrise, Florida in 1997 by Judd Zebersky, who left his practicing law career to start the company.[1] Zebersky spent six months visiting factories in China and learning the toy manufacturing process before starting Jazwares, after his wife told him to pursue his dream of "making toys." His wife, Laura Zebersky, also a lawyer, joined in 2005 after selling her practice.[2] The two met in University of Miami School of Law in 1990.[3]
The company launched its first product, oversized plastic cups called Big Sippers, in 1998. The novelty cups were molded to resemble WWE wrestlers and characters from the animated TV series The Simpsons and Pokémon.[4] Since then, the company has focused heavily on licensing entertainment brands for toys, eventually moving to include video games and YouTubers.[5]
In 2008, Jazwares acquired the license to Sega's video game mascot Sonic The Hedgehog and used that license to make action figures and stuffed toys.[6] Eight years after the rights to the Sonic license lapsed in 2014, a Sonic Squishmallow was released in December 2022.[7] In April 2013, video game developer Mojang Studios appointed Jazwares as its license partner for its game Minecraft. Jazwares released its first line of action figures, plush toys and paper craft items in December 2013.[8]
In January 2026, Judd and Laura Zebersky announced that they would be stepping down from Jazwares. The company's chief operating officer, David Neustein, became chief executive officer in March 2026. David joined Jazwares in 2012 as COO, managing operations across the Americas, Asia and Europe, as well as overseeing the company's product development, supply chain and business processes.[9]
Alleghany
In July 2014, Alleghany Corporation completed a minority equity investment in Jazwares.[10] A second Alleghany Corporation equity investment was closed in April 2016, which led to majority stake in Jazwares.[11] It is one of eight portfolio companies Alleghany owns outside of the insurance industry.[12]
In 2017, Jazwares partnered with Hasbro and started releasing Nerf-branded products, such as targets and sports equipment.[13]
In July 2018, Jazwares partnered with video game developer Epic Games to create licensed toys based on its online game Fortnite.[14] That partnership was renewed in 2022, with Jazwares as the exclusive producer of 2" and 4" action figures for the game.
In October 2019, Jazwares acquired Wicked Cool Toys, which focused on licensed toys from brands such as Pokémon, Cabbage Patch Kids, and Tyler Blevins' Ninja. In 2019, the company also announced a partnership with YouTube children's entertainer Blippi.
In February 2020, the K-pop band BLACKPINK announced a collaboration with Jazwares to create dolls in their likenesses.[15] In April 2020, Jazwares acquired toymaker Kellytoy, which had created the Squishmallows brand in 2017.[16] That followed a partnership with Kellytoy that started in February 2019 to promote Jazwares' Russ Berrie brand.[17]
In 2021, Jazwares began a costume division, starting with costumes and accessories based on Marvel Comics superhero characters, which were released in North America.[18] In January 2023, Jazwares signed an agreement with grocery store chain Kroger to have the chain sell costumes in their retail locations.[19] In May 2021, Jazwares launched action figures based on the video game Halo via a stop-motion video using the action figures on the Halo YouTube channel.[20][21]
Berkshire Hathaway
In March 2022, Berkshire Hathaway purchased Alleghany.[11] Jazwares commissioned Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger Squishmallows to commemorate Jazwares' appearance as a portfolio company at the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders festival.[2] The Squishmallows later appeared on auction site eBay for $450.[22] In a 2023 interview, the Zeberskys said they are working closely with Buffett successor Greg Abel.[16]
In May 2023, Jazwares announced the move of its headquarters to a new building in Plantation on SW 6th Court, after more than 25 years in nearby Sunrise on Shotgun Road along the southwest corner of the Sawgrass Interchange.[23]
In June 2023, Jazwares announced a partnership with fast food restaurant chain McDonald's to produce Squishmallows Happy Meal toys.[24]
Acquisitions
Jazwares acquisitions include First Act,[25] Russ Berrie,[26] Zag Toys,[27] Wicked Cool Toys and Kellytoy.[28]
Brands
Jazwares offers product lines for various age groups and interests, including action figures, plush toys, collectibles, role-playing accessories and musical instruments. Examples include BumBumz,[29] Hello Kitty,[30] KPop Demon Hunters,[31] Avatar: The Lat Airbender,[32] and BLDR.[33] The company has engaged in partnerships with entertainment and media properties and has developed products based on licensing fictional characters from popular franchises such as Star Wars, Pokémon, Marvel, Halo,[21] All Elite Wrestling, Fortnite,[14] and Five Nights at Freddy's.
Roblox
In 2018, Jazwares partnered with the online game platform Roblox to create toys based games, characters, and developers in the Roblox universe, such as Roblox action figures.[34] It was Roblox's first foray into merchandising. In May 2022, Jazwares entered a licensing agreement with Uplift Games for its Role-playing video game Adopt Me!, which was developed for and played on the Roblox platform.[35] In June 2023, Jazwares announced a collaboration with Roblox game developers to launch "DevSeries," which would produce toys and other consumer products based on popular Roblox games.[36]
Recognition
Jazwares has received awards including the "Vendor of the Year" award by Toys "R" Us,[37] the 2022 Good Housekeeping Best Toy Award (for Big Fat Yarn Plush Décor Kit and First Act Roll Up Drum Pad), and the annual Kidscreen Hot50 list. Squishmallows has won several awards including the Toy Association's overall Toy of the Year award, Plush Toy of the Year, License of the Year, and People's Choice." (wikipedia)
"Russ Berrie & Company, Inc. sells a wide variety of gift items, including stuffed animals, mugs, picture frames, figurines, greeting cards, and stationery, through retailers located around the world. The company has grown and prospered by appealing to the impulses of shoppers, seeking always to offer fresh merchandise, which reflects current trends and fads. Founded by a New Jersey toy salesman, the company saw its sales escalate dramatically after it went public in the early 1980s and began to acquire other gift makers.
The company that bears Russ Berne’s name was founded in 1963. Berrie himself had always had entrepreneurial leanings. As a child in the East Bronx he worked delivering Sunday newspapers, and selling scorecards at baseball games. After attending the University of Florida, Berrie worked as a salesman and as a manufacturer’s representative, and in 1963, he decided to strike out on his own. With $500, he rented a garage in Palisades Park, New Jersey, and launched his own firm, named after himself. Berrie intended to design, market, and distribute “impulse” gift items.
Berrie believed that the market for impulse gift market was ripe for expansion. Impulse gifts, items that shoppers did not seek specifically but noticed while in a store and purchased on a whim, were designed to be affordable andevoke an emotional response in the shopper. The classic impulse gift was an object such as a stuffed animal, a mug, or a cute figurine found in a gift and card store. Demand for these items had been growing in the early 1960s, and Berrie believed that they could be sold in all sorts of retail outlets, not just stationery and gift stores.
Berrie also chose this field because he felt that his experience in the toy industry would serve him well. He knew which products sold well, and, through the contacts he had made, was able to purchase his merchandise directly from manufacturers. In his first year of business, Berrie himself was Russ Berrie and Company’s sole employee. He handled all tasks, from selling products, to putting them in packages, to typing up invoices. At the end of the year, he had racked up $60,000 in sales.
In 1964, Berrie created his first line of manufactured novelty items. Working with a designer, he came up with a line of stuffed animals and dubbed them “Fuzzy Wuzzies.” In the following year, he supplemented the Fuzzy Wuzzie franchise with the “Bupkis Family,” a group of soft, rubbery dolls. On the basis of the popularity of these products, sales for Russ Berrie & Company continued to grow throughout the company’s first two years.
In 1966, Berrie formally incorporated his enterprise. Also that year, the company moved locations, trading up to a larger facility in Palisades Park, New Jersey, and adding to its work force. In 1968, as the company shifted quarters again, moving to Elmwood Park, New Jersey, Berrie introduced Sillisculpts, small statues with messages inscribed on them, and these, too, became popular sellers.
Berrie used the capital generated by sales of his first three product lines to finance further expansion of the company. Among his chief goals was the creation of a national sales force to sell his products to retailers. In 1968, the company hired its first full–time salesperson. This step allowed Russ Berrie & Company to promote its own products, rather than rely on manufacturers’ representatives, who carried the goods of a several different firms.
In 1971, as sales passed the $7 million mark, Russ Berrie & Company moved again, to a new corporate headquarters facility in Oakland, New Jersey. This location would become the center of the company’s worldwide marketing and distribution businesses. In the following year, Russ Berrie & Company opened a second new facility, when a distribution center, in Santa Rosa, California, came on line. This was the first of a planned network of regional centers, each designed to fulfill warehousing, order processing, customer service, credit, and collections functions for accounts in a separate part of the country.
For its first ten years in business, Russ Berrie & Company concentrated on creating and designing its own products, and then contracted with manufacturers in the United States and abroad to produce them. Key to the company’s success was the maintenance of a steady flow of ever–changing merchandise. Stores that sold Russ Berrie products needed a constant stream of seasonal, holiday, and everyday items to continually appeal to customers. In order to create these products and ensure that they tapped into current trends, Berrie inaugurated a product development department.
By 1973, however, dealings with manufacturers in Asia had become difficult, and Berrie decided to have his company take over the manufacturing of its products. Over the course of the next two years, the company purchased several manufacturing facilities, adding a stuffed animal factory in California, an injection molding factory in Florida, and another factory in Haiti. In addition, the company established a plastics factory in New Jersey and acquired a second plant in Florida. By 1977, Russ Berrie & Company had become a diversified producer and marketer of novelty goods, with a large number of different operations being run under the company’s umbrella.
Such dramatic expansion in Russ Berrie & Company’s activities, however, presented problems, as the company had, according to some critics, lost its focus. Berrie’s expertise lay in sales and marketing, and he made sure to offer a wide variety of carefully selected products. As a manufacturer, however, Russ Berrie & Company was forced to abandon careful selection of products to market, in favor of keeping the machines in its factories running. As a result of its rapid expansion into manufacturing, Russ Berrie & Company found itself on the brink of bankruptcy. When Berrie realized that what his company did best was come up with ideas for novelty items, and market and sell them, not actually manufacture them, the company decided to withdraw from the production end of its business. In the mid–1970s, it began to shut down and sell off its factories.
Following this decision, Berrie flew to the Far East and began to put into place structures for the manufacture of Russ Berrie products by others. In 1977, in Korea, the company set up the first of several satellite offices it would eventually open to facilitate production. Employees in this office were responsible for keeping tabs on items being manufactured for Russ Berrie & Company in the Far East. In this way, by hiring its own direct employees, the company hoped to avoid the difficulties of dealing with agents. Two years later, a second office, in Taiwan, was opened. Workers there oversaw the production of Russ Berrie goods in Taiwan and also took part in product development, helping to produce seasonal catalogues.
Also in 1979, Russ Berrie & Company established a subsidiary in the United Kingdom to serve customers there, as well as in the wider European market. The company set up a distribution center in Southhampton, England, which had a sales and support staff mirroring that of the company’s American operations. With time, this facility was replaced with a larger one and distribution was expanded to cover Ireland, Holland, and Belgium. Russ Berrie & Company also set up agreements with independent distributors in other countries throughout Europe, guaranteeing that its products would achieve wide penetration of this market.
In the early 1980s, Russ Berrie & Company’s sales continued to grow, and the company continued to expand its line of products. In fact, in 1982, the company was listed as one of the 500 fastest growing privately held firms in the United States by Inc. magazine. At this time, Russ Berrie & Company’s sales force had grown to include 200 people. In a reorganization of company activities, the firm split its operations into two units: Plush & Stuff, which sold stuffed animals, fabric dolls, and other soft items; and Gift/Expression, which was responsible for figurines, picture frames, greeting cards, magnets, mugs, and holiday ornaments and designs. With this new structure, each retail account was serviced by two salespeople, one from each division. In order to make this possible, Russ Berrie & Company hired a large number of new salespeople, doubling the size of its domestic sales force.
By 1983, annual sales of Russ Berrie & Company products had exceeded $100 million. To keep track of the increased volume of products, the company installed a new computer system to oversee inventory and sales. Moreover, the company’s MIS department was created for providing accurate data to managers, so that they could make decisions about which merchandise to select or discontinue.
Also in 1983, Russ Berrie & Company opened its Tri Russ International office in Hong Kong. Employees at this location were responsible for overseeing manufacturing in Hong Kong and also for providing sales and product support to all Russ Berrie & Company distributors around the world who did not have their own direct sales representative.
In 1984, Russ Berrie & Company sold stock to the public for the first time, as it was listed on the New York Stock Exchange. In the wake of this move, sales of the company’s products started to grow rapidly. As a sign of this growth, Russ Berrie & Company opened two new warehouses to distribute its goods. One, in South Brunswick, New Jersey, serviced the eastern part of the United States. Another, in Petaluma, California, was designed to help move products from the Far East to other locations within the country most efficiently. Together, these two new facilities boasted 700,000 square feet of space, making the company’s worldwide total of property owned more than 1.5 million square feet of space.
By 1985, Russ Berrie & Company sales had reached $204.6 million, and revenues more than doubled in just two years. At this time, the company embarked upon a program of rapid growth through acquisitions. In that year, Russ Berrie & Company bought Amram’s Distributing Limited, which already functioned as the distributor for the company’s products in Canada. Under the umbrella of the parent company, Amram’s quickly expanded, until it had more than 60 salespeople peddling Russ Berrie & Company products to over 6,300 retailers.
The following year, the company purchased two more firms in its industry: Freelance, Inc. and the Effanbee Doll Company. In 1987, the company also bought Phil Papel Imports, Inc. The Freelance and Papel operations were amalgamated into one subsidiary, called Papel/Freelance, which was served by more than 100 salespeople. This division of the company distributed seasonal and everyday gifts, and was particularly well known for its beverage mugs. More than 20,00 retailers sold these goods throughout the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.
Also in 1987, Russ Berrie & Company entered the retail business for the first time, when it bought Fluf N’stuf, a chain of 21 gift stores. Fluf N’stuf outlets were located in regional malls throughout the East Coast of the United States. In this way, Russ Berrie & Company was able not only to sell its own goods, but to get an accurate picture of where demand for gift items was moving.
Also in 1987, Russ Berrie & Company became a licensee of the National Football League, with the right to sell products marked with the insignia of various NFL teams. At the end of the year, the company was given an award for its high sales of NFL products. Later, the company also began to market Major League Baseball merchandise.
As a result of its steady expansion through acquisition, Russ Berrie & Company reported pre–tax profits of $56 million in 1987. This figure was also enhanced by a boom in the demand for stuffed animals. The following year, however, the market for stuffed animals crashed, as the fad passed, and Russ Berrie & Company’s profits plummeted to $23 million. Consequently, the price of the company’s stock fell as well.
In the late 1980s, the company opened additional manufacturing supervision offices in Indonesia and Thailand, as these areas became locations of production for the company. In addition, Russ Berrie & Company expanded its distribution to areas of the former Soviet Union after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. In time, its products and dolls were even featured in the Moscow airport gift shop.
Russ Berrie & Company continued its expansion through the acquisition in the early 1990s. In 1991, the company bought Bright of America, which produced place mats and stationary products sold primarily through big mass marketers, such as Wal–Mart and Kmart. In the wake of this purchase, Russ Berrie & Company began to utilize this company’s manufacturing facility, located in West Virginia, to manufacture greeting cards and other paper products. Bright also ran a school fund–raising operation, in which schools purchased gift items for the students to resell in order to earn money for clubs and trips. During this time, Russ Berrie & Company also bought Weaver Werks, another gift producer, which specialized in popular and trendy items, such as cleverly packaged jelly beans and candy. The products of this subsidiary were added to the company’s Papel/Freelance division.
In 1992, Russ Berrie & Company’s fortunes got a lift, when the popularity of one of its oldest products, Trolls, first introduced in the 1960s, escalated dramatically. Although they had not been a big seller for many years, suddenly the company’s trolls—squishy dolls with rubbery faces and hair that stood on end—were experiencing wild demand. To meet this clamor, Russ Berry & Company’s designers began to churn out hundreds of different troll products, and the company’s Far Eastern suppliers raced to keep output high. By the end of the year, pushed by the troll fad, the company’s earnings had soared to $300 million.
Flush with this success, Russ Berrie & Company expanded its product line even further in 1993, when it purchased Cap Toys, Inc., a Cleveland distributor of toys and candies. With this move, the company hoped to diversify its activities. Cap Toy products included the Stretch Armstrong and Spin Pops candies, which were supported through heavy advertising and were sold through many large retailers. With the addition of these products, the company’s product line grew to more than 8,000. With a strong record of success over the previous three decades and a solid franchise in the gift market, the company seemed assured of continued success as it moved into the late 1990s." (encyclopedia)
"A stuffed toy is a toy with an outer fabric sewn from a textile and stuffed with flexible material. They are known by many names, such as stuffed animals, plush toys, plushies, stuffies and teddies; in Britain and Australia, they may also be called soft toys or cuddly toys. Stuffed toys are made in many different forms, but most resemble real animals (sometimes with exaggerated proportions or features), mythological creatures, cartoon characters, or inanimate objects. They can be commercially or home-produced from numerous materials, most commonly pile textiles like plush for the outer material and synthetic fiber for the stuffing. Often designed for children, some stuffed toys have become fads and collector's items.
In the late 19th century, Margarete Steiff and the Steiff company of Germany created the first stuffed animals. In 1902, a political cartoon of Theodore Roosevelt inspired the idea for "Teddy's bear". In 1903, Peter Rabbit was the first fictional character to be made into a patented stuffed toy. In 1921, A. A. Milne gave a stuffed bear to his son Christopher, which would inspire the creation of Winnie-the-Pooh. In the 1970s, London-based Hamleys toy store bought the rights to Paddington Bear stuffed toys. In the 1990s, Ty Warner created Beanie Babies, a series of animals stuffed with plastic pellets that were popular as collector's items. Beginning in the 1990s, electronic plush toys like Tickle Me Elmo and Furby became fads. Since 2005, beginning with Webkinz, toys-to-life stuffed toys have been sold where the toy is used to access digital content in video games and online worlds. In the 2020s, plush toys like Squishmallows, Jellycat and Labubu became fads after going viral on social media.
Description
Stuffed toys are distinguishable from other toys mainly by their softness, flexibility, and resemblance to animals or fictional characters. Stuffed toys most commonly take the form of animals, especially bears (in the case of teddy bears), mammalian pets such as cats and dogs, and highly recognizable animals such as zebras, tigers, pandas, lizards, and elephants. Many fictional animal-like characters from movies, TV shows, books, or other entertainment forms often appear in stuffed toy versions, as do both real and fictional humans if the individual or character is famous enough. These toys are filled with soft plush material.[1]
Stuffed toys come in an array of different sizes, with the smallest being thumb-sized and the largest being larger than a house.[2][3] However, the largest somewhat commonly produced stuffed toys are not much bigger than a person.[4] Most stuffed toys are designed to be an appropriate size for easy cuddling. They also come in a wide variety of colors, cloth surfaces, fur textures, and humanizing embellishments.[5]
Stuffed toys are commonly sold in stores worldwide. Vendors are often abundant at tourist attractions, airports, carnivals, fairs, downtown parks, and general public meeting places of almost any nature, especially if there are children present.
Production
Stuffed toys are made from a range of materials. The earliest were created from felt, velvet, or mohair and stuffed with straw, horsehair, or sawdust.[8][9] Following World War II, manufacturers began to adopt more synthetic materials into production,[8] and in 1954, the first teddy bear made from easily washable materials was produced.[2] Modern stuffed toys are commonly constructed of outer fabrics such as plain cloth, pile textiles like plush or terrycloth, or sometimes socks. Common stuffing materials include synthetic fiber, batting, cotton, straw, wood wool, plastic pellets, and beans. Some modern toys incorporate electronics to move and interact with the user.[10]
Manufacturers sell two main types of stuffed toys: licensed, which are toys of characters or other licensed properties, or basic, which take the shape of ordinary animals or other non-licensed subjects.[10]
Stuffed toys can also be homemade from numerous types of fabric or yarn. For instance, amigurumi is a traditional Japanese type of knitted or crocheted stuffed toy typically made with an oversized head and undersized extremities to look kawaii ('cute').[11][12]
Plush
"Plush" redirects here. For other uses, see Plush (disambiguation).
Plush (from French peluche) is a textile having a cut nap or pile the same as fustian or velvet. Its softness of feel gave rise to the adjective "plush" to describe something soft or luxurious, which was extended to describe luxury accommodation, or something rich and full.[13]
Originally the pile of plush consisted of mohair or worsted yarn, but now silk by itself or with a cotton backing is used for plush, the distinction from velvet being found in the longer and less dense pile of plush. The soft material is largely used for upholstery and furniture purposes, and is also much employed in dress and millinery.
Modern plush are commonly manufactured from synthetic fibres such as polyester. One of the largest uses of this fabric is in the production of stuffed toys, with small plush toys made from plush fabric, such as teddy bears, to the point these are often addressed as "plush toys" or "plushies" in North American English. Plush is also one of the main materials for the construction of designer toys.
Cultural impact, marketing, and collectors
Stuffed toys are among the most popular toys, especially for children. Their uses include imaginative play, comfort objects, display or collecting, and gifts to both children and adults for occasions such as graduation, illness, condolences, Valentine's Day, Christmas, or birthdays. In 2018, the global market for stuffed toys was estimated to be US$7.98 billion, with the growth in target consumers expected to drive sales upwards.[14] Many stuffed toys have become fads that have boosted the industry overall.[10]
Children, as well as adults, can use stuffed toys as comfort objects, forming connections with them, often sleeping or cuddling with them for comfort. They can be sentimental objects that reduce anxiety around separation, self-esteem, and fear of the night.[15] In 2019 about a third of British adults reported sleeping with soft toys, and almost half had kept their childhood toys.[16]
In developmental psychology, stuffed toys are often described as transitional objects, helping some children negotiate the gradual shift from dependence on caregivers toward greater emotional independence....
The popularity of stuffed toys grew, with numerous manufacturers forming in Germany, the United Kingdom,[8] and the United States.[19] Many people also handmade their own stuffed toys. For instance, sock monkeys originated when parents turned old socks into toys during the Great Depression.[26]
In 1921, A. A. Milne bought a stuffed toy from Harrods department store in London for his son Christopher Robin, a toy which would later inspire the author's creation of Winnie-the-Pooh.[27] Stuffed toys of Paddington Bear, a character created by Michael Bond, were first produced by the family of Jeremy Clarkson in 1972, with the family eventually selling the rights to London-based Hamleys toy store.[28]
In the 1990s, Ty Warner created Beanie Babies, a series of animals stuffed with plastic pellets. The toys became a fad through marketing strategies that increased demand and encouraged collection.[29][30]
Beginning in the 1990s, stuffed toys with electronics have become fads. Tickle Me Elmo, a laughing and shaking plush toy based on the character Elmo from the Sesame Street television show, was released in 1996 and was soon in demand, with some people buying and reselling the toy for hundreds of dollars.[31] This was followed by similar fads, including the robotic talking plush toy Furby released in 1998[32] and ZhuZhu Pets, a line of robotic plush hamsters released in 2009.[33][34]
More recent lines of stuffed animals have been created around unique concepts, like Uglydoll, introduced in 2001, with a number of recognizable characters and overarching style.[35] Pillow Pets, which can be folded from a pillow into a stuffed animal, were another successful brand, launching in 2003 and selling more than 30 million toys between 2010 and 2016.[36]
Beginning in 2005 with Webkinz from Ganz, toys-to-life stuffed toys that unlock online content appeared on the market. Webkins each came with a different "Secret Code" that gave access to the Webkinz World website and a virtual version of the toy for online play.[37][38] They were followed by other stuffed toys with codes to unlock digital content in online worlds, such as Disney's Club Penguin and Build-A-Bearville from Build-A-Bear Workshop.
Modern plushies from Japan are known for kawaii styles, generally thought of as (at least globally) starting with Sanrio's Hello Kitty, with characters from media franchises like Pikachu and Eevee from Pokémon, and characters from stationery company San-X including Rilakkuma and the Sumikko Gurashi characters.[39] There is also a trend of Japanese plushies being shaped like mochi. In 2013, Disney launched its first collection of Disney Tsum Tsum stuffed toys based on characters from different Disney properties. Inspired by the app of the same name, Tsum Tsums were first released in Japan (an example of mochi shaped plushies) before expanding to the United States.
Squishmallows became a fad after going viral on social media, in particular TikTok, during the ... in 2020–21.[41] In the mid 2020s, stuffed toy keychains that could be used as fashion accessories, like Labubu and Jellycat, became fads after being worn by celebrities." (wikipedia)
"The Official Home of Bum Bumz Plushies
Bum Bumz bring together everything that makes collecting plush so much fun — squishy, huggable stuffed animals, named characters with real personality, and fresh series to chase across every size. Made by Russ, they pair the charm of a keepsake toy with the quality of a trusted plush brand, which is exactly why they’ve become such trending plushies with kids and grown-up collectors alike.
Loved as birthday gifts, shelf collectibles and everyday cuddle buddies, Bum Bumz toys are made to be enjoyed and added to over time. Browse the full line-up of Bum Bumz plush below and find the characters worth bringing home — from a first Bum Bumz teddy to the rarest release in the range.
Every BumBumz plushie is photographed exactly as it really arrives, so what you see is what you bring home. Explore the collectible Bum Bumz stuffed animals and Bum Bumz toys below, compare the 4.5-inch, 7.5-inch and 12-inch sizes, and start the collection that grows with your family, one character at a time.
New Bum Bumz characters, series and licensed collaborations arrive throughout the year, so there is always a fresh face to meet and a reason to come back to the range. Whether you are here for a single Bum Bumz teddy or slowly completing a whole shelf of squishy friends, this is the place to discover the trending plushies made by Russ and loved by families everywhere." (thebumbumz)
"Squishmallows is a brand of stuffed toy that was launched in 2017 by Kelly Toys Holdings LLC and is owned by Jazwares, a Berkshire Hathaway company.[1] Squishmallows are round and come in a variety of colors, sizes, animals/foods/objects, and textures. The brand has created over 3,000 Squishmallow designs.[2][3][4]
History
Founder
Kelly Toys Holdings, headquartered in Los Angeles, California, was founded in 1986 by Jonathan Kelly[5] In an interview with Yahoo! Finance, Kelly stated that he came up with the idea for Squishmallows when he went to Japan and saw a variety of appealing toy products, including plush toys. Kelly and his team then spent several months creating a toy that emulated the “soft, cute, and kawaii” look of the Japanese plush toys.[6]
Judd Zebersky, CEO and president of Jazwares, announced a strategic partnership with Kelly Toys in 2019 to "reinvigorate and expand distribution" of its Russ Berrie brand, which Jazwares had acquired in 2018. After collaborating for a year, Jazwares acquired Kelly Toys to expand its marketplace position and obtain additional marketplace licenses for the brand. Kelly Toys was acquired by Jazwares, a Berkshire Hathaway company, in 2020.[7] The official partnership was announced in April 2020 by Zebersky along with Kelly Toys and their parent company, Alleghany Corporation.[8] Kelly Toys Holdings was Jazwares' second acquisition following their acquisition of Wicked Cool Toys in 2019.[5]
Popularity
Squishmallows first gained success during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020-21 through social media outlets such as TikTok, where Squishmallows collectors would post about their collections. The TikTok hashtag #Squishmallows has gained over 550 million views. Squishmallows has acquired nearly 120,000 followers on Twitter as of 2023,[9] 456,000 TikTok followers[10] and nearly 890,000 followers on Instagram. As of May 2024, the brand has more than 13 billion views on TikTok and has been tagged more than 1 million times on Instagram.[11]
As of August 2024, 400 million Squishmallows units, in 3,000 styles, have been sold.[12][11]
Collaborations
Since the company’s partnership, Squishmallows has collaborated with many other brands, further expanding its position in the market. Some notable collaborations include Squishmallows x Hello Kitty, announced on Jazwares’ official website in April 2021,[13] and Squishmallows x Pokémon, which debuted at the 2022 San Diego Comic-Con where guests could view the upcoming launch of Squishmallows characters.[14] Other brands and franchises that Squishmallows have collaborated with include Disney, Star Wars, Marvel Comics, Harry Potter, The Wizard of Oz, SpongeBob SquarePants, The Muppets, Sonic the Hedgehog, Peanuts, Care Bears, Five Nights at Freddy's, The Lord of the Rings, Wicked, Stranger Things, Elf, The Grinch, Wednesday, KPop Demon Hunters, Peppa Pig, Ryan's World, Cocomelon, Paw Patrol and Bluey.
The company has also collaborated with Monopoly and created a Monopoly board game involving purchasing Squishmallows instead of properties.[15] The game also includes a special version of Cam the Cat which is exclusive to this game.[16]
In December 2023, McDonald’s announced Squishmallows x McDonald’s. This collaboration presented 12 Squishmallows toys as collectible Happy Meal toys, including a special-edition Grimace design.[17]
In March 2024 is Squishmallows x PUMA, which released a select few Squishmallows characters as sneaker and apparel designs available to consumers at retail stores and on the PUMA website.[18]
The most recent squishmellows collaborations as of September 2026 is with Disney/Pixar's Toy Story 5, featuring plush toys of characters Forky, Buzz Lightyear, and Zurg, as well as a Valentines day themed Sanrio set including Kuromi and My Melody.[19]
Also, in 2026, Squishmellows x Mcdonalds returned to release a set of FIFA world cup 2026 Squishmellow Happy Meal toys.[20]
Product
Materials
Squishmallows are made from soft spandex and filled with polyester fiber.[21] As mentioned by Squishmallows on their Twitter account, they are manufactured in China.[22] Squishmallows originally came in four sizes, but are now sold in 12 different sizes ranging from a clip-on 3.5 inches to a large 24 inches.[23]
Authentic Squishmallows can be identified by their three attached tags. Squishmallows have also extended their line to include HugMees, Squish-Doos, Heroes, FlipAMallows, FuzzAMallows, Squish-a-longs, Squisharoys, Squooshems, Squishville, Mystery Squad, Micromallows, and Stackables." (wikipedia)
"A haunted house, spook house or ghost house in ghostlore is a house or other building often perceived as being inhabited by disembodied spirits of the deceased who may have been former residents or were otherwise connected with the property. Parapsychologists often attribute haunting to the spirits of the dead who have suffered from violent or tragic events in the building's past such as murder, accidental death, or suicide.[1]
Upon scientific investigation, alternative causes to supernatural phenomenon are found, such as hoaxes, environmental effects, hallucinations or confirmation biases. Common symptoms of hauntings, like cold spots and creaking or knocking sounds, can be found in most homes regardless of suspected paranormal presences. ... has also been cited as a cause of suspected hauntings.
History
According to Owen Davies, a paranormal historian, hauntings in the British Isles were usually attributed to fairies, but today hauntings are usually associated with ghostly or supernatural encounters.[2] In other cultures around the world, various spirits are said to haunt vacant homes and locations. In Middle Eastern countries, for example, jinn are said to haunt such areas.[3] Historically, since most people died in their homes, whether they were mansions or hovels, these homes allegedly became natural places for ghosts to haunt, with bedrooms being the most common rooms to be haunted. Many houses gained a reputation for being haunted after they were empty or derelict.[4] Davies explains that "if people were to fail to occupy a human space, then external forces would move in."[5]
Cultural attitudes to haunted houses
Haunting is one of the most common paranormal beliefs around the world, according to Benjamin Radford in his book Investigating Ghosts: The Scientific Search for Spirits. He says that almost every town and city has at least one "haunted" place;[6] and that, despite over 100 years of investigation, there has not been a "single verifiable fact about ghosts having been established."[7]
In the first century AD, the Roman author and statesman Pliny the Younger recorded a ghost story in his letters, which became famous for their vivid account of life during the heyday of the Roman Empire. Pliny reported that the specter of an old man with a long beard, and rattling chains, was haunting his house in Athens. The Greek writer Lucian and Pliny's fellow Roman Plautus also wrote memorable ghost stories.[8]
In a 2005 Gallup poll, 37% of Americans, 28% of Canadians, and 40% of Britons believed that houses could be haunted.[9][10] In a 2009 Pew Research Center survey, about 29% of Americans believed they had been in touch with someone who had died.[11] According to a Research Co. poll released in 2020, 40% of Canadian women and 25% of Canadian men stated they believed in haunted houses.[12]
In Japan, there is a tradition, linked to Buddhism, of creating obakeyashiki (Japanese: お化け屋敷) (ghost houses) in August, when it is believed that ancestral spirits may visit. People go to ghost houses to listen to frightening stories or seek elaborate decorations and costumes to experience shivers as a way to feel cooler in the hot summer temperatures.[13]
The Shanghai Disneyland Park planners decided against building The Haunted Mansion because of the local cultural beliefs about ghosts and hauntings. Building the house would have been considered a mockery of their fear.[14]
In Wuhan, China, the police have built a haunted house to train their police force by testing their nerves. They filled a dilapidated house with faked severed limbs, bones, skulls and a frightening atmosphere that includes lightning and rain. The house is also open to the public.[15]
During the COVID-19 pandemic, in 2020, Indonesian lawmakers of the Sragen region on the island of Java decided to lock people who did not follow quarantine guidelines in abandoned and supposedly haunted houses. It was an attempt to motivate a superstitious population when science failed to do so.[16]
Proposed causes
According to Owen Davies's book, The Haunted: a Social History of Ghosts, "[e]ven the most devout believers in ghosts over the centuries recognized that many hauntings were frauds."[17] In an interview with USA Today, Davies states that "[f]or skeptics in the past and present, the house was obviously the center of hauntings because it was where people slept and dreamed of the dead, or where people lay drunk, ... in their sickbeds."[5] Such basic poltergeist phenomena as rapping or knocking were very easy to orchestrate with the help of accomplices or a variety of ploys. According to science writer Terence Hines, cold spots, creaking sounds, and odd noises are typically present in any home, especially older ones, and "such noises can easily be mistaken for the sound of footsteps by those inclined to imagine the presence of a deceased tenant in their home."[18]
A sensed-presence effect, the feeling that there is someone else present in a room, is known to happen when people experience monotony, darkness, cold, hunger, fatigue, fear, and sleep deprivation.[19]
Skeptical investigator Joe Nickell writes that in most cases he investigated, he found plausible explanations for haunting phenomena, such as physical illusions, waking dreams, and the effects of memory. According to Nickell, the power of suggestion along with confirmation bias plays a large role in perceived hauntings. He states that as a house, inn, or other place becomes thought of as haunted, more and more ghostly encounters are reported and that when people expect paranormal events, they tend to notice conditions that would confirm their expectations.[20] Many places deemed to be haunted are purposefully left in a decrepit condition, with wall paper peeling off, old carpeting, and antique decor.[21]
Toxicologist Albert Donnay believes that chronic exposure to substances such as carbon monoxide, ..., and formaldehyde can lead to hallucinations of the type associated with haunted houses. Donnay speculates on the connection between the prevalence of gas lamps, during the Victorian era and start of the twentieth century, as well as stories of ghost sightings and hauntings, describing it as the "Haunted House Syndrome".[22] Donnay says that ...has been linked to haunted houses since at least the 1920s. He cites a 1921 journal article about a family who claimed hauntings because they suffered headaches, auditory hallucinations, fatigue, melancholy, and other symptoms which are also associated with ....[23] In a modern example, Carrie Poppy, a writer and co-host of the podcast Oh No, Ross and Carrie!, was convinced she was living in a haunted house. She felt she was being watched by a demon, experienced pressure on her chest and auditory hallucinations. Someone on a forum of skeptical paranormal investigators suggested she look into c.... When the gas company arrived, unsafe levels of carbon monoxide were found.[24][25]
Michael Persinger, an American-Canadian professor of psychology, suggested that perceived apparitions, cold spots, and ghostly touches are perceptual anomalies caused by variations in naturally occurring or man-made magnetic fields.[26] However, a study by psychologist Chris French that attempted to replicate Persinger's findings found no link.[27][28]
Investigating haunted phenomena
Investigations of supposed hauntings often result in simple explanations. For example, in an apparent haunted house in Somerset, England, in the eighteenth century, a boy would make the house shake by jumping on a beam in an adjoining property that ran through both houses. In 1857, a twelve-year-old girl confessed to tying her long hair around objects to give them the ghostly appearance of moving on their own.[29] Tina Resch, a girl from Columbus, Ohio, who claimed that ghostly and paranormal activity occurred in her home, was photographed throwing a telephone while acting surprised at the sudden poltergeist activity.[30]
Ben Radford, of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal, performed an investigation in 2003 on an allegedly haunted house in Buffalo, New York. The owner of the home, called Tom in the article (pseudonym), alleged that he felt tapping on his foot at night. As described by Tom, "I get a tapping on my feet, not a repetitive tap, a trying-to-wake-you-up tap… After the tapping, if I don't pay attention to it, then I feel a kick." Radford suggests the tapping was likely a case of "hypnagogic hallucination (a sensory illusion that occurs in the transition to sleep), a fairly common phenomenon that can easily lead to misperceptions."[31] His wife, called Monica (pseudonym), also claimed to feel tapping similar to Tom. According to Radford, "that can be explained by suggestion and what psychologists term folie à deux, when one person (often a spouse) takes on the symptoms of another."[31] Tom also describes that "it will kick the bed—it will hit the side of the bed. I feel my whole body move… Then if I go back to sleep, I start to get a sound sleep, that's when it kicks again."[31] Radford suggests his was likely due to restless leg syndrome in which a leg jerk in the middle of the night caused the bed to shake. Radford suggests that the owner's diagnosis of "sleep apnea is even further evidence for this explanation; restless legs (Restless Leg Syndrome) is actually one of the most common symptoms of apnea."[31] Tom and Monica also heard ghostly music and voices, noises that they recorded from the top of the stairs, causing them to leave their home in fright. Radford conducted an experiment where he set the recording device in the same spot, turned it on, then walked outside with Tom, talking constantly. They returned to the house and listened to the tape. Their conversations could be clearly heard, though muffled. The couple then agreed that what they were hearing in their house previously were outside noises and not noises from the paranormal.[32]
Another test done by Ben Radford in 2009 was to investigate the claim that batteries are drained by ghosts in haunted locations. He purchased four sets of identical batteries, sealed them in signed, Ziploc bags and wrapped them securely in strong tape to prevent tampering. He placed half of them in the reputed haunted Wolfe Manor, in Clovis, California, and half in a different location. Twenty four hours later he tested the batteries using a meter and discovered that there was no battery drainage in either location. Radford claims that simple, controlled experiments like this are important and should be conducted by ghost hunters to clearly demonstrate if there is a difference between a supposed haunted location and one that is not haunted.[33]
Famous haunted houses
A house in Amityville, on Long Island, New York, became the subject of books and films after apparent hauntings following the murder of the DeFeo family. The Lutz family purchased the home for a greatly reduced price but shortly after moving in claimed that doors were ripped open, damaging hinges and bending locks, windows were suddenly opened, green slime oozed from the ceiling and cloven-hooved footprints were left in the snow. The Lutzes remained in the home for only 28 days. In a court case where the Lutzes were sued, they admitted that almost everything in the 1977 book The Amityville Horror was fictional.[34]
Borley Rectory, in England, was considered the most haunted house in the world, but its notoriety was deemed to have been created (or at least exaggerated) by Harry Price, an expert magician and proven hoaxer.[35]
Corvin Castle in Romania is considered one of the world's top five haunted places.[citation needed] According to locals, it has been haunted by its former occupant, Vlad the Impaler, ever since he was killed in an ambush.[citation needed] It is also said to be haunted by the spirits of people killed within its walls.[36]
Casa Loma in Toronto, Canada, was completed in 1914. There have been rumors of ghosts there for many years. It is now a historic house museum and landmark that is decorated as a haunted house at Halloween.[36]
The Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, California is considered one of the most haunted houses in America, although there are no primary sources for the many ghost stories about it. They were most likely inspired by Sarah Winchester, who had her strange, complex, often illogical designs incorporated into the house for almost four decades.[37]
Wukang Mansion, a historical house in Shanghai, has a reputation for being haunted because of the large number of suicides of celebrities, intellectuals, and state-persecuted people there.[38]
Government House and Phitsanulok Mansion in Bangkok are two government buildings, located near each other and built in Neo-Gothic style. Both date back to the reign of King Rama VI in the early 20th century. They were originally given by the king to his two favorite pages, who were brothers. During World War II, the buildings became government property and were later occupied by the Japanese army. There are persistent rumors that both buildings are haunted, especially Phitsanulok Mansion, which is often referred to as "Thailand's White House."
Halloween-themed haunted houses
Halloween themed "haunted houses" began appearing around the same time as "trick or treat", during the Great Depression, as a way to distract young people whose Halloween pranks had escalated to vandalism and harassment of passersby.[where?] These first exhibits were low quality, being put together by groups of families in their basements. People would travel from home to home to experience a variety of frightening situations, such as hearing weird moans and howls, cardboard cutouts of black cats, damp sponges and hair nets hanging from the ceiling to touch people's faces, hanging fur on the walls of darkened hallways, and having to crawl through long dark tunnels.[42]
In 1972 Jerry Falwell and Liberty University introduced one of the first "hell houses" as an anti-Halloween attraction.[42] Some Christian churches run these, which while being haunted houses, also promote their interpretation of the Christian gospel message. According to USA Today, in hell houses, "participants walk through several 'scenes' depicting the consequences of things like abortion, homosexuality and drunkenness."[43]
Commercial haunted houses
Fuji-Q – Super Scary Labyrinth of Fear, haunted hospital.
The concept of the haunted house was capitalized on as early as 1915 with the Orton and Spooner Haunted House in the Hollycombe Steam Collection (England).[44] The haunted house became a cultural icon when Disneyland's Haunted Mansion was opened in 1969.[42] By the 1970s, commercial haunted houses had sprung up all over the United States in cities like Louisville, Kentucky and Cincinnati, Ohio.[45] These houses are stereotypically Gilded Age homes because changing tastes of the nouveau riche left these homes abandoned or poorly maintained.[46]
Hollywood slasher films such as Halloween, A Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th had a large influence on commercial haunted houses in the 1980s and 1990s. Many of these houses included characters such as Freddy Krueger and Jason. A less popular film titled Monster House suggests the idea of a spirit actually taking control of a house and transforming it into an almost human body.[42] By 2005, an estimated 3,500 to 5,000 professional haunted attractions operated in the United States.[47]
Japanese commercial haunted houses, or obakeyashiki, are considered to be some of the best in the world. Experiences include being chased by gore-covered zombies, specially themed attractions, such as schools or hospital wards, and houses from which one must escape within 60 minutes or be found by "slaughtering criminals". Claiming to be the world's largest and most frightening haunted house, the Super Scary Labyrinth of Fear at Fuji-Q Highland Amusement Park, in Yamanashi Fujiyoshida-shi Shinnishihara, depicts horrific visual scenes, shrill cries, moans, and smells. It has been visited by over four million people.[48]
Haunted Attractions come in several different types from hayrides, indoor haunted houses to outdoor screamparks. Many amusement parks now host large Halloween events featuring haunted houses.[42]
Selling haunted houses
In the case Stambovsky v. Ackley, the Supreme Court of New York, Appellate Division, ruled in 1991 that a seller must disclose that a house has a reputation for being haunted because such a reputation may impair the value of the house:
In the case at bar, defendant seller deliberately fostered the public belief that her home was possessed. Having undertaken to inform the public at large, to whom she has no legal relationship, about the supernatural occurrences on her property, she may be said to owe no less a duty to her contract vendee.[49][50]
In Hong Kong, where superstition is prevalent, people do not want to buy houses where anything unfortunate, especially an unnatural death, has occurred. For homes that are thought to be haunted, the prices are usually 15–20% below market value.[51]
Short stories and novels
In the 1977 novel The Shining by Stephen King, an isolated mountain resort hotel serves as the haunted house of the story.
Legends about haunted houses have long appeared in the literature. The earliest surviving report of a haunted house comes from a letter written by Pliny the Younger (61 – c. 112 CE) to his patron Lucias Sura, in which he describes a haunted villa in Athens.[52] Nobody would live in the house until the philosopher Athenodorus (c. 74 BCE – 7 CE) arrived in the city. He was tempted by the low rent and undeterred by the house's reputation so he moved in. The ghost, an old man bound with chains, appeared to Athenodorus during the first night and beckoned to him. The apparition vanished once it reached the courtyard, and Athenodorus carefully marked the spot. The following morning he requested the magistrate to have the spot dug up, where the skeleton of an old man bound with chains was discovered. The ghost never appeared again after the skeleton was given a proper burial.[53]
Stories of haunted houses appear in the Arabian Nights, as in the tale of "Ali the Cairene and the Haunted House in Baghdad".[54] The first gothic novel, The Castle of Otranto (1764) by Horace Walpole, is set in a haunted castle, as is "The Canterville Ghost", a humorous short story from 1887 by Oscar Wilde.[55]
One of the most prominent twentieth-century books of the genre is the classic The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, a finalist for the National Book Award in 1959. Other notable works of fiction featuring haunted houses include The Turn of the Screw (1897) by Henry James, Hell House (1971) by Richard Matheson, The Shining (1977) by Stephen King, and The House Next Door (1978) by Anne Rivers Siddons." (wikipedia)
"Halloween is a celebration observed on October 31, the day before the feast of All Hallows, also known as Hallowmas or All Saint's Day. The celebrations and observances of this day occur primarily in regions of the Western world, albeit with some traditions varying significantly between geographical areas.
Origins
Halloween is the eve of vigil before the Western Christian feast of All Hallows (or All Saints) which is observed on November 1. This day begins the triduum of Hallowtide, which culminates with All Souls' Day. In the Middle Ages, many Christians held a folk belief that All Hallows' Eve was the "night where the veil between the material world and the afterlife was at its most transparent".[2]
Americas
Canada
Scottish emigration, primarily to Canada before 1870 and to the United States thereafter, brought the Scottish version of the holiday to each country. The earliest known reference to ritual begging on Halloween in English speaking North America occurs in 1911 when a newspaper in Kingston, Ontario reported that it was normal for the smaller children to go street "guising" on Halloween between 6 and 7 p.m., visiting shops, and neighbours to be rewarded with nuts and candies for their rhymes and songs.[3] Canadians spend more on candy at Halloween than at any time apart from Christmas. Halloween is also a time for charitable contributions. Until 2006 when UNICEF moved to an online donation system, collecting small change was very much a part of Canadian trick-or-treating.[4] Quebec .... themed tours of parts of the old city and historic cemeteries in the area.[5] In 2014 the hamlet of Arviat, Nunavut moved their Halloween festivities to the community hall, cancelling the practice of door-to-door "trick or treating", due to the risk of roaming polar bears.[6][7] In British Columbia it is a tradition to set off fireworks at Halloween.[8]
United States
Children in Halloween costumes at High Point, Seattle, 1943
In the United States, Halloween did not become a holiday until the 19th century. The transatlantic migration of nearly two million Irish following the Great Irish Famine (1845–1849) brought the holiday to the United States.
American librarian and author Ruth Edna Kelley wrote the first book length history of the holiday in the U.S., The Book of Hallowe'en (1919), and references souling in the chapter "Hallowe'en in America": "All Hallowe'en customs in the United States are borrowed directly or adapted from those of other countries. The taste in Hallowe'en festivities now is to study old traditions, and hold a Scotch party, using Robert Burns's poem Halloween as a guide; or to go a-souling as the English used. In short, no custom that was once honored at Hallowe'en is out of fashion now."[9] The main event for children of modern Halloween in the United States and Canada is trick-or-treating, in which children, teenagers, (sometimes) young adults, and parents (accompanying their children) disguise themselves in costumes and go door-to-door in their neighborhoods, ringing each doorbell and yelling "Trick or treat!" to solicit a gift of candy or similar items.[10] Teenagers and adults will more frequently attend Halloween-themed costume parties typically hosted by friends or themed events at nightclubs either on Halloween itself or a weekend close to the holiday.
At the turn of the 20th century, Halloween had turned into a night of vandalism, with destruction of property and cruelty to animals and people.[11] Around 1912, the Boy Scouts, Boys Clubs, and other neighborhood organizations came together to encourage a safe celebration that would end the destruction that had become so common on this night.
The commercialization of Halloween in the United States did not start until the 20th century, beginning perhaps with Halloween postcards (featuring hundreds of designs), which were most popular between 1905 and 1915.[12] Dennison Manufacturing Company (which published its first Halloween catalog in 1909) and the Beistle Company were pioneers in commercially made Halloween decorations, particularly die-cut paper items.[13][14] German manufacturers specialised in Halloween figurines that were exported to the United States in the period between the two World Wars.
Halloween is now the United States' second most popular holiday (after Christmas) for decorating; the sale of candy and costumes is also extremely common during the holiday, which is marketed to children and adults alike. The National Confectioners Association (NCA) reported in 2005 that 80% of American adults planned to give out candy to trick-or-treaters.[15] The NCA reported in 2005 that 93% of children planned to go trick-or-treating.[16] According to the National Retail Federation, the most popular Halloween costume themes for adults are, in order: witch, pirate, vampire, cat, and clown.[17][when?] Each year, popular costumes are dictated by various current events and pop culture icons. On many college campuses, Halloween is a major celebration, with the Friday and Saturday nearest 31 October hosting many costume parties. Other popular activities are watching horror movies and visiting haunted houses. Total spending on Halloween is estimated to be $8.4 billion.[18]
Events
Four contestants in the Halloween Slick Chick beauty contest in Anaheim, California, 1947
Many theme parks stage Halloween events annually, such as Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Orlando, Mickey's Halloween Party and Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party at Disneyland Resort and Magic Kingdom respectively, and Knott's Scary Farm at Knott's Berry Farm. One of the more notable parades is New York's Village Halloween Parade. Each year approximately 50,000 costumed marchers parade up Sixth Avenue.[19] Salem, Massachusetts, site of the Salem witch trials, celebrates Halloween throughout the month of October with tours, plays, concerts, and other activities.[20] A number of venues in New York's lower Hudson Valley host various events to showcase a connection with Washington Irving's Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Van Cortlandt Manor stages the "Great Jack o' Lantern Blaze" featuring thousands of lighted carved pumpkins.[21]
Some locales have had to modify their celebrations due to disruptive behavior on the part of young adults. Madison, Wisconsin hosts an annual Halloween celebration. In 2002, due to the large crowds in the State Street area, a riot broke out, necessitating the use of mounted police and tear gas to disperse the crowds.[22] Likewise, Chapel Hill, site of the University of North Carolina, has a downtown street party which in 2007 drew a crowd estimated at 80,000 on downtown Franklin Street, in a town with a population of just 54,000. In 2008, in an effort to curb the influx of out-of-towners, mayor Kevin Foy put measures in place to make commuting downtown more difficult on Halloween.[23] In 2014, large crowds of college students rioted at the Keene, New Hampshire Pumpkin Fest, whereupon the City Council voted not to grant a permit for the following year's festival,[24] and organizers moved the event to Laconia for 2015.[25]
Brazil
Main article: Saci Day
The Brazilian non-governmental organization named Amigos do Saci created Saci Day as a Brazilian parallel in opposition to the "American-influenced" holiday of Halloween that saw minor celebration in Brazil. The Saci is a mischievous evil character in Brazilian folkore. Saci Day is commemorated on October 31st, the same day as Halloween, and is an official holiday in the state of São Paulo. Despite official recognition in Sao Paulo and several other municipalities throughout the country, few Brazilians celebrate it.[26][27]
Dominican Republic
In the Dominican Republic it has been gaining popularity, largely due to many Dominicans living in the United States and then bringing the custom to the island. In the larger cities of Santiago or Santo Domingo it has become more common to see children trick-or-treating, but in smaller towns and villages it is almost entirely absent, partly due to religious opposition. Tourist areas such as Sosua and Punta Cana feature many venues with Halloween celebrations, predominantly geared towards adults.[28]
Mexico (Día de Muertos)
Mexican tomb on the Day of the Dead, adorned with the cempasúchil, the holiday's traditional flower, and a Halloween ghost balloon, at the historic cemetery of San Luis Potosí City
Observed in Mexico and Mexican communities abroad, Day of the Dead (Spanish: Día de Muertos) celebrations arose from the syncretism of indigenous Aztec traditions with the Christian Hallowtide of the Spanish colonizers. Flower decorations, altars and candies are part of this holiday season. The holiday is distinct from Halloween in its origins and observances, but the two have become associated because of cross-border connections between Mexico and the United States through popular culture and migration, as the two celebrations occur at the same time of year and may involve similar imagery, such as skeletons. Halloween and Día de Muertos have influenced each other in some areas of the United States and Mexico, with Halloween traditions such as costumes and face-painting becoming increasingly common features of the Mexican festival.[29][30]
Asia
China
The Chinese celebrate the "Hungry Ghost Festival" in mid-July, when it is customary to float river lanterns to remember those who have died. By contrast, Halloween is often called "All Saints' Festival" (Wànshèngjié, 萬聖節), or (less commonly) "All Saints' Eve" (Wànshèngyè, 萬聖夜) or "Eve of All Saints' Day" (Wànshèngjié Qiányè, 萬聖節前夕), stemming from the term "All Hallows Eve" (hallow referring to the souls of holy saints). Chinese Christian churches hold religious celebrations. Non-religious celebrations are dominated by expatriate Americans or Canadians, but costume parties are also popular for Chinese young adults, especially in large cities. Hong Kong Disneyland and Ocean Park (Halloween Bash) host annual Halloween shows.
Mainland China has been less influenced by Anglo traditions than Hong Kong and Halloween is generally considered "foreign". As Halloween has become more popular globally it has also become more popular in China, however, particularly amongst children attending private or international schools with many foreign teachers from North America.[31]
Hong Kong
Traditional "door-to-door" trick or treating is not commonly practiced in Hong Kong due to the vast majority of Hong Kong residents living in high-rise apartment blocks. However, in many buildings catering to expatriates, Halloween parties and limited trick or treating is arranged by the management. Instances of street-level trick or treating in Hong Kong occur in ultra-exclusive gated housing communities such as The Beverly Hills populated by Hong Kong's super-rich and in expatriate areas like Discovery Bay and the Red Hill Peninsula. For the general public, there are events at Tsim Sha Tsui's Avenue of the Stars that try to mimic the celebration.[32] In the Lan Kwai Fong area of Hong Kong, known as a major entertainment district for the international community, a Halloween celebration and parade has taken place for over 20 years, with many people dressing in costume and making their way around the streets to various drinking establishments.[33] Many international schools also celebrate Halloween with costumes, and some put an academic twist on the celebrations such as the "Book-o-ween" celebrations at Hong Kong International School where students dress as favorite literary characters.
Japan
Halloween arrived in Japan mainly as a result of American pop culture. In 2009 it was celebrated only by expats.[34] The wearing of elaborate costumes by young adults at night has since become popular in areas such as Amerikamura in Osaka and Shibuya in Tokyo, where, in October 2012, about 1700 people dressed in costumes to take part in the Halloween Festival.[35] Celebrations have become popular with young adults as a costume party and club event.[36] Trick-or-treating for Japanese children has taken hold in some areas. By the mid-2010s, Yakuza were giving snacks and sweets to children.[37]
Philippines
The period from 31 October through 2 November is a time for remembering dead family members and friends. Many Filipinos travel back to their hometowns for family gatherings of festive remembrance.[38]
Trick-or-treating is gradually replacing the dying tradition of Pangangaluluwâ, a local analogue of the old English custom of souling. ..... The participants, usually children, would sing carols about the souls in Purgatory, with the abúloy (alms for the dead) used to ...for Masses for these souls. Along with the requested alms, householders sometimes gave the children suman (rice cakes). During the night, various small items, such as clothing, plants, etc., would "mysteriously" disappear, only to be discovered the next morning in the yard or in the middle of the street. In older times, it was believed that the spirits of ancestors and loved ones visited the living on this night, manifesting their presence by taking an item.[39]
As the observation of Christmas traditions in the Philippines begins as early as September, it is a common sight to see Halloween decorations next to Christmas decorations in urban settings.[citation needed]
Saudi Arabia
Starting 2022, Saudi Arabia began to celebrate Halloween in the public in Riyadh under its Saudi Vision 2030.[40]
Singapore
Around mid-July Singapore Chinese celebrate "Zhong Yuan Jie / Yu Lan Jie" (Hungry Ghosts Festival), a time when it is believed that the spirits of the dead come back to visit their families.[41] In recent years, Halloween celebrations are becoming more popular, with influence from the west.[42] In 2012, there were over 19 major Halloween celebration events around Singapore.[43] SCAPE's Museum of Horrors held its fourth scare fest in 2014.[44] Universal Studios Singapore hosts "Halloween Horror Nights".[45]
South Korea
The popularity of the holiday among young people in South Korea comes from English academies and corporate marketing strategies, and was influenced by Halloween celebrations in Japan and America.[46] Despite not being a public holiday, it is celebrated in different areas around Seoul, especially Itaewon and Hondae.[47]
Taiwan
Children dressed up in Halloween costume in Songshan District, Taipei, Taiwan
Traditionally, Taiwanese people celebrate "Zhong Yuan Pudu Festival", where spirits that do not have any surviving family members to...respects to them, are able to roam the Earth during the seventh lunar month. It is known as Ghost Month.[48] While some have compared it to Halloween, it has no relations and the overall meaning is different. In recent years, mainly as a result of American pop culture, Halloween is becoming more widespread amongst young Taiwanese people. Halloween events are held in many areas across Taipei, such as Xinyi Special District and Shilin District where there are many international schools and expats.[49] Halloween parties are celebrated differently based on different age groups. One of the most popular Halloween event is the Tianmu Halloween Festival, which started in 2009 and is organised by the Taipei City Office of Commerce.[50] The 2-day annual festivity has attracted more than 240,000 visitors in 2019. During this festival, stores and businesses in Tianmu place pumpkin lanterns outside their stores to identify themselves as trick-or-treat destinations for children.[51]
Australia and New Zealand
Halloween display in Sydney, Australia
Non-religious celebrations of Halloween modelled on North American festivities are growing increasingly popular in Australia despite not being traditionally part of the culture.[52] Some Australians criticise this intrusion into their culture.[53][54] Many dislike the commercialisation and American pop-culture influence.[54][55] Some supporters of the event place it alongside other cultural traditions such as Saint Patrick's Day.[56]
Halloween historian and author of Halloween: Pagan Festival to Trick or Treat, Mark Oxbrow says while Halloween may have been popularised by depictions of it in US movies and TV shows, it is not a new entry into Australian culture.[57] His research shows Halloween was first celebrated in Australia in Castlemaine, Victoria, in 1858, which was 43 years before Federation. His research shows Halloween traditions were brought to the country by Scottish and Irish miners who settled in Victoria during the Gold Rush.
Because of the polarised opinions about Halloween, growing numbers of people are decorating their letter boxes to indicate that children are welcome to come knocking. In the past decade, the popularity of Halloween in Australia has grown.[58] In 2020, the first magazine dedicated solely to celebrating Halloween in Australia was launched, called Hallozween,[59] and in 2021, sales of costumes, decorations and carving pumpkins soared to an all-time high[60] despite the effect of the global ....-19 pandemic limiting celebrations.
In New Zealand, Halloween is not celebrated to the same extent as in North America, although in recent years non-religious celebrations have become more common.[61][62] Trick-or-treat has become increasingly popular with minors in New Zealand, despite being not a "British or Kiwi event" and the influence of American globalisation.[63] One criticism of Halloween in New Zealand is that it is overly commercialised - by The Warehouse, for example.[63]
Europe
A jack-o'-lantern in Finland
Over the years, Halloween has become more popular in Europe and has been partially ousting some older customs like the Rübengeistern [de] (English: turnip ghosts, beet spirit), Martinisingen, and others.[64]
France
Halloween was introduced to most of France in the 1990s.[65] In Brittany, Halloween had been celebrated for centuries and is known as Kalan Goañv (Night of Spirits). During this time, it is believed that the spirits of the dead return to the world of the living lead by the Ankou, the collector of souls.[66] Also during this time, Bretons bake Kornigou, a pastry shaped like the antlers of a stag.[citation needed]
Germany
"Don't drink and fly" Halloween decoration in Germany
Halloween was not generally observed in Germany prior to the 1990s, but has been increasing in popularity. It has been associated with the influence of United States culture, and "Trick or Treating" (German: Süßes sonst gibt's Saures) has been occurring in various German cities, especially in areas such as the Dahlem neighborhood in Berlin, which was part of the American zone during the Cold War. Today, Halloween in Germany brings in 200 million euros a year, through multiple industries.[67] Halloween is celebrated by both children and adults. Adults celebrate at themed costume parties and clubs, while children go trick or treating. Complaints of vandalism associated with Halloween "Tricks" are increasing, particularly from many elderly Germans unfamiliar with "Trick or Treating".[68]
Greece
In Greece, Halloween is not celebrated widely and it is a working day, with little public interest, since the early 2000s. Recently, it has somewhat increased in popularity as both a secular celebration; although Carnival is vastly more popular among Greeks. For very few, Halloween is[when?] considered the fourth most popular festival in the country after Christmas, Easter, and Carnival. Retail businesses, bars, nightclubs, and certain theme parks might organize Halloween parties. This boost in popularity has been attributed to the influence of western consumerism.
Since it is a working day, Halloween is not celebrated on 31 October unless the date falls on a weekend, in which case it is celebrated by some during the last weekend before All Hallow's Eve, usually in the form of themed house parties and retail business decorations. Trick-or-treating is not widely popular because similar activities are already undertaken during Carnival. The slight rise in popularity of Halloween in Greece has led to some increase in its popularity throughout nearby countries in the Balkans and Cyprus. In the latter, there has been an increase in Greek-Cypriot retailers selling Halloween merchandise every year.[69]
Ireland
A plaster cast of a traditional Irish Halloween turnip (rutabaga) lantern on display in the Museum of Country Life, Ireland[70]
On Halloween night, adults and children dress up as various monsters and creatures, light bonfires, and enjoy fireworks displays; Derry in Northern Ireland is home to the largest organized Halloween celebration on the island, in the form of a street carnival and fireworks display.[71]
Snap-Apple Night, painted by Daniel Maclise in 1833, depicts apple bobbing and divination games at a Halloween party in Ireland
Games are often played, such as bobbing for apples, in which apples, peanuts, other nuts and fruits, and some small coins are placed in a basin of water.[72] Everyone takes turns catching as many items possible using only their mouths. Another common game involves the hands-free eating of an apple hung on a string attached to the ceiling. Games of divination are also played at Halloween.[73] Colcannon is traditionally served on Halloween.[72]
31 October is the busiest day of the year for the Emergency Services.[74] Bangers and fireworks are illegal in the Republic of Ireland; however, they are commonly smuggled in from Northern Ireland where they are legal.[75] Bonfires are frequently built around Halloween.[76] Trick-or-treating is popular amongst children on 31 October and Halloween parties and events are commonplace.
Italy
A carved pumpkin in Sardinia
In Italy, All Saints' Day is a public holiday. On 2 November, Tutti i Morti or All Souls' Day, families remember loved ones who have died. These are still the main holidays.[77] In some Italian tradition, children would awake on the morning of All Saints or All Souls to find small gifts from their deceased ancestors. In Sardinia, Concas de Mortu (Head of the deads), carved pumpkins that look like skulls, with candles inside are displayed.[78][79][80] Halloween is, however, gaining in popularity, and involves costume parties for young adults.[81] The traditions to carve pumpkins in a skull figure, lighting candles inside, or to beg for small gifts for the deads e.g. sweets or nuts, also belong to North Italy.[82] In Veneto these carved pumpkins were called lumère (lanterns) or suche dei morti (deads' pumpkins).[83]
Poland
Since the fall of Communism in 1989, Halloween has become increasingly popular in Poland. Particularly, it is celebrated among younger people. The influx of Western tourists and expats throughout the 1990s introduced the costume party aspect of Hallowe'en celebrations, particularly in clubs and at private house parties. Door-to-door trick or treating is not common. Pumpkin carving is becoming more evident, following a strong North American version of the tradition.
Romania
Romanians observe the Feast of St. Andrew, patron saint of Romania, on 30 November. On St. Andrew's Eve ghosts are said to be about. A number of customs related to divination, in other places connected to Halloween, are associated with this night.[84] However, with the popularity of Dracula in western Europe, around Halloween the Romanian tourist industry promotes trips to locations connected to the historical Vlad Tepeș and the more fanciful Dracula of Bram Stoker. One of the most successful Halloween Parties in Transylvania takes place in Sighișoara, the citadel where Vlad the Impaler was born. This party include magician shows, ballet show and The Ritual Killing of a Living Dead[85] The biggest Halloween party in Transylvania take place at Bran Castle, aka Dracula's Castle from Transylvania.[86]
Both the Catholic and Orthodox Churches in Romania discourage Halloween celebrations, advising their parishioners to focus rather on the "Day of the Dead" on 1 November, when special religious observances are held for the souls of the deceased.[87] Opposition by religious and nationalist groups, including calls to ban costumes and decorations in schools in 2015, have been met with criticism.[88][89][90] Halloween parties are popular in bars and nightclubs.[91]
Russia
In Russia, most Christians are Orthodox, and in the Orthodox Church, Halloween is on the Saturday after Pentecost, and therefore 4 to 5 months before western Halloween. Celebration of western Halloween began in the 1990s around the downfall of the Soviet regime, when costume and ghoulish parties spread in night clubs throughout Russia. Halloween is generally celebrated by younger generations and is not widely celebrated in civic society (e.g. theaters or libraries). In fact, Halloween is among the Western celebrations that the Russian government and politicians—which have grown increasingly anti-Western in the early 2010s—are trying to eliminate from public celebration.[92][93][94]
Spain
In Spain, celebrations involve eating castanyes (roasted chestnuts), panellets (special almond balls covered in pine nuts), moniatos (roast or baked sweet potato), Ossos de Sant cake and preserved fruit (candied or glazed fruit). Moscatell (Muscat) is drunk from porrons.[95] Around the time of this celebration, it is common for street vendors to sell hot toasted chestnuts wrapped in newspaper. In many places, confectioners often organise raffles of chestnuts and preserved fruit.
The tradition of eating these foods comes from the fact that during All Saints' night, on the eve of All Souls' Day in the Christian tradition, bell ringers would ring bells in commemoration of the dead into the early morning. Friends and relatives would help with this task, and everyone would eat these foods for sustenance.[96]
Other versions of the story state that the Castanyada originates at the end of the 18th century and comes from the old funeral meals, where other foods, such as vegetables and dried fruit were not served. The meal had the symbolic significance of a communion with the souls of the departed: while the chestnuts were roasting, prayers would be said for the person who had just died.[97]
The festival is usually depicted with the figure of a castanyera: an old lady, dressed in peasant's clothing and wearing a headscarf, sitting behind a table, roasting chestnuts for street sale.
In recent years, the Castanyada has become a revetlla of All Saints and is celebrated in the ... and community. It is the first of the four main school festivals, alongside Christmas, Carnestoltes and St George's Day, without reference to ritual or commemoration of the dead.[98]
Galicia is known two have the second largest Halloween or Samain festivals in Europe and during this time, a drink called Queimada is often served.
Sweden
On All Hallow's Eve, a Requiem Mass is widely attended every year at Uppsala Cathedral, part of the Lutheran Church of Sweden.[99]
Throughout the period of Allhallowtide, starting with All Hallow's Eve, Swedish families visit churchyards and adorn the graves of their family members with lit candles and wreaths fashioned from pine branches.[99]
Among children, the practice of dressing in costume and collecting candy gained popularity beginning around 2005.[100] The American traditions of Halloween have however been met with skepticism among the older generations, in part due to conflicting with the Swedish traditions on All Hallow's Eve and in part due to their commercialism.[101]
Switzerland
In Switzerland, Halloween, after first becoming popular in 1999, is on the wane, and is most popular with young adults who attend parties. Switzerland already has a "festival overload" and even though Swiss people like to dress up for any occasion, they do prefer a traditional element, such as in the Fasnacht tradition of chasing away winter using noise and masks.[102][103]
United Kingdom and Crown dependencies
England
See also: Mischief Night
See also: Allantide
In the past, on All Souls' Eve families would stay up late, and little "soul cakes" were eaten. At the stroke of midnight, there was solemn silence among households, which had candles burning in every room to guide the souls back to visit their earthly... and a glass of wine on the table to refresh them. The tradition of giving soul cakes that originated in Great Britain and Ireland was known as souling, often seen as the origin of modern trick or treating in North America, and souling continued in parts of England as late as the 1930s, with children going from door to door singing songs and saying prayers for the dead in return for cakes or money.[104]
Trick or treating and other Halloween celebrations are extremely popular, with shops decorated with witches and pumpkins, and young people attending costume parties.[105]
Scotland
The name Halloween is first attested in the 16th century as a Scottish shortening of the fuller All-Hallow-Even, that is, the night before All Hallows' Day.[106] Dumfries poet John Mayne's 1780 poem made note of pranks at Halloween "What fearfu' pranks ensue!". Scottish poet Robert Burns was influenced by Mayne's composition, and portrayed some of the customs in his poem Halloween (1785).[107] According to Burns, Halloween is "thought to be a night when witches, devils, and other mischief-making beings are all abroad on their baneful midnight errands".[108]
Among the earliest record of Guising at Halloween in Scotland is in 1895, where masqueraders in disguise carrying lanterns made out of scooped out turnips, ...to be rewarded with cakes, fruit and money.[109] If children approached the door of a house, they were given..... The children's practice of "guising", going from door to door in costumes for food or coins, is a traditional Halloween custom in Scotland.[3] These days children who knock on their neighbours doors have to sing a song or tell stories for a gift of sweets or money.[110]
A traditional Halloween game includes apple "dooking",[111] or "dunking" or (i.e., retrieving one from a bucket of water using only one's mouth), and attempting to eat, while blindfolded, a treacle/jam-coated scone hanging on a piece of string.
Traditional customs and lore include divination practices, ways of trying to predict the future. A traditional Scottish form of divining one's future spouse is to carve an apple in one long strip, then toss the peel over one's shoulder. The peel is believed to land in the shape of the first letter of the future spouse's name.[112]
In Kilmarnock, Halloween is also celebrated on the last Friday of the month, and is known colloquially as "Killieween".[113]
Isle of Man
See also: Hop-tu-Naa
Halloween is a popular traditional occasion on the Isle of Man, where it is known as Hop-tu-Naa.
Elsewhere
The children of the largest town in Bonaire gather together on Halloween day.
Saint Helena
In Saint Helena, Halloween is actively celebrated, largely along the American model, with ghosts, skeletons, devils, vampires, witches and the like. Imitation pumpkins are used instead of real pumpkins because the pumpkin harvesting season in Saint Helena's hemisphere is not near Halloween. Trick-or-treating is widespread. Party venues provide entertainment for adults." (wikipedia)
"Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween,[5] All Hallows' Eve,[6] or All Saints' Eve)[7] is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. It begins the observance of Allhallowtide,[8] the time in the liturgical year dedicated to remembering the dead, including saints (hallows), martyrs, and all the faithful departed.[9][10][11][12]
One theory holds that many Halloween traditions were influenced by Celtic harvest festivals, particularly the Gaelic festival Samhain, which are believed to have pagan roots.[13][14][15][16] Some go further and suggest that Samhain may have been Christianized as All Hallow's Day, along with its eve, by the early Church.[17] Other academics believe Halloween began solely as a Christian holiday, being the vigil of All Hallow's Day.[18][19][20][21] Celebrated in Ireland and Scotland for centuries, Irish and Scottish immigrants took many Halloween customs to North America in the 19th century,[22][23] and then through American influence Halloween had spread to other countries by the late 20th and early 21st century.[24][25]
Popular Halloween activities include trick-or-treating (or the related guising and souling), attending Halloween costume parties, carving pumpkins or turnips into jack-o'-lanterns, lighting bonfires, apple bobbing, divination games, playing pranks, visiting haunted attractions, telling scary stories, and watching horror or Halloween-themed films.[26] Some people practice the Christian religious observances of All Hallows' Eve, including attending church services and lighting candles on the graves of the dead,[27][28][29] although it is a secular celebration for others.[30][31][32] Some Christians historically abstained from meat on All Hallows' Eve, a tradition reflected in the eating of certain vegetarian foods on this vigil day, including apples, potato pancakes, and soul cakes.[33][34][35][36]
Etymology
"Halloween" (1785) by Scottish poet Robert Burns, recounts various legends of the holiday.
The word Halloween or Hallowe'en ("Saints' evening"[37]) is of Christian origin;[38][39] a term equivalent to "All Hallows Eve" is attested in Old English.[40] The word hallowe[']en comes from the Scottish form of All Hallows' Eve (the evening before All Hallows' Day):[41] even is the Scots term for "eve" or "evening",[42] and is contracted to e'en or een;[43] (All) Hallow(s) E(v)en became Hallowe'en.
History
Christian origins and historic customs
Halloween is thought to have influences from Christian beliefs and practices.[44][45] The English word 'Halloween' comes from "All Hallows' Eve", being the evening before the Christian holy days of All Hallows' Day (All Saints' Day) on 1 November and All Souls' Day on 2 November.[46] Since the time of the early Church,[47] major feasts in Christianity (such as Christmas, Easter and Pentecost) had vigils that began the night before, as did the feast of All Hallows'.[48][44] These three days are collectively called Allhallowtide and are a time when Western Christians honour all saints and pray for recently departed souls who have yet to reach Heaven. Commemorations of all saints and martyrs were held by several churches on various dates, mostly in springtime.[49] In 4th-century Roman Edessa it was held on 13 May, and on 13 May 609, Pope Boniface IV re-dedicated the Pantheon in Rome to "St Mary and all martyrs".[50] This was the date of Lemuria, an ancient Roman festival of the dead.[51]
In the 8th century, Pope Gregory III (731–741) founded an oratory in St Peter's for the relics "of the holy apostles and of all saints, martyrs and confessors".[44][52] Some sources say it was dedicated on 1 November,[53] while others say it was on Palm Sunday in April 732.[54][55] By 800, there is evidence that churches in Ireland[56] and Northumbria were holding a feast commemorating all saints on 1 November.[57] Alcuin of Northumbria, a member of Charlemagne's court, may then have introduced this 1 November date in the Frankish Empire.[58] In 835, it became the official date in the Frankish Empire.[57] Some suggest this was due to Celtic influence, while others suggest it was a Germanic idea,[57] although it is claimed that both Germanic and Celtic-speaking peoples commemorated the dead at the beginning of winter.[59] They may have seen it as the most fitting time to do so, as it is a time of 'dying' in nature.[57][59] It is also suggested the change was made on the "practical grounds that Rome in summer could not accommodate the great number of pilgrims who flocked to it", and perhaps because of public health concerns over Roman Fever, which claimed a number of lives during Rome's sultry summers.[60][44]
On All Hallows' Eve, Christians in some parts of the world visit cemeteries to pray and place flowers and candles on the graves of their loved ones.[61] Top: Christians in Bangladesh lighting candles on the headstone of a relative. Bottom: Lutheran Christians praying and lighting candles in front of the central crucifix of a graveyard.
By the end of the 12th century, the celebration had become known as the holy days of obligation in Western Christianity and involved such traditions as ringing church bells for souls in purgatory. It was also "customary for criers dressed in black to parade the streets, ringing a bell of mournful sound and calling on all good Christians to remember the poor souls".[62] The Allhallowtide custom of baking and sharing soul cakes for all christened souls,[63] has been suggested as the origin of trick-or-treating.[64] The custom dates back at least as far as the 15th century[65] and was found in parts of England, Wales, Flanders, Bavaria and Austria.[66] Groups of poor people, often children, would go door-to-door during Allhallowtide, collecting soul cakes, in ....or the dead, especially the souls of the givers' friends and relatives. This was called "souling".[65][67][68] Soul cakes were also ... for the souls themselves to eat,[66] or the 'soulers' would act as their representatives.[69] As with the Lenten tradition of hot cross buns, soul cakes were often marked with a cross, indicating they were baked as alms.[70] Shakespeare mentions souling in his comedy The Two Gentlemen of Verona (1593).[71] While souling, Christians would carry "lanterns made of hollowed-out turnips", which could have originally represented souls of the dead;[72][73] jack-o'-lanterns were used to ward off evil spirits.[74][75] On All Saints' and All Souls' Day during the 19th century, candles were lit in.....in Ireland,[76] Flanders, Bavaria, and in Tyrol, where they were called "soul lights",[77] that served "to guide the souls back to visit their earthly ...".[78] In many of these places, candles were also lit at graves on All Souls' Day.[77] In Brittany, libations of milk were poured on the graves of kinfolk,[66] or food would be left overnight on the dinner table for the returning souls;[77] a custom also found in Tyrol and parts of Italy.[79][77]
Christian minister Prince Sorie Conteh linked the wearing of costumes to the belief in vengeful ghosts: "It was traditionally believed that the souls of the departed wandered the earth until All Saints' Day, and All Hallows' Eve provided one last chance for the dead to gain vengeance on their enemies before moving to the next world. In order to avoid being recognized by any soul that might be seeking such vengeance, people would don masks or costumes".[80] In the Middle Ages, churches in Europe that were too poor to display relics of martyred saints at Allhallowtide let parishioners dress up as saints instead.[81][82] Some Christians observe this custom at Halloween today.[83] Lesley Bannatyne believes this could have been a Christianization of an earlier pagan custom.[84] Many Christians in mainland Europe, especially in France, believed "that once a year, on Hallowe'en, the dead of the churchyards rose for one wild, hideous carnival" known as the danse macabre, which was often depicted in church decoration.[85] Christopher Allmand and Rosamond McKitterick write in The New Cambridge Medieval History that the danse macabre urged Christians "not to forget the end of all earthly things".[86] The danse macabre was sometimes enacted in European village pageants and court masques, with people "dressing up as corpses from various strata of society", and this may be the origin of Halloween costume parties.[87][88][89][72]
In Britain, these customs came under attack during the Reformation, as Protestants berated purgatory as a "popish" doctrine incompatible with the Calvinist doctrine of predestination. State-sanctioned ceremonies associated with the intercession of saints and prayer for souls in purgatory were abolished during the Elizabethan reform, though All Hallow's Day remained in the English liturgical calendar to "commemorate saints as godly human beings".[90] For some Nonconformist Protestants, the theology of All Hallows' Eve was redefined; "souls cannot be journeying from Purgatory on their way to Heaven, as Catholics frequently believe and assert. Instead, the so-called ghosts are thought to be in actuality evil spirits".[91] Other Protestants believed in an intermediate state known as Hades (Bosom of Abraham).[92] In some localities, Catholics and Protestants continued souling, candlelit processions, or ringing church bells for the dead;[46][93] the Anglican church eventually suppressed this bell-ringing.[94] Mark Donnelly, a professor of medieval archaeology, and historian Daniel Diehl write that "barns and homes were blessed to protect people and livestock from the effect of witches, who were believed to accompany the malignant spirits as they traveled the earth".[95] After 1605, Hallowtide was eclipsed in England by Guy Fawkes Night (5 November), which appropriated some of its customs.[96] In England, the ending of official ceremonies related to the intercession of saints led to the development of new, unofficial Hallowtide customs. In 18th–19th century rural Lancashire, Catholic families gathered on hills on the night of All Hallows' Eve. One held a bunch of burning straw on a pitchfork while the rest knelt around him, praying for the souls of relatives and friends until the flames went out. This was known as teen'lay.[97] There was a similar custom in Hertfordshire, and the lighting of 'tindle' fires in Derbyshire.[98] Some suggested these 'tindles' were originally lit to "guide the poor souls back to earth".[99] In Scotland and Ireland, old Allhallowtide customs that were at odds with Reformed teaching were not suppressed as they "were important to the life cycle and rites of passage of local communities" and curbing them would have been difficult.[22]
In parts of Italy until the 15th century, families left a meal out for the ghosts of relatives, before leaving for church services.[79] In 19th-century Italy, churches staged "theatrical re-enactments of scenes from the lives of the saints" on All Hallow's Day, with "participants represented by realistic wax figures".[79] In 1823, the graveyard of Holy Spirit Hospital in Rome presented a scene in which bodies of those who recently died were arrayed around a wax statue of an angel who pointed upward towards heaven.[79] In the same country, "parish priests went house-to-house, asking for small gifts of food which they shared among themselves throughout that night".[79] In Spain, they continue to bake special pastries called "bones of the holy" (Spanish: Huesos de Santo) and set them on graves.[100] At cemeteries in Spain and France, as well as in Latin America, priests lead Christian processions and services during Allhallowtide, after which people keep an all night vigil.[101] In 19th-century San Sebastián, there was a procession to the city cemetery at Allhallowtide, an event that drew beggars who "appeal[ed] to the tender recollectons of one's deceased relations and friends" for sympathy.[102]
Gaelic folk influence
An early 20th-century Irish Halloween mask displayed at the Museum of Country Life
Today's Halloween customs are thought to have been influenced by folk customs and beliefs from the Celtic-speaking countries, some of which are believed to have pagan roots.[103] Jack Santino, a folklorist, writes that "there was throughout Ireland an uneasy truce existing between customs and beliefs associated with Christianity and those associated with religions that were Irish before Christianity arrived".[104] The origins of Halloween customs are typically linked to the Gaelic festival Samhain.[105]
Samhain is one of the quarter days in the medieval Gaelic calendar and has been celebrated on 31 October – 1 November[106] in Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man.[107][108] A kindred festival has been held by the Brittonic Celts, called Calan Gaeaf in Wales, Kalan Gwav in Cornwall and Kalan Goañv in Brittany; a name meaning "first day of winter". For the Celts, the day ended and began at sunset; thus the festival begins the evening before 1 November by modern reckoning.[109] Samhain is mentioned in some of the earliest Irish literature. The names have been used by historians to refer to Celtic Halloween customs up until the 19th century,[110] and are still the Gaelic and Welsh names for Halloween.
Snap-Apple Night, painted by Daniel Maclise in 1833, shows people feasting and playing divination games on Halloween in Ireland.[111]
Samhain marked the end of the harvest season and beginning of winter or the 'darker half' of the year.[112][113] It was seen as a liminal time, when the boundary between this world and the Otherworld thinned. This meant the Aos Sí, the 'spirits' or 'fairies', could more easily come into this world and were particularly active.[114][115] Most scholars see them as "degraded versions of ancient gods [...] whose power remained active in the people's minds even after they had been officially replaced by later religious beliefs".[116] They were both respected and feared, with individuals often invoking the protection of God when approaching their dwellings.[117][118] At Samhain, the Aos Sí were appeased to ensure the people and livestock survived the winter. .... of food and drink, or portions of the crops, were left outside for them.[119][120][121] The souls of the dead were also said to ...seeking hospitality.[122] Places were set at the dinner table and by the fire to welcome them.[123] The belief that the souls of the dead return home on one night of the year and must be appeased seems to have ancient origins and is found in many cultures.[66] In 19th century Ireland, "candles would be lit and prayers formally... for the souls of the dead. After this the eating, drinking, and games would begin".[124]
Throughout Ireland and Britain, especially in the Celtic-speaking regions, the household festivities included divination rituals and games intended to foretell one's future, especially regarding death and marriage.[125] Apples and nuts were often used, and customs included apple bobbing, nut roasting, scrying or mirror-gazing, pouring molten lead or egg whites into water, dream interpretation, and others.[126] Special bonfires were lit and there were rituals involving them. Their flames, smoke, and ashes were deemed to have protective and cleansing powers.[112] In some places, torches lit from the bonfire were carried sunwise around homes and fields to protect them.[110] It is suggested the fires were a kind of imitative or sympathetic magic – they mimicked the Sun and held back the decay and darkness of winter.[123][127][128] They were also used for divination and to ward off evil spirits.[74] In Scotland, these bonfires and divination games were banned by the church elders in some parishes.[129] In Wales, bonfires were also lit to "prevent the souls of the dead from falling to earth".[130] Later, these bonfires "kept away the devil".[131]
photograph
A plaster cast of a traditional Irish Halloween turnip (rutabaga) lantern on display in the Museum of Country Life, Ireland[132]
From at least the 16th century,[133] the festival included mumming and guising in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man and Wales.[134] This involved people going house-to-house in costume (or in disguise),..... It may have originally been a tradition whereby people impersonated the Aos Sí, or the souls of the dead, and .... .... on their behalf, similar to 'souling'. Impersonating these beings, or wearing a disguise, was also believed to protect oneself from them.[135] In parts of southern Ireland, the guisers included a hobby horse. A man dressed as a Láir Bhán (white mare) led youths ,, reciting verses – some of which had pagan overtones – in ..... If the household donated food it could expect good fortune from the 'Muck Olla'; not doing so would bring misfortune.[136] In Scotland, youths went house-to-house with masked, painted or blackened faces, often threatening to do mischief if they were not welcomed.[134] F. Marian McNeill suggests the ancient festival included people in costume representing the spirits, and that faces were marked or blackened with ashes from the sacred bonfire.[133] In parts of Wales, men went about dressed as fearsome beings called gwrachod.[134] In the late 19th and early 20th century, young people in Glamorgan and Orkney cross-dressed.[134]
Elsewhere in Europe, mumming was part of other festivals, but in the Celtic-speaking regions, it was "particularly appropriate to a night upon which supernatural beings were said to be abroad and could be imitated or warded off by human wanderers".[134] From at least the 18th century, "imitating malignant spirits" led to playing pranks in Ireland and the Scottish Highlands. Wearing costumes and playing pranks at Halloween did not spread to England until the 20th century.[134] Pranksters used hollowed-out turnips or mangel wurzels as lanterns, often carved with grotesque faces.[134] By those who made them, the lanterns were variously said to represent the spirits,[134] or used to ward off evil spirits.[137][138] They were common in parts of Ireland and the Scottish Highlands in the 19th century,[134] as well as in Somerset (see Punkie Night). In the 20th century they spread to other parts of Britain and became generally known as jack-o'-lanterns.[134]
Spread to North America
The annual New York Halloween Parade in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, is the world's largest Halloween parade, with millions of spectators annually, and has its roots in New York’s queer community.[139]
Lesley Bannatyne and Cindy Ott write that Anglican colonists in the southern United States and Catholic colonists in Maryland "recognized All Hallow's Eve in their church calendars",[140][141] although the Puritans of New England strongly opposed the holiday, along with other traditional celebrations of the established Church, including Christmas.[142] Almanacs of the late 18th and early 19th century give no indication that Halloween was widely celebrated in North America.[22]
It was not until after mass Irish and Scottish immigration in the 19th century that Halloween became a major holiday in America.[22] Most American Halloween traditions were inherited from the Irish and Scots,[23][143] though "In Cajun areas, a nocturnal Mass was said in cemeteries on Halloween night. Candles that had been blessed were placed on graves, and families sometimes spent the entire night at the graveside".[144] Originally confined to these immigrant communities, it was gradually assimilated into mainstream society and was celebrated coast to coast by people of all social, racial, and religious backgrounds by the early 20th century.[145] Then, through American influence, these Halloween traditions spread to many other countries by the late 20th and early 21st century, including to mainland Europe and some parts of the Far East.[24][25][146]
Symbols
At Halloween, yards, public spaces, and some houses may be decorated with traditionally macabre symbols including skeletons, ghosts, cobwebs, headstones, and scary looking witches.
Development of artifacts and symbols associated with Halloween formed over time. Jack-o'-lanterns are traditionally carried by guisers on All Hallows' Eve in order to frighten evil spirits.[73][147] There is a popular Irish Christian folktale associated with the jack-o'-lantern,[148] which in folklore is said to represent a "soul who has been denied entry into both heaven and hell":[149]
...after a night's drinking, Jack encounters the Devil and tricks him into climbing a tree. A quick-thinking Jack etches the sign of the cross into the bark, thus trapping the Devil. Jack strikes a bargain that Satan can never claim his soul. After a life of sin, drink, and mendacity, Jack is refused entry to heaven when he dies. Keeping his promise, the Devil refuses to let Jack into hell and throws a live coal straight from the fires of hell at him. It was a cold night, so Jack places the coal in a hollowed out turnip to stop it from going out, since which time Jack and his lantern have been roaming looking for a place to rest.[150]
In Ireland and Scotland, the turnip has traditionally been carved during Halloween,[151][152] but immigrants to North America used the native pumpkin, which is both much softer and much larger, making it easier to carve than a turnip.[151] The American tradition of carving pumpkins is recorded in 1837[153] and was originally associated with harvest time in general, not becoming specifically associated with Halloween until the mid-to-late 19th century.[154]
Decorated house in Weatherly, Pennsylvania
The modern imagery of Halloween comes from many sources, including Christian eschatology, national customs, works of Gothic and horror literature (such as the novels Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus and Dracula) and classic horror films such as Frankenstein (1931) and The Mummy (1932).[155][156] Imagery of the skull, a reference to Golgotha in the Christian tradition, serves as "a reminder of death and the transitory quality of human life" and is consequently found in memento mori and vanitas compositions;[157] skulls have therefore been commonplace in Halloween, which touches on this theme.[158] Traditionally, the back walls of churches are "decorated with a depiction of the Last Judgment, complete with graves opening and the dead rising, with a heaven filled with angels and a hell filled with devils", a motif that has permeated the observance of this triduum.[159] One of the earliest works on the subject of Halloween is from Scottish poet John Mayne, who, in 1780, made note of pranks at Halloween; "What fearfu' pranks ensue!", as well as the supernatural associated with the night, "bogles" (ghosts),[160] influencing Robert Burns' "Halloween" (1785).[161] Elements of the autumn season, such as pumpkins, corn husks, and scarecrows, are also prevalent. Homes are often decorated with these types of symbols around Halloween. Halloween imagery includes themes of death, evil, and mythical monsters.[162] Black cats, which have been long associated with witches, are also a common symbol of Halloween. Black, orange, and sometimes purple are Halloween's traditional colors.[163]
Trick-or-treating and guising
Main article: Trick-or-treating
Trick-or-treaters in Sweden
Trick-or-treating is a customary celebration for children on Halloween. Children go in costume from house to house, asking for treats such as candy or sometimes money, with the question, "Trick or treat?" The word "trick" implies a "threat" to perform mischief on the homeowners or their property if no treat is given.[64] The practice is said to have roots in the medieval practice of mumming, which is closely related to souling.[164] John Pymm wrote that "many of the feast days associated with the presentation of mumming plays were celebrated by the Christian Church."[165] These feast days included All Hallows' Eve, Christmas, Twelfth Night and Shrove Tuesday.[166][167] Mumming practiced in Germany, Scandinavia and other parts of Europe,[168] involved masked persons in fancy dress who "paraded the streets and entered houses to dance or play dice in silence".[169]
Girl in a Halloween costume in 1928, Ontario, Canada, the same province where the Scottish Halloween custom of guising was first recorded in North America
In England, from the medieval period,[170] up until the 1930s,[171] people practiced the Christian custom of souling on Halloween, which involved groups of soulers, both Protestant and Catholic,[93] going from parish to parish, begging the rich for soul cakes, in.... and their friends.[67] In the Philippines, the practice of souling is called Pangangaluluwa and is practiced on All Hallow's Eve among children in rural areas.[26] People drape themselves in white cloths to represent souls and then visit houses, where they sing in return for prayers and sweets.[26]
In Scotland and Ireland, guising – children disguised in costume going from door to door for food or coins – is a traditional Halloween custom.[172] It is recorded in Scotland at Halloween in 1895 where masqueraders in disguise carrying lanterns made out of scooped out turnips, ... to be rewarded with cakes, fruit, and money.[152][173] In Ireland, the most popular phrase for kids to shout (until the 2000s) was "Help the Halloween Party".[172] The practice of guising at Halloween in North America was first recorded in 1911, where a newspaper in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, reported children going "guising" around the neighborhood.[174]
American historian and author Ruth Edna Kelley of Massachusetts wrote the first book-length history of Halloween in the US; The Book of Hallowe'en (1919), and references souling in the chapter "Hallowe'en in America".[175] In her book, Kelley touches on customs that arrived from across the Atlantic; "Americans have fostered them, and are making this an occasion something like what it must have been in its best days overseas. All Halloween customs in the United States are borrowed directly or adapted from those of other countries".[176]
While the first reference to "guising" in North America occurs in 1911, another reference to ritual begging on Halloween appears, place unknown, in 1915, with a third reference in Chicago in 1920.[177] The earliest known use in print of the term "trick or treat" appears in 1927, in the Blackie Herald, of Alberta, Canada.[178]
An automobile trunk at a trunk-or-treat event at St. John Lutheran Church and Early Learning Center in Darien, Illinois
The thousands of Halloween postcards produced between the turn of the 20th century and the 1920s commonly show children but not trick-or-treating.[179] Trick-or-treating does not seem to have become a widespread practice in North America until the 1930s, with the first US appearances of the term in 1934,[180] and the first use in a national publication occurring in 1939.[181]
A popular variant of trick-or-treating, known as trunk-or-treating (or Halloween tailgating), occurs when "children are ....treats from the trunks of cars parked in a church parking lot", or sometimes, a school parking lot.[100][182] In a trunk-or-treat event, the trunk (boot) of each automobile is decorated with a certain theme,[183] such as those of children's literature, movies, scripture, and job roles.[184] Trunk-or-treating has grown in popularity due to its perception as being more safe than going door to door, a point that resonates well with parents, as well as the fact that it "solves the rural conundrum in which homes [are] built a half-mile apart".[185][186]
Costumes
Main article: Halloween costume
Halloween costumes were traditionally modeled after figures such as vampires, ghosts, skeletons, scary looking witches, and devils.[64] Over time, the costume selection extended to include popular characters from fiction, celebrities, and generic archetypes such as ninjas and princesses.
Halloween shop in Derry, Northern Ireland, selling masks
Dressing up in costumes and going "guising" was prevalent in Scotland and Ireland at Halloween by the late 19th century.[152] A Scottish term, the tradition is called "guising" because of the disguises or costumes worn by the children.[173] In Ireland and Scotland, the masks are known as 'false faces',[38][187] a term recorded in Ayr, Scotland in 1890 by a Scot describing guisers: "I had mind it was Halloween . . . the wee callans were at it already, rinning aboot wi’ their fause-faces (false faces) on and their bits o’ turnip lanthrons (lanterns) in their haun (hand)".[38] Costuming became popular for Halloween parties in the US in the early 20th century, as often for adults as for children, and when trick-or-treating was becoming popular in Canada and the US in the 1920s and 1930s.[178][188]
Eddie J. Smith, in his book Halloween, Hallowed is Thy Name, ... a religious perspective to the wearing of costumes on All Hallows' Eve, suggesting that by dressing up as creatures "who at one time caused us to fear and tremble", people are able to poke fun at Satan "whose kingdom has been plundered by our Saviour". Images of skeletons and the dead are traditional decorations used as memento mori.[189][190]
"Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF" is a fundraising program to support UNICEF,[64] a United Nations Programme that provides humanitarian aid to children in developing countries. Started as a local event in a Northeast Philadelphia neighborhood in 1950 and expanded nationally in 1952, the program involves the distribution of small boxes by schools (or in modern times, corporate sponsors like Hallmark, at their licensed stores) to trick-or-treaters, in which they can solicit small-change donations from the houses they visit. It is estimated that children have collected more than $118 million for UNICEF since its inception. In Canada, in 2006, UNICEF decided to discontinue their Halloween collection boxes, citing safety and administrative concerns; after consultation with schools, they instead redesigned the program.[191][192]
The yearly New York's Village Halloween Parade was begun in 1974; it is the world's largest Halloween parade and America's only major nighttime parade, attracting more than 60,000 costumed participants, two million spectators, and a worldwide television audience.[193]
Since the late 2010s, ethnic stereotypes as costumes have increasingly come under scrutiny in the United States.[194] Such and other potentially offensive costumes have been met with increasing public disapproval.[195][196]
Pet costumes
According to a 2018 report from the National Retail Federation, 30 million Americans will spend an estimated $480 million on Halloween costumes for their pets in 2018. This is up from an estimated $200 million in 2010. The most popular costumes for pets are the pumpkin, followed by the hot dog, and the bumblebee in third place.[197]
Games and other activities
In this 1904 Halloween greeting card, divination is depicted: the young woman looking into a mirror in a darkened room hopes to catch a glimpse of her future husband.
There are several games traditionally associated with Halloween. Some of these games originated as divination rituals or ways of foretelling one's future, especially regarding death, marriage and children. During the Middle Ages, these rituals were done by a "rare few" in rural communities as they were considered to be "deadly serious" practices.[198] In recent centuries, these divination games have been "a common feature of the household festivities" in Ireland and Britain.[125] They often involve apples and hazelnuts. In Celtic mythology, apples were strongly associated with the Otherworld and immortality, while hazelnuts were associated with divine wisdom.[199] Some also suggest that they derive from Roman practices in celebration of Pomona.[64]
Children bobbing for apples at Hallowe'en
The following activities were a common feature of Halloween in Ireland and Britain during the 17th–20th centuries. Some have become more widespread and continue to be popular today. One common game is apple bobbing or dunking (which may be called "dooking" in Scotland)[200] in which apples float in a tub or a large basin of water and the participants must use only their teeth to remove an apple from the basin. A variant of dunking involves kneeling on a chair, holding a fork between the teeth and trying to drive the fork into an apple. Another common game involves hanging up treacle or syrup-coated scones by strings; these must be eaten without using hands while they remain attached to the string, an activity that inevitably leads to a sticky face. Another once-popular game involves hanging a small wooden rod from the ceiling at head height, with a lit candle on one end and an apple hanging from the other. The rod is spun round and everyone takes turns to try to catch the apple with their teeth.[201]
Image from the Book of Hallowe'en (1919) showing several Halloween activities, such as nut roasting
Several of the traditional activities from Ireland and Britain involve foretelling one's future partner or spouse. An apple would be peeled in one long strip, then the peel tossed over the shoulder. The peel is believed to land in the shape of the first letter of the future spouse's name.[202][203] Two hazelnuts would be roasted near a fire; one named for the person roasting them and the other for the person they desire. If the nuts jump away from the heat, it is a bad sign, but if the nuts roast quietly it foretells a good match.[204][205] A salty oatmeal bannock would be baked; the person would eat it in three bites and then .... bed in silence without anything to drink. This is said to result in a dream in which their future spouse ... them a drink to quench their thirst.[206] Unmarried women were told that if they sat in a darkened room and gazed into a mirror on Halloween night, the face of their future husband would appear in the mirror.[207] The custom was widespread enough to be commemorated on greeting cards[208] from the late 19th century and early 20th century.
Another popular Irish game was known as púicíní ("blindfolds"); a person would be blindfolded and then would choose between several saucers. The item in the saucer would provide a hint as to their future: a ring would mean that they would marry soon; clay, that they would die soon, perhaps within the year; water, that they would emigrate; rosary beads, that they would take Holy Orders (become a nun, priest, monk, etc.); a coin, that they would become rich; a bean, that they would be poor.[209][210][211][212] The game features prominently in the James Joyce short story "Clay" (1914).[213][214][215]
In Ireland and Scotland, items would be hidden in food – usually a cake, barmbrack, cranachan, champ or colcannon – and portions of it served out at random. A person's future would be foretold by the item they happened to find; for example, a ring meant marriage and a coin meant wealth.[216]
Up until the 19th century, the Halloween bonfires were also used for divination in parts of Scotland, Wales and Brittany. When the fire died down, a ring of stones would be laid in the ashes, one for each person. In the morning, if any stone was mislaid it was said that the person it represented would not live out the year.[110]
Telling ghost stories, listening to Halloween-themed songs and watching horror films are common fixtures of Halloween parties. Episodes of television series and Halloween-themed specials (with the specials usually aimed at children) are commonly aired on or before Halloween, while new horror films are often released before Halloween to take advantage of the holiday.
Haunted attractions
Main article: Haunted attraction (simulated)
Humorous tombstones in front of a house in California
Humorous display window in Historic 25th Street, Ogden, Utah
Haunted attractions are entertainment venues designed to thrill and scare patrons. Most attractions are seasonal Halloween businesses that may include haunted houses, corn mazes, and hayrides,[217] and the level of sophistication of the effects has risen as the industry has grown.
The first recorded purpose-built haunted attraction was the Orton and Spooner Ghost House, which opened in 1915 in Liphook, England. This attraction actually most closely resembles a carnival fun house, powered by steam.[218][219] The House still exists, in the Hollycombe Steam Collection.
It was during the 1930s, about the same time as trick-or-treating, that Halloween-themed haunted houses first began to appear in America. It was in the late 1950s that haunted houses as a major attraction began to appear, focusing first on California...., the San Mateo Haunted House opened in 1957. The San Bernardino Assistance League Haunted House opened in 1958. Home haunts began appearing across the country during 1962 and 1963. In 1964, the San Manteo Haunted House opened, as well as the Children's Museum Haunted House in Indianapolis.[220]
The haunted house as an American cultural icon can be attributed to the opening of The Haunted Mansion in Disneyland on 12 August 1969.[221] Knott's Berry Farm began hosting its own Halloween night attraction, Knott's Scary Farm, which opened in 1973.[222] Evangelical Christians adopted a form of these attractions by opening one of the first "hell houses" in 1972.[223]
The first Halloween haunted house run by a nonprofit organization was produced in 1970 by the Sycamore-Deer Park Jaycees in Clifton, Ohio. It was cosponsored by WSAI, an AM radio station broadcasting out of Cincinnati, Ohio. It was last produced in 1982.[224] Other Jaycees followed suit with their own versions after the success of the Ohio house. The March of Dimes copyrighted a "Mini haunted house for the March of Dimes" in 1976 and began fundraising through their local chapters by conducting haunted houses soon after. Although they apparently quit supporting this type of event nationally sometime in the 1980s, some March of Dimes haunted houses have persisted until today.[225]
On the evening of 11 May 1984, in Jackson Township, New Jersey, the Haunted Castle (Six Flags Great Adventure) caught fire. As a result of the fire, eight teenagers perished.[226] The backlash to the tragedy was a tightening of regulations relating to safety, building codes and the frequency of inspections of attractions nationwide. The smaller venues, especially the nonprofit attractions, were unable to compete financially, and the better funded commercial enterprises filled the vacuum.[227][228] Facilities that were once able to avoid regulation because they were considered to be temporary installations now had to adhere to the stricter codes required of permanent attractions.[229][230][231]
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, theme parks entered the business seriously. Six Flags Fright Fest began in 1986 and Universal Studios Florida began Halloween Horror Nights in 1991. Knott's Scary Farm experienced a surge in attendance in the 1990s as a result of America's obsession with Halloween as a cultural event. Theme parks have played a major role in globalizing the holiday. Universal Studios Singapore and Universal Studios Japan both participate, while Disney now mounts Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party events at its parks in Paris, Hong Kong and Tokyo, as well as in the United States.[232] The theme park haunts are by far the largest, both in scale and attendance.[233]
Food
Pumpkins for sale during Halloween
On All Hallows' Eve, many Western Christian denominations encourage abstinence from meat, giving rise to a variety of vegetarian foods associated with this day.[234]
A candy apple
Because in the Northern Hemisphere Halloween comes in the wake of the yearly apple harvest, candy apples (known as toffee apples outside North America), caramel apples or taffy apples are common Halloween treats made by rolling whole apples in a sticky sugar syrup, sometimes followed by rolling them in nuts.
At one time, candy apples were commonly given to trick-or-treating children, but the practice rapidly waned in the wake of widespread rumors that some individuals were embedding items like pins and razor blades in the apples in the United States.[235] While there is evidence of such incidents,[236] relative to the degree of reporting of such cases, actual cases involving malicious acts are extremely rare and have never resulted in serious injury. Nonetheless, many parents assumed that such heinous practices were rampant because of the mass media. At the peak of the hysteria, some hospitals ... X-rays of children's Halloween hauls in order to find evidence of tampering. Virtually all of the few known candy poisoning incidents involved parents who poisoned their own children's candy.[237]
One custom that persists in modern-day Ireland is the baking (or more often nowadays, t of a barmbrack (Irish: báirín breac), which is a light fruitcake, into which a plain ring, a coin, and other charms are placed before baking.[238] It is considered fortunate to be the lucky one who finds it.[238] It has also been said that those who get a ring will find their true love in the ensuing year. This is similar to the tradition of king cake at the festival of Epiphany. Halloween-themed foods are also produced by companies in the lead up to the night, for example Cadbury releasing Goo Heads (similar to Creme Eggs) in spooky wrapping.[239]
A jack-o'-lantern Halloween cake with a witches hat
List of foods associated with Halloween:
Barmbrack (Ireland)
Bonfire toffee (Great Britain)
Candy apples/toffee apples (Great Britain and Ireland)
Candy apples, candy corn, candy pumpkins (North America)
Chocolate
Monkey nuts (peanuts in their shells) (Ireland and Scotland)
Caramel apples
Caramel corn
Colcannon (Ireland; see below)
Halloween cake
Sweets/candy
Novelty candy shaped like skulls, pumpkins, bats, worms, etc.
Roasted pumpkin seeds
Roasted sweet corn
Soul cakes
Pumpkin Pie
Christian religious observances
The Vigil of All Hallows' is being celebrated at an Episcopal Christian church on Hallowe'en
On Hallowe'en (All Hallows' Eve), in Poland, believers were once taught to pray out loud as they walk through the forests in order that the souls of the dead might find comfort; in Spain, Christian priests in tiny villages toll their church bells in order to remind their congregants to remember the dead on All Hallows' Eve.[240] In Ireland, and among immigrants in Canada, a custom includes the Christian practice of abstinence, keeping All Hallows' Eve as a meat-free day and serving pancakes or colcannon instead.[241] In Mexico children make an altar to invite the return of the spirits of dead children (angelitos).[242]
The Christian Church traditionally observed Hallowe'en through a vigil. Worshippers prepared themselves for feasting on the following All Saints' Day with prayers and fasting.[243] This church service is known as the Vigil of All Hallows or the Vigil of All Saints;[244][245] an initiative known as Night of Light seeks to further spread the Vigil of All Hallows throughout Christendom.[246][247] After the service, "suitable festivities and entertainments" often follow, as well as a visit to the graveyard or cemetery, where flowers and candles are often placed in preparation for All Hallows' Day.[248][249] In Finland, because so many people visit the cemeteries on All Hallows' Eve to light votive candles there, they "are known as valomeri, or seas of light".[250]
Halloween Scripture Candy with gospel tract
Today, Christian attitudes towards Halloween are diverse. In the Anglican Church, some dioceses have chosen to emphasize the Christian traditions associated with All Hallow's Eve.[251][252] Some of these practices include praying, fasting and attending worship services.[1][2][3]
O LORD our God, increase, we pray thee, and multiply upon us the gifts of thy grace: that we, who do prevent the glorious festival of all thy Saints, may of thee be enabled joyfully to follow them in all virtuous and godly living. Through Jesus Christ, Our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen. —Collect of the Vigil of All Saints, The Anglican Breviary[253]
Votive candles in the Halloween section of Walmart
Other Protestant Christians also celebrate All Hallows' Eve as Reformation Day, a day to remember the Protestant Reformation, alongside All Hallow's Eve or independently from it.[254] This is because Martin Luther is said to have nailed his Ninety-five Theses to All Saints' Church in Wittenberg on All Hallows' Eve.[255] Often, "Harvest Festivals" or "Reformation Festivals" are held on All Hallows' Eve, in which children dress up as Bible characters or Reformers.[256] In addition to distributing candy to children who are trick-or-treating on Hallowe'en, many Christians also provide gospel tracts to them. One organization, the American Tract Society, stated that around 3 million gospel tracts are ordered from them alone for Hallowe'en celebrations.[257] Others order Halloween-themed Scripture Candy to pass out to children on this day.[258][259]
Belizean children dressed up as Biblical figures and Christian saints
Some Christians feel concerned about the modern celebration of Halloween because they feel it trivializes – or celebrates – paganism, the occult, or other practices and cultural phenomena deemed incompatible with their beliefs.[260] Father Gabriele Amorth, an exorcist in Rome, has said, "if English and American children like to dress up as witches and devils on one night of the year that is not a problem. If it is just a game, there is no harm in that."[261] In more recent years, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston has organized a "Saint Fest" on Halloween.[262] Similarly, many contemporary Protestant churches view Halloween as a fun event for children, holding events in their churches where children and their parents can dress up, play games, and get candy.... To these Christians, Halloween holds no threat to the spiritual lives of children: being taught about death and mortality, and the ways of the Celtic ancestors actually being a valuable life lesson and a part of many of their parishioners' heritage.[263] Christian minister Sam Portaro wrote that Halloween is about using "humor and ridicule to confront the power of death".[264]
In the Roman Catholic Church, Halloween's Christian connection is acknowledged, and Halloween celebrations are common in many Catholic parochial schools in the United States.[265][266] Many fundamentalist and evangelical churches use "Hell houses" and comic-style tracts in order to make use of Halloween's popularity as an opportunity for evangelism.[267] Others consider Halloween to be completely incompatible with the Christian faith due to its putative origins in the Festival of the Dead celebration.[268] Indeed, even though Eastern Orthodox Christians observe All Hallows' Day on the First Sunday after Pentecost, The Eastern Orthodox Church recommends the observance of Vespers or a Paraklesis on the Western observance of All Hallows' Eve, out of the pastoral need to provide an alternative to popular celebrations.[269]
Analogous celebrations and perspectives
Judaism
According to Alfred J. Kolatch in the Second Jewish Book of Why, in Judaism, Halloween is not permitted by Jewish Halakha because it violates Leviticus 18:3, which forbids Jews from partaking in gentile customs. Many Jews observe Yizkor communally four times a year, which is vaguely similar to the observance of Allhallowtide in Christianity, in the sense that prayers are said for both "martyrs and for one's own family".[270] Nevertheless, many American Jews celebrate Halloween, disconnected from its Christian origins.[271] Reform Rabbi Jeffrey Goldwasser has said that "There is no religious reason why contemporary Jews should not celebrate Halloween" while Orthodox Rabbi Michael Broyde has argued against Jews' observing the holiday.[272] Purim has sometimes been compared to Halloween, in part due to some observants wearing costumes, especially of Biblical figures described in the Purim narrative.[273]
Islam
Sheikh Idris Palmer, author of A Brief Illustrated Guide to Understanding Islam, has ruled that Muslims should not participate in Halloween, stating that "participation in Halloween is worse than participation in Christmas, Easter, ... it is more sinful than congratulating the Christians for their prostration to the crucifix".[274] It has also been ruled to be haram by the National Fatwa Council of Malaysia because of its alleged pagan roots stating "Halloween is celebrated using a humorous theme mixed with horror to entertain and resist the spirit of death that influence humans".[275][276] Dar Al-Ifta Al-Missriyyah disagrees provided the celebration is not referred to as an 'eid' and that behaviour remains in line with Islamic principles.[277]
Hinduism
Hindus remember the dead during the festival of Pitru Paksha, during which Hindus ...homage to and perform a ceremony "to keep the souls of their ancestors at rest". It is celebrated in the Hindu month of Bhadrapada, usually in mid-September.[278] The celebration of the Hindu festival Diwali sometimes conflicts with the date of Halloween; but some Hindus choose to participate in the popular customs of Halloween.[279] Other Hindus, such as Soumya Dasgupta, have opposed the celebration on the grounds that Western holidays like Halloween have "begun to adversely affect our indigenous festivals".[280]
Neopaganism
There is no consistent rule or view on Halloween amongst those who describe themselves as Neopagans or Wiccans. Some Neopagans do not observe Halloween, but instead observe Samhain on 1 November,[281] some neopagans do enjoy Halloween festivities, stating that one can observe both "the solemnity of Samhain in addition to the fun of Halloween". Some neopagans are opposed to the celebration of Hallowe'en, stating that it "trivializes Samhain",[282] and "avoid Halloween, because of the interruptions from trick or treaters".[283] The Manitoban writes that "Wiccans don't officially celebrate Halloween, despite the fact that 31 Oct. will still have a star beside it in any good Wiccan's day planner. Starting at sundown, Wiccans celebrate a holiday known as Samhain. Samhain actually comes from old Celtic traditions and is not exclusive to Neopagan religions like Wicca. While the traditions of this holiday originate in Celtic countries, modern day Wiccans don't try to historically replicate Samhain celebrations. Some traditional Samhain rituals are still practised, but at its core, the period is treated as a time to celebrate darkness and the dead – a possible reason why Samhain can be confused with Halloween celebrations."[281]
Geography
Main article: Geography of Halloween
Halloween display in Kobe, Japan
The traditions and importance of Halloween vary greatly among countries that observe it. In Scotland and Ireland, traditional Halloween customs include children dressing up in costume going "guising", holding parties, while other practices in Ireland include lighting bonfires, and having firework displays.[172][284][285] In Brittany children would play practical jokes by setting candles inside skulls in graveyards to frighten visitors.[286] Mass transatlantic immigration in the 19th century popularized Halloween in North America, and celebration in the United States and Canada has had a significant impact on how the event is observed in other nations.[172] This larger North American influence, particularly in iconic and commercial elements, has extended to places such as Brazil, Ecuador, Chile,[287] Australia,[288] New Zealand,[289] (most) continental Europe, Finland,[290] Japan, and other parts of East Asia." (wikipedia)
"In German folklore and ghostlore, a poltergeist (/ˈpoʊltərˌɡaɪst/ or /ˈpɒltərˌɡaɪst/; German: [ˈpɔltɐɡaɪ̯st] ⓘ; 'rumbling ghost' or 'noisy spirit') is a type of ghost or spirit that is responsible for physical disturbances, such as loud noises and objects being moved or destroyed. Most claims or fictional descriptions of poltergeists show them as being capable of pinching, biting, hitting, and tripping people. They are also depicted as capable of the movement or levitation of objects such as furniture and cutlery, or noises such as knocking on doors. Foul smells are also associated with poltergeist occurrences, as well as spontaneous fires and different electrical issues such as flickering lights.[1]
These manifestations have been recorded in many cultures and countries, including Brazil, Australia, the United States, Japan and most European nations. The first recorded cases date back to the 1st century.
Etymology
The word poltergeist comes from the German language words poltern 'to make sound, to rumble' and Geist 'ghost, spirit' and the term itself translates as 'noisy ghost', 'rumble-ghost' or a 'loud spirit'. A synonym coined by René Sudre is thorybism, from the Ancient Greek θορυβείν (thorubeín) 'to make noise or uproar, to throw into confusion'.
Suggested explanations
Hoax
Part of a series on the
Paranormal
Main articles
Skepticism
Parapsychology
Related
Many claims have been made that poltergeist activity explains strange events (including those by modern self-styled ghost hunters), however their evidence has so far not stood up to scrutiny.[2] Many claimed poltergeist events have been proven upon investigation to be hoaxes.[3]
Psychical researcher Frank Podmore proposed the 'naughty little girl' theory for poltergeist cases (many of which have seemed to centre on an adolescent, usually a girl).[4] He found that the centre of the disturbance was often a child who was throwing objects around to fool or scare people for attention.[4][5] Skeptical investigator Joe Nickell says that claimed poltergeist incidents typically originate from "an individual who is motivated to cause mischief".[6] According to Nickell:
In the typical poltergeist outbreak, small objects are hurled through the air by unseen forces, furniture is overturned, or other disturbances occur—usually just what could be accomplished by a juvenile trickster determined to plague credulous adults.
Nickell writes that reports are often exaggerated by credulous witnesses.[7]
Time and time again in other "poltergeist" outbreaks, witnesses have reported an object leaping from its resting place supposedly on its own, when it is likely that the perpetrator had secretly obtained the object sometime earlier and waited for an opportunity to fling it, even from outside the room—thus supposedly proving he or she was innocent.
Unsubstantiated claims:
Stockwell ghost (1772) - since 1825 [8]
Ballechin House (1876)
The Enfield poltergeist claim (1977) - John Beloff, a former president of the Society for Psychical Research and Anita Gregory concluded that the claimants were playing tricks on the investigators.[9]
Columbus poltergeist case (1984)
Psychological
A claim of activity at Caledonia Mills (1899–1922) was investigated by Walter Franklin Prince, research officer for the American Society for Psychical Research in 1922. Prince concluded that the mysterious fires and alleged poltergeist phenomena were because of a psychological state of dissociation.[10]
Nandor Fodor investigated the Thornton Heath poltergeist claim (1938). His conclusion of the case were a psychoanalytical explanation and in a subsequent publication: "The poltergeist is not a ghost. It is a bundle of projected repressions,".[11]
According to research in anomalistic psychology, claims of poltergeist activity can be explained by psychological factors such as illusion, memory lapses, and wishful thinking.[12] A study (Lange and Houran, 1998) wrote that poltergeist experiences are delusions "resulting from the affective and cognitive dynamics of percipients' interpretation of ambiguous stimuli".[13] Psychologist Donovan Rawcliffe has written that almost all poltergeist cases that have been investigated turned out to be based on trickery, whilst the rest are attributable to psychological factors such as hallucinations.[14]
Psychoanalyst Carl Gustav Jung was interested in the concept of poltergeists and the occult in general. Jung believed that a female cousin's trance states were responsible for a dining table splitting in two and his later discovery of a broken bread knife.[15]
Jung also believed that when a bookcase gave an explosive cracking sound during a meeting with Sigmund Freud in 1909, he correctly predicted there would be a second sound, speculating that such phenomena were caused by 'exteriorization' of his subconscious mind. Freud disagreed, and concluded there was some natural cause. Freud biographers maintain the sounds were likely caused by the wood of the bookcase contracting as it dried out.[16][17]
Unverified natural phenomena
Attempts have also been made to scientifically explain poltergeist disturbances that have not been traced to fraud or psychological factors. Skeptic and magician Milbourne Christopher found that some cases of poltergeist activity can be attributed to unusual air currents, such as a 1957 case on Cape Cod where downdrafts from an uncovered chimney became strong enough to blow a mirror off a wall, overturn chairs and knock things off shelves.[18]
In the 1950s, Guy William Lambert proposed that reported poltergeist phenomena could be explained by the movement of underground water causing stress on houses.[19] He suggested that water turbulence could cause strange sounds or structural movement of the property, possibly causing the house to vibrate and move objects. Later researchers, such as Alan Gauld and Tony Cornell, tested Lambert's hypothesis by placing specific objects in different rooms and subjecting the house to strong mechanical vibrations.[19] They discovered that although the structure of the building had been damaged, only a few of the objects moved a very short distance. The skeptic Trevor H. Hall criticized the hypothesis claiming if it was true "the building would almost certainly fall into ruins."[20] According to Richard Wiseman the hypothesis has not held up to scrutiny.[19]
Michael Persinger has theorized that seismic activity could cause poltergeist phenomena.[21] However, Persinger's claims regarding the effects of environmental geomagnetic activity on paranormal experiences have not been independently replicated and, like his findings regarding the God helmet, may simply be explained by the suggestibility of participants.[22][23]
David Turner, a retired physical chemist, suggested that ball lightning might cause the "spooky movement of objects blamed on poltergeists."[24]
Sampford Peverell (1810–1811) - poltergeistal noises were determined made by smugglers from behind a false wall [25]
Paranormal
Parapsychologists Nandor Fodor and William G. Roll suggested that poltergeist activity can be explained by psychokinesis.[26][27]
Historically, actual malicious spirits were blamed for apparent poltergeist-type activity, such as objects moving seemingly of their own accord.[28] According to Allan Kardec, the founder of Spiritism, poltergeists are manifestations of disembodied spirits of low level, belonging to the sixth class of the third order. Under this explanation, they are believed to be closely associated with the elements (fire, air, water, earth).[29] In Finland, somewhat famous are the case of the "Mäkkylä Ghost" in 1946, which received attention in the press at the time,[30] and the "Devils of Martin" in Ylöjärvi in the late 19th century, for which affidavits were obtained in court.[31] Samuli Paulaharju has also recorded a memoir of a typical poltergeist — the case of "Salkko-Niila" — from the south of Lake Inari in his book Memoirs of Lapland (Lapin muisteluksia). The story has also been published in the collection of Mythical Stories (Myytillisiä tarinoita) edited by Lauri Simonsuuri." (wikipedia)
A horror film is one that seeks to elicit fear in its audience, for entertainment purposes.[1] Initially inspired by literature from authors such as Edgar Allan Poe, Bram Stoker, and Mary Shelley,[2] horror has existed as a film genre for more than a century. The macabre and the supernatural are frequent themes. Horror may also overlap with the fantasy, supernatural fiction, and thriller genres.
Horror films often aim to evoke viewers' nightmares, fears, revulsions and terror of the unknown. Plots within the horror genre often involve the intrusion of an evil force, event, or personage into the everyday world. Prevalent elements include ghosts, extraterrestrials, vampires, werewolves, demons, Satanism, evil clowns, gore, torture, vicious animals, evil witches, monsters, giant monsters, zombies, cannibalism, psychopaths, natural, ecological or man-made disasters, and serial killers.[3]
Some sub-genres of horror film include comedy horror, folk horror, body horror,[4] found footage,[5] holiday horror, psychological horror,[6] science fiction horror, slasher, supernatural horror, gothic horror, natural horror, zombie film, and teen horror." (wikipedia)
"The distinction between horror and terror is a standard literary and psychological concept applied especially to Gothic and horror fiction.[1] Terror is usually described as the feeling of dread and anticipation that precedes the horrifying experience. By contrast, horror is the feeling of revulsion that usually follows a frightening sight, sound, or otherwise experience.
Horror has also been defined by Noel Carroll as a combination of terror and revulsion....
Literary Gothic[edit]
The distinction between terror and horror was first characterized by the Gothic writer Ann Radcliffe (1764–1823), horror being more related to being shocked or scared (being horrified) at an awful realization or a deeply unpleasant occurrence, while terror is more related to being anxious or fearful.[3] Radcliffe considered that terror is characterized by "obscurity" or indeterminacy in its treatment of potentially horrible events, something which leads to the sublime. She says in the essay that it "expands the soul and awakens the faculties to a high degree of life". Horror, in contrast, "freezes and nearly annihilates them" with its unambiguous displays of atrocity. She goes on: "I apprehend that neither Shakespeare nor Milton by their fictions, nor Mr Burke by his reasoning, anywhere looked to positive horror as a source of the sublime, though they all agree that terror is a very high one; and where lies the great difference between horror and terror, but in uncertainty and obscurity, that accompany the first, respecting the dreader evil."[4]
According to Devendra Varma in The Gothic Flame (1966):
The difference between Terror and Horror is the difference between awful apprehension and sickening realization: between the smell of death and stumbling against a corpse.
Horror fiction[edit]
Horror is also a genre of film and fiction that relies on horrifying images or situations to tell stories and prompt reactions or jump scares to put their audiences on edge. In these films the moment of horrifying revelation is usually preceded by a terrifying build up, often using the medium of scary music.[5]
In his non-fiction book Danse Macabre, Stephen King stressed how horror tales normally chart the outbreak of madness/the terrible within an everyday setting.[6] He also elaborated on the twin themes of terror and horror, adding a third element which he referred to as "revulsion". He describes terror as "the finest element" of the three, and the one he strives hardest to maintain in his own writing. Citing many examples, he defines "terror" as the suspenseful moment in horror before the actual monster is revealed. "Horror," King writes, is that moment at which one sees the creature/aberration that causes the terror or suspense, a "shock value". King finally compares "revulsion" with the gag-reflex, a bottom-level, cheap gimmick which he admits he often resorts to in his own fiction if necessary, confessing:
I recognize terror as the finest emotion and so I will try to terrorize the reader. But if I find that I cannot terrify, I will try to horrify, and if I find that I cannot horrify, I'll go for the gross-out. I'm not proud.[7]
Psychoanalytic views[edit]
Freud likened the experience of horror to that of the uncanny.[8]
In his wake, Georges Bataille saw horror as akin to ecstasy in its transcendence of the everyday;[9] as opening a way to go beyond rational social consciousness.[10] Julia Kristeva in turn considered horror as evoking experience of the primitive, the infantile, and the demoniacal aspects of unmediated femininity.[11]
Horror, helplessness and trauma[edit]
The paradox of pleasure experienced through horror films/books can be explained partly as stemming from relief from real-life horror in the experience of horror in play, partly as a safe way to return in adult life to the paralysing feelings of infantile helplessness.[12]
Helplessness is also a factor in the overwhelming experience of real horror in psychological trauma.[13] Playing at re-experiencing the trauma may be a helpful way of overcoming it." (wikipedia)
"Supernatural phenomena or entities are those beyond the laws of nature.[1] The term is derived from Medieval Latin supernaturalis, from Latin super- 'above, beyond, outside of' + natura 'nature'.[1] Although the corollary term "nature" has had multiple meanings since the ancient world, the term "supernatural" emerged in the Middle Ages[2] and did not exist in the ancient world.[3] Many cultures around the world lack concepts or reject distinctions between the natural and supernatural.[4]
The supernatural is featured in religious and folkloric contexts,[5] but can also feature as an explanation in more secular contexts, as in the cases of superstitions or belief in the paranormal.[6] The term is attributed to non-physical entities, such as spirits, angels, demons, gods, and goddesses. It also includes claimed abilities embodied in or provided by such beings, including magic, telekinesis, levitation, precognition and extrasensory perception.
Etymology and history of the concept
Occurring as both an adjective and a noun, antecedents of the modern English compound supernatural enter the language from two sources: via Middle French (supernaturel) and directly from the Middle French's term's ancestor, post-Classical Latin (supernaturalis). Post-classical Latin supernaturalis first occurs in the 6th century, composed of the Latin prefix super- and nātūrālis (see nature). The earliest known appearance of the word in the English language occurs in a Middle English translation of Catherine of Siena's Dialogue (orcherd of Syon, around 1425; Þei haue not þanne þe supernaturel lyȝt ne þe liȝt of kunnynge, bycause þei vndirstoden it not).[7]
The semantic value of the term has shifted over the history of its use. Originally the term referred exclusively to Christian understandings of the world. For example, as an adjective, the term can mean "belonging to a realm or system that transcends nature, as that of divine, magical, or ghostly beings; attributed to or thought to reveal some force beyond scientific understanding or the laws of nature; occult, paranormal" or "more than what is natural or ordinary; unnaturally or extraordinarily great; abnormal, extraordinary". Obsolete uses include "of, relating to, or dealing with metaphysics". As a noun, the term can mean "a supernatural being", with a particularly strong history of employment in relation to entities from the mythologies of the indigenous peoples of the Americas." (wikipedia)
"Symbols of death are the motifs, images and concepts associated with death throughout different cultures, religions and societies.
Images
Traditional Jolly Roger, the flag of Samuel Bellamy and other pirates of the 18th century, displaying a skull and crossbones.
Various images are used traditionally to symbolize death; these rank from blunt depictions of cadavers and their parts to more allusive suggestions that time is fleeting and all men are mortals.
The human skull is an obvious and frequent symbol of death, found in many cultures and religious traditions.[1] Human skeletons and sometimes non-human animal skeletons and skulls can also be used as blunt images of death; the traditional figure of the Grim Reaper – a black-hooded skeleton with a scythe – is one use of such symbolism.[2] Within the Grim Reaper itself, the skeleton represents the decayed body whereas the robe symbolizes those worn by religious people conducting funeral services.[2] The skull and crossbones motif (☠) has been used among Europeans as a symbol of both p.....[3] The skull is also important as it remains the only "recognizable" aspect of a person once they have died.[3]
Decayed cadavers can also be used to depict death; in medieval Europe, they were often featured in artistic depictions of the danse macabre, or in cadaver tombs which depicted the living and decomposed body of the person entombed. Coffins also serve as blunt reminders of mortality.[4] Europeans were also seen to use coffins and cemeteries to symbolize the wealth and status of the person who has died, serving as a reminder to the living and the deceased as well.[4] Less blunt symbols of death frequently allude to the passage of time and the fragility of life, and can be described as memento mori;[5] that is, an artistic or symbolic reminder of the inevitability of death. Clocks, hourglasses, sundials, and other timepieces both call to mind that time is passing.[3] Similarly, a candle both marks the passage of time, and bears witness that it will eventually burn itself out as well as a symbol of hope of salvation.[3] These sorts of symbols were often incorporated into vanitas paintings, a variety of early still life.
Animals
Throughout history and across many cultures, some animals have come to symbolize death and dying. This symbolism is often demonstrated in the legends and folklore of the culture. The specific animals and the details of their symbolism vary widely from culture to culture.[6] However, some animals tend to appear more frequently than others; such as dogs, bats, owls and crows.
Several societies associate a type of dog with death. Dogs often serve as companions or guides to humans. Unsurprisingly, these animals that are so much a part of human life would have a role in death as well. In Mexico, the Xoloitzcuintli, a hairless dog, is thought to guide the spirits of the deceased and are associated with Día de Los Muertos.[7] In Greece, Cerberus is a three-headed dog which guards the entrance to the underworld. In Welsh mythology, there is also a dog that guards the underworld.[8] In England, the black dog, black shuck, is associated with death or misfortune.
Bats, as nocturnal animals, are often associated with darkness and death. In Christianity, bats are considered to be the bird of the devil and connections between the physiology of bats and demons are made.[6] In New Zealand, bats are associated with the Hokioi, a mythical nocturnal bird that foretells death.[9] The discovery of the vampire bats in North America and the exaggeration of their qualities made lasting associations between bats and death that eventually lead to Dracula and vampire stories.[8] Bats are often connected to both Halloween and witches.
Owls, another nocturnal animal, are also tied to death. Some Mediterranean folklore tells of women who turn into owls at night to suck the breath away from babies.[6] The hoot of an owl, according to Roman mythology, is said to be an omen of imminent death or demise. It is said that the sound of an owl was heard shortly before the death of several Roman emperors.[9] Sri Lankan folklore tells of an owl-like creature whose human sounding shrieks are heard across the jungle at night. Like in Roman mythology, they are said to foretell of death.[8]
Another common animal found to symbolize death across many cultures is the crow. Crows are scavenging birds. This might explain why so many cultures have associated them with death as they were often seen near dead bodies.[7] Irish folklore tells of Badb, one of a trio of war goddesses, took the form of a crow. Badb is said to foreshadow bloodshed.[9] Traditional Swedish folklore says that crows are the ghost of those who did not receive a proper burial.[7] Some literature uses crows circling in the air above a specific place to foretell the death in that area.[6] All over the world crows are commonly associated with death; a group of crows is called a murder.
Religious symbols
Veve of Maman Brigitte, the loa of death in Haitian Vodou.
Religious symbols of death and depictions of the afterlife will vary with the religion practiced by the people who use them.
Tombs, tombstones, and other items of funeral architecture are obvious candidates for symbols of death.[3] In ancient Egypt, the gods Osiris and Ptah were typically depicted as mummies; these gods governed the Egyptian afterlife. In Christianity, the Christian cross is frequently used on graves, and is meant to call to mind the crucifixion of Jesus.[3] Some Christians also erect temporary crosses along public highways as memorials for those who died in accidents. In Buddhism, the symbol of a wheel represents the perpetual cycle of death and rebirth that happens in samsara.[10] The symbol of a grave or tomb, especially one in a picturesque or unusual location, can be used to represent death, as in Nicolas Poussin's famous painting Et in Arcadia ego.
Images of life in the afterlife are also symbols of death. Here, again, the ancient Egyptians produced detailed pictorial representations of the life enjoyed by the dead. In Christian folk religion, the spirits of the dead are often depicted as winged angels or angel-like creatures, dwelling among the clouds; this imagery of the afterlife is frequently used in comic depictions of life after death.[3] In the Islamic view of the Afterlife, death is symbolised by a black and white ram which in turn will be slain to symbolise the Death of Death.
The Banshee also symbolizes the coming of death in Irish Mythology.[3] This is typically represented by an older woman who is seen sobbing to symbolize the suffering of a person before their death.[3]
Colours
Black is the color of mourning in many European cultures. Black clothing is typically worn at funerals to show mourning for the death of the person. In East Asia, white is similarly associated with mourning; it represents the purity and perfection of the deceased person's spirit.[11] Hindus similarly also wear white during mourning and funerals. During the Victorian era, purple and grey were considered to be mourning colors in addition to black.[12] Furthermore, in Revelation 6 in The Bible, Death is one of the four horsemen; and he rides a pale horse." (wikipedia)
"A haunted attraction is a form of live entertainment that simulates visiting haunted locations or experiencing horror scenarios. They usually feature fearsome sets and characters, especially demons, ghosts, skeletons, zombies, monsters, possessed people, witches, serial killers, and slashers. Humorous characters may also be included.
Haunted attractions may be set up at many kinds of locations. Built attractions or existing structures in which attractions may be operated include temporarily constructed simulations of haunted houses; actual abandoned or dilapidated houses; abandoned asylums; defunct prisons; defunct or active amusement parks; defunct or active ships; defunct factories; defunct or active barns; and shopping malls. Outdoor places hosting such attractions include corn mazes or cornfields; hedge mazes; farms (often including "haunted" hayrides); wooded areas or forests; and parks.
Haunted attractions (also known as "haunts" or "mazes" within the industry) use many effects, such as intense lighting (strobe lights, black lights, etc.), animatronics, CGI, scent dispensers, fog machines, spinning tunnels, air blasters, spooky old antiques, gory images, and intense scenes of horror, terror, torment, murder, mischief, or comedy. Visitors often encounter actors in elaborate and often scary costumes, masks, and prosthetics. They may perform skits or lurk and come out unexpectedly to frighten, shock, disturb, or amuse the customer. If the horror attraction includes a storyline, it may also include a character that serves as the main antagonist in the attraction's story.
Haunted attractions typically operate from the last week of late September or early October to the last week in October or first week of November. In particular, they are especially active during the triduum of Allhallowtide.[citation needed] There is also a subculture of permanent haunted attractions that are open year-round, and a few that are open for special occasions, such as haunt conventions or Spring Break (also called Scream Break).[1] Some attractions are run by charities as fundraisers.
In Japan, there is a tradition of making obakeyashiki (ghost houses) in the summertime, as fear is believed to ward off the heat by "giving you the chills". They typically feature frightening creatures from Japanese folklore, ghosts, demons, sinister crucifixes and other things that are brought to life thanks to decorations, sound effects and animatronics. A story is often told to visitors before they receive a mission that they must accomplish in the house.....
There are many types of haunted attractions including Scream Parks. The following categories are generalizations; many "haunts" contain attributes from more than one type.
Haunted house, mansion or castle
A haunted house, haunted mansion, or haunted castle is a type of haunted attraction that usually takes place indoors. Visitors may experience intense animatronics, bloody and frightening set pieces, rustic antiques, scary music and sounds, dynamic lighting, fog, costumed actors with elaborate makeup or masks, and other special effects used to create scenes of terror.
Knoebels Amusement Resort in Elysburg, Pennsylvania, has a "Haunted House" dark ride. The Haunted Mansion is popular with patrons at Disney locations around the world. Miracle Strip Amusement Park in Panama City Beach, Florida, had a "Haunted Castle" ride until the amusement park itself closed down in 2004. Its prop elements became part of "The Terrortorium" in Oxford, Alabama, for annual Halloween events. Miracle Strip's former "Old House" walk-through attraction permanently transferred to Panama City Beach's amusement park, Race City, where it currently stands simply identified as "Haunted House".[30] Many of Sally Corporation's Scooby-Doo's Haunted Mansion rides were replaced by Boo Blasters on Boo Hill.
Haunted houses or mansions for an annual Halloween season can be located in hospitals, grocery stores, shopping malls, warehouses, semi-trailers, factories, boats or ships, dilapidated homes, etc. Haunted house or haunted mansion events can range from a few minutes to many hours in length, with some permitting visitors to go at their own pace and others requiring group tours led by guides.
A number of the largest seasonal attractions feature multiple haunted houses on the same site. For example, in 2015, Pure Terror Screampark in Monroe, New York, was awarded the Guinness World Record for World's Longest Walk Through Horror Attraction.[31]
In terms of appearance, the prototypical haunted house in America can probably trace its roots to the 1925 painting House by the Railroad by Edward Hopper." (wikipedia)
"The Danse Macabre (/dɑːns məˈkɑːb(rə)/; French pronunciation: [dɑ̃s ma.kabʁ]), also called the Dance of Death, is an artistic genre of allegory from the Late Middle Ages on the universality of death.
The Danse Macabre consists of the dead, or a personification of death, summoning representatives from all walks of life to dance along to the grave, typically with a pope, emperor, king, child, and labourer. It was produced as memento mori, to remind people of the fragility of their lives and the vanity of earthly glory.[1] Its origins are postulated from illustrated sermon texts; the earliest recorded visual scheme (apart from 14th century Triumph of Death paintings) was a now-lost mural at Holy Innocents' Cemetery in Paris dating from 1424 to 1425. In 1874 the French composer Camille Saint-Saëns wrote Danse macabre, Op. 40, a haunting symphonic "poem" for orchestra. It premiered 24 January 1875.
Background
Religion is an important contextual factor around the Dance of Death tradition and its effect on the population, with new eschatology concepts in the fourteenth century being critical for the development of the Dance of Death.[2] Early examples of Dance of Death artwork were present in religious contexts such as murals on Christian church walls. These served to remind people about the inevitability of death and urge moral reflection in order to cope with this reality.[3] In his 1998 study on medieval religious practices, historian Francis Rapp wrote that
Christians were moved by the sight of the Infant Jesus playing on his mother's knee; their hearts were touched by the Pietà; and patron saints reassured them by their presence. But, all the while, the danse macabre urged them not to forget the end of all earthly things.[4]
It is generally agreed upon by scholars that Dance of Death depictions do show realistic dancing based on the quality of gestures seen in artwork and familiarity with steps found in texts.[2] The paintings include body positions that seem to indicate movement, particular gestures, and specific orders and dynamics between the characters, while texts use relevant dance vocabulary. These elements may indicate the presence of past enacted dances and that the depictions were read for a performative function, as hypothesized by Gertsman in her paper "Pleyinge and Peyntynge: Performing the Dance of Death." This view centers on the incorporation of both visual and theatrical devices in these depictions to create effective artwork.[5] Gertsman writes that
By drawing its inspiration from the sphere of performance, the Dance of Death imagery, along with its text, invites a performative reading, informed by specific structures of the verses, the concept of movement, and the understanding of the body language of the danse macabre's protagonists.
However, there is scarce evidence surrounding a physical dancing performance tradition of the Dance of Death outside of its other depictions.[2] The Danse Macabre was possibly enacted at village pageants and at court masques, with people "dressing up as corpses from various strata of society", and may have been the origin of costumes worn during Allhallowtide.[6][7][8][9] Regardless, its main influence has been in the form of visual arts such as murals, paintings, and more.
The bubonic plague and its devastating effects on the European population were significantly contributing factors to the inspiration and solidification of the Dance of Death tradition in the fourteenth century.[2] In her thesis, The Black Death and its Effect on 14th and 15th Century Art, Anna Louise Des Ormeaux describes the effect of the Black Death on art, mentioning the Danse Macabre as she does so:
Some plague art contains gruesome imagery that was directly influenced by the mortality of the plague or by the medieval fascination with the macabre and awareness of death that were augmented by the plague. Some plague art documents psychosocial responses to the fear that plague aroused in its victims. Other plague art is of a subject that directly responds to people's reliance on religion to give them hope.[10]
The cultural impact of mass outbreaks of disease are not fleeting or temporary. In their paper on "Black Death, Plagues, and the Danse Macabre. Depictions of Epidemics in Art," Rittershaus and Eschenberg discuss artistic representations of various epidemics starting with the bubonic plague and extending to cholera and recent epidemics. The suffering and realization of death's closeness, which the black death caused in Europe, were integrated with concepts of morality and Christianity to give rise to the Dance of Death tradition as a direct response to the epidemic. Cholera cases in the nineteenth century inspired a resurgence of Dance of Death depictions after the initial black death depictions, with religious connotations still present but less important.[3] The Dance of Death tradition is a testament to the profound impact of an epidemic on people as depicted in art. A disease's effect can endure past the initial stages of outbreak, in its deep etching upon the culture and society. This can be seen in the artworks and motifs of Danse Macabre as people attempted to cope with the death surrounding them.
Paintings
What is often considered to be the earliest recorded visual example is the lost mural on the south wall of the Cemetery of the Holy Innocents in Paris. It was painted in 1424–25 during the regency of John, Duke of Bedford. It features an emphatic inclusion of a dead crowned king at a time when France did not have a crowned king. The mural may well have had a political subtext.[11] However, some have argued that 14th century Triumph of Death paintings such as the fresco by Francesco Traini are also examples of danse macabre.[12]
There were also painted schemes in Basel (the earliest dating from c. 1440); a series of paintings on canvas by Bernt Notke (1440–1509) in Lübeck (1463); the initial fragment of the original Bernt Notke painting Danse Macabre (accomplished at the end of the 15th century) in the St Nicholas' Church, Tallinn, Estonia; the painting at the back wall of the chapel of Sv. Marija na Škrilinama in the Istrian town of Beram (1474), painted by Vincent of Kastav; the painting in the Holy Trinity Church of Hrastovlje, Istria by John of Kastav (1490).
A notable example was painted on the cemetery walls of the Dominican Abbey, in Bern, by Niklaus Manuel Deutsch (1484–1530) in 1516/7. This work of art was destroyed when the wall was torn down in 1660, but a 1649 copy by Albrecht Kauw (1621–1681) is extant. There was also a Dance of Death painted around 1430 and displayed on the walls of Pardon Churchyard at Old St Paul's Cathedral, London, with texts by John Lydgate (1370–1451) known as the 'Dance of (St) Poulys', which was destroyed in 1549.
The deathly horrors of the 14th century such as recurring famines, the Hundred Years' War in France, and, most of all, the Black Death, were culturally assimilated throughout Europe. The omnipresent possibility of sudden and painful death increased the religious desire for penance, but it also evoked a hysterical desire for amusement while still possible; a last dance as cold comfort. The Danse Macabre combines both desires: in many ways similar to the medieval mystery plays, the dance-with-death allegory was originally a didactic dialogue poem to remind people of the inevitability of death and to advise them strongly to be prepared at all times for death (see memento mori and Ars moriendi).
Short verse dialogues between Death and each of its victims, which could have been performed as plays, can be found in the direct aftermath of the Black Death in Germany and in Spain (where it was known as the Totentanz and la Danza de la Muerte, respectively).
The French term Danse Macabre may derive from the Latin Chorea Machabæorum, literally "dance of the Maccabees."[13][14] In 2 Maccabees, a deuterocanonical book of the Bible, the grim martyrdom of a mother and her seven sons is described and was a well-known medieval subject. It is possible that the Maccabean Martyrs were commemorated in some early French plays, or that people just associated the book's vivid descriptions of the martyrdom with the interaction between Death and its prey.
An alternative explanation is that the term entered France via Spain, the Arabic: مقابر, maqabir (pl., "cemeteries") being the root of the word. Both the dialogues and the evolving paintings were ostensive penitential lessons that even illiterate people (who were the overwhelming majority) could understand.
Mural paintings
Frescoes and murals dealing with death had a long tradition, and were widespread. For example, the legend of the Three Living and the Three Dead. On a ride or hunt, three young gentlemen meet three cadavers (sometimes described as their ancestors) who warn them, Quod fuimus, estis; quod sumus, vos eritis ("What we were, you are; what we are, you will be"). Numerous mural versions of that legend from the 13th century onwards have survived (for instance, in the Hospital Church of Wismar or the residential Longthorpe Tower outside Peterborough). Since they showed pictorial sequences of men and corpses covered with shrouds, those paintings are sometimes regarded as cultural precursors of the new genre.
A Danse Macabre painting may show a round dance headed by Death or, more usually, a chain of alternating dead and live dancers. From the highest ranks of the mediaeval hierarchy (usually pope and emperor) descending to its lowest (beggar, peasant, and child), each mortal's hand is taken by an animated skeleton or cadaver. The famous Totentanz by Bernt Notke in St. Mary's Church, Lübeck (destroyed during the Allied bombing of Lübeck in World War II), presented the dead dancers as very lively and agile, making the impression that they were actually dancing, whereas their living dancing partners looked clumsy and passive. The apparent class distinction in almost all of these paintings is completely neutralized by Death as the ultimate equalizer, so that a sociocritical element is subtly inherent to the whole genre. The Totentanz of Metnitz, for example, shows how a pope crowned with his tiara is being led into Hell by Death....
Textual examples of the Danse Macabre
The Danse Macabre was a frequent motif in poetry, drama and other written literature in the Middle Ages in several areas of western Europe. There is a Spanish Danza de la Muerte, a French Danse Macabre, and a German Totentanz with various Latin manuscripts written during the 14th century.[26] Printed editions of books began appearing in the 15th century, such as the ones produced by Guy Marchant of Paris. Similarly to the musical or artistic representations, the texts describe living and dead persons being called to dance or form a procession with Death.[27]
Danse Macabre texts were often, though not always, illustrated with illuminations and woodcuts.[28]
There is one danse macabre text devoted entirely to women: The Danse Macabre of Women. This work survives in five manuscripts, and two printed editions. In it, 36 women of various ages, in Paris, are called from their daily lives and occupations to join the Dance with Death. An English translation of the French manuscript was published by Ann Tukey Harrison in 1994.[29]
John Lydgate's Dance of Death is a Middle English poem written in the early 15th century. It is a translation of a French poem of the same name, and it is one of the most popular examples of the Danse Macabre genre.[30]
The poem is a moral allegory in which Death leads a procession of people from all walks of life to their graves. The poem includes a variety of characters, including the emperor, the pope, the cardinal, the bishop, the abbot, the prioress, the monk, the nun, the doctor, the lawyer, the merchant, the knight, the plowman, the beggar, and the child.[31] The poem is written in rhyme royal, a seven-line stanzaic form that was popular in the Middle Ages." (wikipedia)
"In folklore, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or non-human animal that is believed by some people to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes to realistic, lifelike forms, whether they resemble humans or animals. The deliberate attempt to contact the spirit of a deceased person is known as necromancy, or in spiritism as a séance. Other terms associated with it are apparition, haunt, haint, phantom, poltergeist, shade, specter, spirit, spook, wraith, demon, and ghoul.
The belief in the existence of an afterlife, as well as manifestations of the spirits of the dead, is widespread, dating back to animism or ancestor worship in pre-literate cultures. Certain religious practices—funeral rites, exorcisms, and some practices of spiritualism and ritual magic—are specifically designed to rest the spirits of the dead. Ghosts are generally described as solitary, human-like essences, though stories of ghostly armies and the ghosts of animals other than humans have also been recounted.[2][3] They are believed to haunt particular locations, objects, or people they were associated with in life. According to a 2009 study by the Pew Research Center, 18% of Americans say they have seen a ghost.[4]
The overwhelming consensus of science is that there is no proof that ghosts exist.[5] Their existence is impossible to falsify,[5] and ghost hunting has been classified as pseudoscience.[6][7][8] Despite centuries of investigation, there is no scientific evidence that any location is inhabited by the spirits of the dead.[6][9] Historically, certain ..., whose use has long been associated with necromancy and the underworld, have been shown to contain anticholinergic compounds that are... linked to dementia (... as well as histological patterns of neurodegeneration.[10][11] Recent research has indicated that ghost sightings may be related to degenerative brain diseases such as Alzheimer's disease.[12] ...[13] Older reports linked ... to ghost-like hallucinations.[14]
In folklore studies, ghosts fall within the motif index designation E200–E599 ("Ghosts and other revenants").
Terminology
Further information: Soul, Genius (mythology), and Geist
Etymology
The English word ghost comes from Old English gāst ("breath, spirit, soul, ghost"), which can be traced back to Proto-Germanic *gaistaz ("spirit, ghost"). It is cognate (linguistic sibling from a common origin) with Old Frisian gāst ("spirit, ghost, demon"), Old Saxon gēst ("soul, vitality, spirit, demon"), Old Dutch gēst ("spirit"), and Old High German geist ("spirit"). Although recorded descendants do not appear in North and East Germanic sources (where Gothic uses ahma and Old Norse uses andi m. or önd f.), linguists reconstruct *gaistaz as stemming from pre-Germanic *ghois-t-oz ("fury, anger"). This reconstruction is supported by its connection to Sanskrit hīḍ- ("to be angry") and héḍa ("anger"), and to Avestan zōižda- ("terrible"; in zōiždišta "most terrible").[15][16][17]
The common Proto-Indo-European form is posited as *ǵʰoys-d-os, a dental suffix derivative of the root ǵʰéys-. This root also appears Proto-Germanic *gaistjan ("to terrify"; compare Old English gǽstan and Gothic usgaisjan), in Old Norse *geiski ("fear"; implied in geiskafullr, "full of fear"), and in Avestan zōiš- (in zōišnu, "shivering, trembling").[16][17]
Besides denoting a "person's spirit or soul" (as "the life force" or "breath of life" that gives life to the body, in contrast to its purely material being), the Old English word is also used as a synonym of Latin spīritus in the meaning of "the breath of God or a god" from the earliest attestations (9th century). It could also denote any good or evil spirit, such as angels and demons (the Anglo-Saxon gospel refers to the demonic possession of Matthew 12:43 as se unclæna gast). Also from the Old English period, the word could denote the spirit of God, the "Holy Ghost" (halgan gaste), after post-classical Latin spiritus sanctus.[17]
Usage and synonyms
The now-prevailing sense of "the soul of a deceased person, spoken of as appearing in a visible form" only emerges in Middle English (14th century). The modern noun does, however, retain a wider field of application, extending on one hand to "soul", "spirit", "vital principle", "mind", or "psyche", the seat of feeling, thought, and moral judgement; on the other hand used figuratively of any shadowy outline, or fuzzy or unsubstantial image; in optics, photography, and cinematography especially, a flare, secondary image, or spurious signal.[17]
The synonym spook is a Dutch loanword, akin to Low German spôk (of uncertain etymology); it entered the English language via American English in the 19th century.[18][19][20][21] Alternative words in modern usage include spectre (altn. specter; from Latin spectrum), the Scottish wraith (of obscure origin), phantom (via French ultimately from Greek phantasma, compare fantasy) and apparition. The term shade in classical mythology translates Greek σκιά,[22] or Latin umbra,[23] in reference to the notion of spirits in the Greek underworld. The term poltergeist is a German word, literally a "noisy ghost", for a spirit said to manifest itself by invisibly moving and influencing objects.[24]
Wraith is a Scots word for ghost, spectre, or apparition. It appeared in Scottish Romanticist literature, and acquired the more general or figurative sense of portent or omen. In 18th- to 19th-century Scottish literature, it also applied to aquatic spirits. The word has no commonly accepted etymology; the OED notes "of obscure origin" only.[25] An association with the verb writhe was the etymology favored by J. R. R. Tolkien.[26] Tolkien's use of the word in the naming of the creatures known as the Ringwraiths has influenced later usage in fantasy literature. Bogey[27] or bogy/bogie is a term for a ghost, and appears in Scottish poet John Mayne's Hallowe'en in 1780.[28][29]
A revenant is a deceased person returning from the dead to haunt the living, either as a disembodied ghost or alternatively as an animated ("undead") corpse. Also related is the concept of a fetch, the visible ghost or spirit of a person yet alive.
Typology
Anthropological context
Further information: Animism, Ancestor worship, Origin of religion, and Anthropology of religion
A notion of the transcendent, supernatural, or numinous, usually involving entities like ghosts, demons, or deities, is a cultural universal.[30] In pre-literate folk religions, these beliefs are often summarized under animism and ancestor worship. Some people believe the ghost or spirit never leaves Earth until there is no-one left to remember the one who died.[31]
In many cultures, malignant, restless ghosts are distinguished from the more benign spirits involved in ancestor worship.[32]
Ancestor worship typically involves rites intended to prevent revenants, vengeful spirits of the dead, imagined as starving and envious of the living. Strategies for preventing revenants may either include sacrifice; that is, giving the dead food and drink to pacify them, or magical banishment of the deceased to force them not to return. Ritual feeding of the dead is performed in traditions like the Chinese Ghost Festival or the Western All Souls' Day. Magical banishment of the dead is present in many of the world's burial customs. The bodies found in many tumuli (kurgan) had been ritually bound before burial,[33] and the custom of binding the dead persists, for example, in rural Anatolia.[34]
Nineteenth-century anthropologist James Frazer stated in his classic work The Golden Bough that souls were seen as the creature within that animated the body.[35]
Ghosts and the afterlife
Further information: Soul, Psyche (psychology), Underworld, Hungry ghost, and Psychopomp
Further information: Ghost Festival, All Souls' Day, Day of the Dead, and Ghost Dance
Although the human soul was sometimes symbolically or literally depicted in ancient cultures as a bird or other animal, it appears to have been widely held that the soul was an exact reproduction of the body in every feature, even down to clothing the person wore. This is depicted in artwork from various ancient cultures, including such works as the Egyptian Book of the Dead, which shows deceased people in the afterlife appearing much as they did before death, including the style of dress.
Fear of ghosts
Main article: Fear of ghosts
While deceased ancestors are universally regarded as venerable, and often believed to have a continued presence in some form of afterlife, the spirit of a deceased person that persists in the material world (a ghost) is regarded as an unnatural or undesirable state of affairs and the idea of ghosts or revenants is associated with a reaction of fear. This is universally the case in pre-modern folk cultures, but fear of ghosts also remains an integral aspect of the modern ghost story, Gothic horror, and other horror fiction dealing with the supernatural.
Common attributes
Another widespread belief concerning ghosts is that they are composed of a misty, airy, or subtle material. Anthropologists link this idea to early beliefs that ghosts were the person within the person (the person's spirit), most noticeable in ancient cultures as a person's breath, which upon exhaling in colder climates appears visibly as a white mist.[31] This belief may have also fostered the metaphorical meaning of "breath" in certain languages, such as the Latin spiritus and the Greek pneuma, which by analogy became extended to mean the soul. In the Bible, God is depicted as synthesising Adam, as a living soul, from the dust of the Earth and the breath of God.
In many traditional accounts, ghosts were often thought to be deceased people looking for vengeance (vengeful ghosts), or imprisoned on earth for bad things they did during life. The appearance of a ghost has often been regarded as an omen or portent of death. Seeing one's own ghostly double or "fetch" is a related omen of death.[36] The impetus of haunting is commonly considered an unnatural death.[37]
White ladies were reported to appear in many rural areas, and supposed to have died tragically or suffered trauma in life. White Lady legends are found around the world. Common to many of them is the theme of losing a child or husband and a sense of purity, as opposed to the Lady in Red ghost that is mostly attributed to a jilted lover or prostitute. The White Lady ghost is often associated with an individual family line or regarded as a harbinger of death similar to a banshee.[38][39][needs context]
Legends of ghost ships have existed since the 18th century; most notable of these is the Flying Dutchman. This theme has been used in literature in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
Ghosts are often depicted as being covered in a shroud and/or dragging chains.[40]
Locale
See also: Haunted house
A place where ghosts are reported is described as haunted, and often seen as being inhabited by spirits of deceased who may have been former residents or were familiar with the property. Supernatural activity inside homes is said to be mainly associated with violent or tragic events in the building's past such as murder, accidental death, or suicide—sometimes in the recent or ancient past. However, not all hauntings are at a place of a violent death, or even on violent grounds. Many cultures and religions believe the essence of a being, such as the "soul", continues to exist. Some religious views argue that the "spirits" of those who have died have not "passed over" and are trapped inside the property where their memories and energy are strong....
Middle Ages
Ghosts reported in medieval Europe tended to fall into two categories: the souls of the dead, or demons. The souls of the dead returned for a specific purpose. Demonic ghosts existed only to torment or tempt the living. The living could tell them apart by demanding their purpose in the name of Jesus Christ. The soul of a dead person would divulge its mission, while a demonic ghost would be banished at the sound of the Holy Name.[56]
Most ghosts were souls assigned to Purgatory, condemned for a specific period to atone for their transgressions in life. Their penance was generally related to their sin. For example, the ghost of a man who had been abusive to his servants was condemned to tear off and swallow bits of his own tongue; the ghost of another man, who had neglected to leave his cloak to the poor, was condemned to wear the cloak, now "heavy as a church tower". These ghosts appeared to the living to ask for prayers to end their suffering. Other dead souls returned to urge the living to confess their sins before their own deaths.[57]
Medieval European ghosts were more substantial than ghosts described in the Victorian age, and there are accounts of ghosts being wrestled with and physically restrained until a priest could arrive to hear its confession. Some were less solid, and could move through walls. Often they were described as paler and sadder versions of the person they had been while alive, and dressed in tattered gray rags. The vast majority of reported sightings were male.[58]
There were some reported cases of ghostly armies, fighting battles at night in the forest, or in the remains of an Iron Age hillfort, as at Wandlebury, near Cambridge, England. Living knights were sometimes challenged to single combat by phantom knights, which vanished when defeated.[59]
From the medieval period an apparition of a ghost is recorded from 1211, at the time of the Albigensian Crusade.[60] Gervase of Tilbury, Marshal of Arles, wrote that the image of Guilhem, a boy recently murdered in the forest, appeared in his cousin's home in Beaucaire, near Avignon. This series of "visits" lasted all of the summer. Through his cousin, who spoke for him, the boy allegedly held conversations with anyone who wished, until the local priest requested to speak to the boy directly, leading to an extended disquisition on theology. The boy narrated the trauma of death and the unhappiness of his fellow souls in Purgatory, and reported that God was most pleased with the ongoing Crusade against the Cathar heretics, launched three years earlier. The time of the Albigensian Crusade in southern France was marked by intense and prolonged warfare, this constant bloodshed and dislocation of populations being the context for these reported visits by the murdered boy.
Haunted houses are featured in the 9th-century Arabian Nights (such as the tale of Ali the Cairene and the Haunted House in Baghdad).[61]
European Renaissance to Romanticism
Renaissance magic took a revived interest in the occult, including necromancy. In the era of the Reformation and Counter Reformation, there was frequently a backlash against unwholesome interest in the dark arts, typified by writers such as Thomas Erastus.[62] The Swiss Reformed pastor Ludwig Lavater supplied one of the most frequently reprinted books of the period with his Of Ghosts and Spirits Walking By Night.[63]
The Child Ballad "Sweet William's Ghost" (1868) recounts the story of a ghost returning to his fiancée begging her to free him from his promise to marry her. He cannot marry her because he is dead but her refusal would mean his damnation. This reflects a popular British belief that the dead haunted their lovers if they took up with a new love without some formal release.[64] "The Unquiet Grave" expresses a belief even more widespread, found in various locations over Europe: ghosts can stem from the excessive grief of the living, whose mourning interferes with the dead's peaceful rest.[65] In many folktales from around the world, the hero arranges for the burial of a dead man. Soon after, he gains a companion who aids him and, in the end, the hero's companion reveals that he is in fact the dead man.[66] Instances of this include the Italian fairy tale "Fair Brow" and the Swedish "The Bird 'Grip'".
Modern period of western culture
Spiritualist movement
Main article: Spiritualism (movement)
Spiritualism is a monotheistic belief system or religion, postulating a belief in God, but with a distinguishing feature of belief that spirits of the dead residing in the spirit world can be contacted by "mediums", who can then provide information about the afterlife.[67]
Spiritualism developed in the United States and reached its peak growth in membership from the 1840s to the 1920s, especially in English-language countries.[68][69] By 1897, it was said to have more than eight million followers in the United States and Europe,[70] mostly drawn from the middle and upper classes, while the corresponding movement in continental Europe and Latin America is known as Spiritism.
The religion flourished for a half century without canonical texts or formal organization, attaining cohesion by periodicals, tours by trance lecturers, camp meetings, and the missionary activities of accomplished mediums.[71] Many prominent Spiritualists were women. Most followers supported causes such as the abolition of slavery and women's suffrage.[68] By the late 1880s, credibility of the informal movement weakened, due to accusations of fraud among mediums, and formal Spiritualist organizations began to appear.[68] Spiritualism is currently practiced primarily through various denominational Spiritualist churches in the United States and United Kingdom.
Spiritism
Main article: Kardecist spiritism
Spiritism, or French spiritualism, is based on the five books of the Spiritist Codification written by French educator Hypolite Léon Denizard Rivail under the pseudonym Allan Kardec reporting séances in which he observed a series of phenomena that he attributed to incorporeal intelligence (spirits). His assumption of spirit communication was validated by many contemporaries, among them many scientists and philosophers who attended séances and studied the phenomena. His work was later extended by writers like Leon Denis, Arthur Conan Doyle, Camille Flammarion, Ernesto Bozzano, Chico Xavier, Divaldo Pereira Franco, Waldo Vieira, Johannes Greber,[72] and others.
Spiritism has adherents in many countries throughout the world, including Spain, United States, Canada,[73] Japan, Germany, France, England, Argentina, Portugal, and especially Brazil, which has the largest proportion and greatest number of followers.[74]
Scientific view
See also: Paranormal
The physician John Ferriar wrote "An Essay Towards a Theory of Apparitions" in 1813 in which he argued that sightings of ghosts were the result of optical illusions. Later the French physician Alexandre Jacques François Brière de Boismont published On Hallucinations: Or, the Rational History of Apparitions, Dreams, Ecstasy, Magnetism, and Somnambulism in 1845 in which he claimed sightings of ghosts were the result of hallucinations.[75][76]
David Turner, a retired physical chemist, suggested that ball lightning could cause inanimate objects to move erratically.[77]
Joe Nickell of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry wrote that there was no credible scientific evidence that any location was inhabited by spirits of the dead.[78] Limitations of human perception and ordinary physical explanations can account for ghost sightings; for example, air pressure changes in a home causing doors to slam, humidity changes causing boards to creak, condensation in electrical connections causing intermittent behavior, or lights from a passing car reflected through a window at night. Pareidolia, an innate tendency to recognize patterns in random perceptions, is what some skeptics believe causes people to believe that they have 'seen ghosts'.[79] Reports of ghosts "seen out of the corner of the eye" may be accounted for by the sensitivity of human peripheral vision. According to Nickell, peripheral vision can easily mislead, especially late at night when the brain is tired and more likely to misinterpret sights and sounds.[80] Nickell further states, "science cannot substantiate the existence of a 'life energy' that could survive death without dissipating or function at all without a brain... why would... clothes survive?'" He asks, if ghosts glide, then why do people claim to hear them with "heavy footfalls"? Nickell says that ghosts act the same way as "dreams, memories, and imaginings, because they too are mental creations. They are evidence – not of another world, but of this real and natural one."[81]
Benjamin Radford from the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry and author of the 2017 book Investigating Ghosts: The Scientific Search for Spirits writes that "ghost hunting is the world's most popular paranormal pursuit" yet, to date, ghost hunters cannot agree on what a ghost is, or offer proof that they exist; "it's all speculation and guesswork". He writes that it would be "useful and important to distinguish between types of spirits and apparitions. Until then it's merely a parlor game distracting amateur ghost hunters from the task at hand."[82]
According to research in anomalistic psychology visions of ghosts may arise from hypnagogic hallucinations ("waking dreams" experienced in the transitional states to and from sleep).[83] A study of two experiments into alleged hauntings (Wiseman et al.. 2003) came to the conclusion "that people consistently report unusual experiences in 'haunted' areas because of environmental factors, which may differ across locations." Some of these factors included "the variance of local magnetic fields, size of location and lighting level stimuli of which witnesses may not be consciously aware".[84]
Some researchers, such as Michael Persinger of Laurentian University, Canada, have speculated that changes in geomagnetic fields (created, e.g., by tectonic stresses in the Earth's crust or solar activity) could stimulate the brain's temporal lobes and produce many of the experiences associated with hauntings.[85] Sound is thought to be another cause of supposed sightings. Richard Lord and Richard Wiseman have concluded that infrasound can cause humans to experience bizarre feelings in a room, such as anxiety, extreme sorrow, a feeling of being watched, or even the chills.[86] ... which can cause changes in perception of the visual and auditory systems,[87] was speculated upon as a possible explanation for haunted houses as early as 1921.
People who experience sleep paralysis often report seeing ghosts during their experiences. Neuroscientists Baland Jalal and V.S. Ramachandran have recently proposed neurological theories for why people hallucinate ghosts during sleep paralysis. Their theories emphasize the role of the parietal lobe and mirror neurons in triggering such ghostly hallucinations.
By religion
Judaism
See also: Dybbuk
Witch of Endor by Nikolai Ge, depicting King Saul encountering the ghost of Samuel (1857)
The Hebrew Bible contains several references to owb (Hebrew: אוֹב), which are in a few places akin to shades of classical mythology but mostly describing mediums in connection with necromancy and spirit-consulting, which are grouped with witchcraft and other forms of divination under the category of forbidden occult activities.[89] The most notable reference to a shade is in the First Book of Samuel,[90] in which a disguised King Saul has the Witch of Endor conduct a seance to summon the dead prophet Samuel. A similar term appearing throughout the scriptures is repha'(im) Archived 2019-03-06 at the Wayback Machine (Hebrew: רְפָאִים), which while describing the race of "giants" formerly inhabiting Canaan in many verses, also refer to (the spirits of) dead ancestors of Sheol (like shades) in many others such as in the Book of Isaiah.[91]
Jewish mythology and folkloric traditions describe dybbuks, malicious possessing spirits believed to be the dislocated soul of a dead person. However, the term does not appear in the Kabbalah or Talmudic literature, where it is rather called an "unclean spirit" or ru'aḥ tumah (Hebrew: רוּחַ טוּמְאָה). It supposedly leaves the host body once it has accomplished its goal, sometimes after being helped.[92][93][94]
Christianity
See also: Allhallowtide
In the New Testament, Jesus has to persuade the Disciples that he is not a ghost following the resurrection, Luke 24:37–39 (some versions of the Bible, such as the KJV and NKJV, use the term "spirit"). Similarly, Jesus' followers at first believe he is a ghost (spirit) when they see him walking on water.[95]
Some Christian denominations such as the Roman Catholic Church consider ghosts as beings who while tied to earth, no longer live on the material plane and linger in an intermediate state before continuing their journey to heaven.[96][97][98][99] On occasion, God would allow the souls in this state to return to earth to warn the living of the need for repentance.[100] Christians are taught that it is sinful to attempt to conjure or control spirits in accordance with Deuteronomy XVIII: 9–12.[101][102]
Some Christians, especially those drawing on Protestantism or particularly Restorationism, wholly reject the intermediate state, and therefore hold a theological disbelief in ghosts. Some ghosts are actually said to be demons in disguise, who the Church teaches, in accordance with I Timothy 4:1, that they "come to deceive people and draw them away from God and into bondage."[103] As a result, attempts to contact the dead may lead to unwanted contact with a demon or an unclean spirit, as was said to occur in the case of Robbie Mannheim, a fourteen-year-old Maryland youth.[104] The Seventh-Day Adventist view is that a "soul" is not equivalent to "spirit" or "ghost" (depending on the Bible version), and that save for the Holy Spirit, all spirits or ghosts are demons in disguise. Furthermore, they teach that in accordance with (Genesis 2:7, Ecclesiastes 12:7), there are only two components to a "soul", neither of which survives death, with each returning to its respective source.
Christadelphians and Jehovah's Witnesses reject the view of a living, conscious soul after death.[105]
Islam
Rūḥ (Arabic: روح; plural arwah) is a person's immortal, essential self — pneuma, i.e. the "spirit" or "soul".[106] The term is also used for ghosts.[107] The souls of the deceased dwell in barzakh. Only a barrier in Quran, in Islamic tradition this refers to an entire intermediary world between the living and the afterlife. The world, especially cemeteries, are perforated with several gateways to the otherworld or barzakh.[108] In rare occasions, the dead can appear to the living.[109]
Pure souls, such as the souls of saints, are commonly addressed as rūḥ, while impure souls seeking for revenge, are often addressed as afarit.[110] An inappropriate burial can also cause a soul to stay in this world, whereupon roaming the earth as a ghost.[111] Other souls are cursed by God to roam the earth restlessly.[112] Since the just souls remain close to their tomb, some people try to communicate with them in order to gain hidden knowledge. Contact with the dead is not the same as contact with jinn, who alike could provide knowledge concealed from living humans.[113] Many encounters with ghosts are related to dreams supposed to occur in the realm of symbols.
Belief in spirits have not ceased to exist in Muslim belief. Smile of new-born babies is sometimes used as a proof for sighting spirits, like ghosts. However, the connection to the other world fades during life on earth but is resumed after death. Once again, smiling of dying people is considered as evidence for recognizing the spirit of their beloved ones. Yet, Muslims who affirm the existence of ghosts, are carefully when interacting with spirits, as the ghosts of humans can be as bad as the jinn. Worst of all, however, are the devils.
Muslim authors, like Ghazali, Ibn Qayyim and Suyuti wrote in more details about the life of ghosts. Ibn Qayyim and Suyuti assert, when a soul desires to turn back to earth long enough, it is gradually released from restrictions of Barzakh and able to move freely. Each spirit experiences afterlife in accordance with their deeds and condictions in the earthly life. Evil souls will find the afterlife as painful and punishment, imprisoned until God allows them to interact with others. Good souls are not restricted. They are free to come visit other souls and even come down to lower regions. The higher planes (ʿilliyyīn) are considered to be broader than the lower ones, the lowest being the most narrow (sijjīn). The spiritual space is not thought as spatial, but reflects the capacity of the spirit. The more pure the spirit gets, the more it is able to interact with other souls and thus reaches a broader degree of freedom.[114]
The Ismailite Philosopher Nasir Khusraw conjectured that evil human souls turn into demons, when their bodies die, because of their intense attachment to the bodily world. They were worse than the jinn and fairies, who in turn could become devils, if they pursue evil.[115] A similar thought is recorded by Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi.[116]
The ghosts of saints are thought to transmit blessings from God through the heavenly realm to whose who visit their graves. Therefore, visiting the graves of saints and prophets became a major ritual in Muslim spirituality.[117]
Hinduism
A bhoota is the ghost of a deceased being in Indian religions.[118] Interpretations of how bhootas come into existence vary by region and community, but they are usually considered to be perturbed and restless due to some factor that prevents them from moving on (to transmigration, non-being, nirvana, or swarga or naraka, depending on tradition). This could be a violent death, unsettled matters in their lives, or simply the failure of their survivors to perform proper funerals.[119] Belief in ghosts has been deeply ingrained in the minds of the people of the subcontinent for generations. There are many allegedly haunted places in the subcontinent, such as cremation grounds, dilapidated buildings, royal mansions, havelis, forts, forest bungalows, burning ghats, etc. Ghosts also occupy a significant place in the Bengali culture. Ghosts and various supernatural entities form an integral part of the socio-cultural beliefs of both the Muslim and Hindu communities of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal.
The Bhutas (singular 'Bhuta'), spirits of deified heroes, of fierce and evil beings, of Hindu deities and of animals, etc., are wrongly referred to as "ghosts" or "demons" and, in fact, are protective and benevolent beings. Though it is true that they can cause harm in their violent forms, as they are extremely powerful, they can be pacified through worship or offerings referred to as Bhuta Aradhana.[120]
The Churel, also spelled as Charail, Churreyl, Chudail, Chudel, Chuṛail, Cuḍail or Cuḍel (Hindi: चुड़ैल, Urdu: چڑیل), is a mythical spirit of a woman who died during pregnancy or childbirth, which may be a demoniacal revenant said to occur in South Asia and Southeast Asia, particularly popular in India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan. The churel is typically described as "the ghost of an unpurified living thing", but because she is often said to latch on to trees, she is also called a tree-spirit.[121] According to some legends, a woman who dies during childbirth or pregnancy or from suffering at the hands of her in-laws will come back as a revenant churel for revenge, particularly targeting the males in her family.
The churel is mostly described as extremely ugly and hideous but is able to shape-shift and disguise herself as a beautiful woman to lure men into the woods or mountains where she either kills them or sucks up their life-force or virility, turning them into old men. Their feet are believed to be turned the other way around, so the toes face the direction of their back. The churel is called as Pichal Peri in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
There are many folk remedies and folkloric sayings that elaborate on how to get rid of revenant, bhoot and churels, and a number measures that supposedly prevent churels from coming to life. The family of a woman who dies a traumatic, tragic, or unnatural death might perform special rituals fearing that the victimised woman might return as a churel. The corpses of suspected churels are also buried in a particular method and posture so as to prevent her from returning.
Buddhism
In Buddhism, there are a number of planes of existence into which a person can be reborn, one of which is the realm of hungry ghosts.[122] Buddhist celebrate the Ghost Festival[123] as an expression of compassion, one of Buddhist virtues. If the hungry ghosts are fed by non-relatives, they would not bother the community.
By culture
African folklore
For the Igbo people, a man is simultaneously a physical and spiritual entity. However, it is his spirited dimension that is eternal.[124] In the Akan conception, we witness five parts of the human personality. We have the Nipadua (body), the Okra (soul), Sunsum (spirit), Ntoro (character from father), Mogya (character from mother).[124] The Humr people of southwestern Kordofan, Sudan consume the drink Umm Nyolokh, which is prepared from the liver and bone marrow of giraffes. Richard Rudgley[125] hypothesises that Umm Nyolokh may contain.... further theorise that giraffe liver might owe its p....., such as Acacia spp. consumed by the animal. The drink is said to cause ... of giraffes, believed by the Humr to be the ghosts of giraffes.[126][127]
European folklore
Further information: Revenant, Necromancy, and Samhain
Belief in ghosts in European folklore is characterized by the recurring fear of "returning" or revenant deceased who may harm the living. This includes the Scandinavian gjenganger, the Romanian strigoi, the Serbian vampir, the Greek vrykolakas, etc. In Scandinavian and Finnish tradition, ghosts appear in corporeal form, and their supernatural nature is given away by behavior rather than appearance. In fact, in many stories they are first mistaken for the living. They may be mute, appear and disappear suddenly, or leave no footprints or other traces. British folklore is particularly notable for its numerous haunted locations.
South and Southeast Asia
Indian subcontinent
Main article: Bhoot (ghost)
A bhoot or bhut (Hindi: भूत, Gujarati: ભૂત, Urdu: بهوت, Bengali: ভূত, Odia: ଭୂତ) is a supernatural creature, usually the ghost of a deceased person, in the popular culture, literature and some ancient texts of the Indian subcontinent.
North India
Interpretations of how bhoots come into existence vary by region and community, but they are usually considered to be perturbed and restless due to some factor that prevents them from moving on (to transmigration, non-being, nirvana, or heaven or hell, depending on tradition). This could be a violent death, unsettled matters in their lives, or simply the failure of their survivors to perform proper funerals.[119]
In Central and Northern India, ojha or spirit guides play a central role.[128] It duly happens when in the night someone sleeps and decorates something on the wall, and they say that if one sees the spirit the next thing in the morning he will become a spirit too, and that to a headless spirit and the soul of the body will remain the dark with the dark lord from the spirits who reside in the body of every human in Central and Northern India. It is also believed that if someone calls one from behind, never turn back and see because the spirit may catch the human to make it a spirit. Other types of spirits in Hindu mythology include Baital, an evil spirit who haunts cemeteries and takes demonic possession of corpses, and Pishacha, a type of flesh-eating demon.
Bengal and East India
Main article: Ghosts in Bengali culture
There are many kinds of ghosts and similar supernatural entities that frequently come up in Bengali culture, where it forms an important part in Bengali peoples' socio-cultural beliefs and superstitions. It is believed that the spirits of those who cannot find peace in the afterlife or die unnatural deaths remain on Earth. The word Pret (from Sanskrit) is also used in Bengali to mean ghost. In Bengal, ghosts are believed to be the spirit after death of an unsatisfied human being or a soul of a person who dies in unnatural or abnormal circumstances (like murder, suicide or accident). Even it is believed that other animals and creatures can also be turned into ghost after their death.
Thailand
Main article: Ghosts in Thai culture
Ghosts in Thailand are part of local folklore and have now become part of the popular culture of the country. Phraya Anuman Rajadhon was the first Thai scholar who seriously studied Thai folk beliefs and took notes on the nocturnal village spirits of Thailand. He established that, since such spirits were not represented in paintings or drawings, they were purely based on descriptions of popular orally transmitted traditional stories. Therefore, most of the contemporary iconography of ghosts such as Nang Tani, Nang Takian,[129] Krasue, Krahang,[130] Phi Hua Kat, Phi Pop, Phi Phong, Phi Phraya, and Mae Nak has its origins in Thai films that have now become classics.[131][132] The most feared spirit in Thailand is Phi Tai Hong, the ghost of a person who has died suddenly of a violent death.[133] The folklore of Thailand also includes the belief that sleep paralysis is caused by a ghost, Phi Am.
Tibet
Main article: Ghosts in Tibetan culture
There is widespread belief in ghosts in Tibetan culture. Ghosts are explicitly recognized in the Tibetan Buddhist religion as they were in Indian Buddhism,[134] occupying a distinct but overlapping world to the human one, and feature in many traditional legends. When a human dies, after a period of uncertainty they may enter the ghost world. A hungry ghost (Tibetan: yidag, yi-dvags; Sanskrit: प्रेत, romanized: preta) has a tiny throat and huge stomach, and so can never be satisfied. Ghosts may be killed with a ritual dagger or caught in a spirit trap and burnt, thus releasing them to be reborn. Ghosts may also be exorcised, and an annual festival is held throughout Tibet for this purpose. Some say that Dorje Shugden, the ghost of a powerful 17th-century monk, is a deity, but the Dalai Lama asserts that he is an evil spirit, which has caused a split in the Tibetan exile community.
Austronesia
Main articles: Malay ghost myths, Ghosts in Filipino culture, and Ghosts in Polynesian culture
There are many Malay ghost myths, remnants of old animist beliefs that have been shaped by later Hindu, Buddhist, and Muslim influences in the modern states of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei. Some ghost concepts such as the female vampires Pontianak and Penanggalan are shared throughout the region. Ghosts are a popular theme in modern Malaysian and Indonesian films. There are also many references to ghosts in Filipino culture, ranging from ancient legendary creatures such as the Manananggal and Tiyanak to more modern urban legends and horror films. The beliefs, legends and stories are as diverse as the people of the Philippines.
There was widespread belief in ghosts in Polynesian culture, some of which persists today. After death, a person's ghost normally traveled to the sky world or the underworld, but some could stay on earth. In many Polynesian legends, ghosts were often actively involved in the affairs of the living. Ghosts might also cause sickness or even invade the body of ordinary people, to be driven out through strong medicines.[135]
East and Central Asia
Further information: Preta
China
Main article: Ghosts in Chinese culture
There are many references to ghosts in Chinese culture. Even Confucius said, "Respect ghosts and gods, but keep away from them."[136]
The ghosts take many forms, depending on how the person died, and are often harmful. Many Chinese ghost beliefs have been accepted by neighboring cultures, notably Japan and southeast Asia. Ghost beliefs are closely associated with traditional Chinese religion based on ancestor worship, many of which were incorporated in Taoism. Later beliefs were influenced by Buddhism, and in turn influenced and created uniquely Chinese Buddhist beliefs.
Many Chinese today believe it possible to contact the spirits of their ancestors through a medium, and that ancestors can help descendants if properly respected and rewarded. The annual ghost festival is celebrated by Chinese around the world. On this day, ghosts and spirits, including those of the deceased ancestors, come out from the lower realm. Ghosts are described in classical Chinese texts as well as modern literature and films.
An article in the China Post stated that nearly 87 percent of Chinese office workers believe in ghosts, and some 52 percent of workers will wear hand art, necklaces, crosses, or even place a crystal ball on their desks to keep ghosts at bay, according to the poll.[citation needed] The prevalence of belief is such that the ruling party has actively sought to discourage citizens.[137]
Japan
Main articles: Yūrei, Onryō, and Japanese ghost story
Yūrei (幽霊) are figures in Japanese folklore, analogous to Western legends of ghosts. The name consists of two kanji, 幽 (yū), meaning "faint" or "dim", and 霊 (rei), meaning "soul" or "spirit". Alternative names include bōrei (亡霊) meaning ruined or departed spirit, shiryō (死霊) meaning dead spirit, or the more encompassing yōkai (妖怪) or obake (お化け).
Like their Chinese and Western counterparts, they are thought to be spirits kept from a peaceful afterlife.
Americas
Mexico
Main article: Ghosts in Mexican culture
There is extensive and varied belief in ghosts in Mexican culture. The modern state of Mexico before the Spanish conquest was inhabited by diverse peoples such as the Maya and Aztec, and their beliefs have survived and evolved, combined with the beliefs of the Spanish colonists. The Day of the Dead incorporates pre-Columbian beliefs with Christian elements. Mexican literature and films include many stories of ghosts interacting with the living.
United States
Further information: Ghosts of the American Civil War, Shadow people, Ghost hunting, and African-American_folktales § Spiritual
According to the Gallup Poll News Service, belief in haunted houses, ghosts, communication with the dead, and witches had an especially steep increase over the 1990s.[138] A 2005 Gallup poll found that about 32 percent of Americans believe in ghosts.
Depiction in the arts
Main articles: Ghost story and List of ghost films
Ghosts are prominent in story-telling of various nations. The ghost story is ubiquitous across all cultures from oral folktales to works of literature. While ghost stories are often explicitly meant to be scary, they have been written to serve all sorts of purposes, from comedy to morality tales. Ghosts often appear in the narrative as sentinels or prophets of things to come. Belief in ghosts is found in all cultures around the world, and thus ghost stories may be passed down orally or in written form.[140]
Spirits of the dead appear in literature as early as Homer's Odyssey, which features a journey to the underworld and the hero encountering the ghosts of the dead,[141] and the Old Testament, in which the Witch of Endor summons the spirit of the prophet Samuel.[141]
Renaissance to Romanticism (1500 to 1840)
One of the more recognizable ghosts in English literature is the shade of Hamlet's murdered father in Shakespeare's The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. In Hamlet, it is the ghost who demands that Prince Hamlet investigate his "murder most foul" and seek revenge upon his usurping uncle, King Claudius.
In English Renaissance theater, ghosts were often depicted in the garb of the living and even in armor, as with the ghost of Hamlet's father. Armor, being out-of-date by the time of the Renaissance, gave the stage ghost a sense of antiquity.[142] But the sheeted ghost began to gain ground on stage in the 19th century because an armored ghost could not satisfactorily convey the requisite spookiness: it clanked and creaked, and had to be moved about by complicated pulley systems or elevators. These clanking ghosts being hoisted about the stage became objects of ridicule as they became clichéd stage elements. Ann Jones and Peter Stallybrass, in Renaissance Clothing and the Materials of Memory, point out, "In fact, it is as laughter increasingly threatens the Ghost that he starts to be staged not in armor but in some form of 'spirit drapery'."[143]
The "classic" ghost story arose during the Victorian period, and included authors such as M. R. James, Sheridan Le Fanu, Violet Hunt, and Henry James. Classic ghost stories were influenced by the gothic fiction tradition, and contain elements of folklore and psychology. M. R. James summed up the essential elements of a ghost story as, "Malevolence and terror, the glare of evil faces, 'the stony grin of unearthly malice', pursuing forms in darkness, and 'long-drawn, distant screams', are all in place, and so is a modicum of blood, shed with deliberation and carefully husbanded...".[144] One of the key early appearances by ghosts was The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole in 1764, considered to be the first gothic novel.[141][145][146]
Famous literary apparitions from this period are the ghosts of A Christmas Carol, in which Ebenezer Scrooge is helped to see the error of his ways by the ghost of his former colleague Jacob Marley, and the ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present, and Christmas Yet to Come.
Modern era (1920 to 1970)
Professional parapsychologists and "ghosts hunters", such as Harry Price, active in the 1920s and 1930s, and Peter Underwood, active in the 1940s and 1950s, published accounts of their experiences with ostensibly true ghost stories such as Price's The Most Haunted House in England, and Underwood's Ghosts of Borley (both recounting experiences at Borley Rectory). The writer Frank Edwards delved into ghost stories in books of his such as Stranger than Science.
Children's benevolent ghost stories became popular, such as Casper the Friendly Ghost, created in the 1930s and appearing in comics, animated cartoons, and eventually a 1995 feature film. With the advent of motion pictures and television, screen depictions of ghosts became common, and spanned a variety of genres; the works of Shakespeare, Dickens and Wilde have all been made into cinematic versions. Novel-length tales have been difficult to adapt to cinema, although that of The Haunting of Hill House to The Haunting in 1963 is an exception.[146]
With the advent of motion pictures and television, screen depictions of ghosts became common, and spanned a variety of genres; the works of Shakespeare, Dickens and Wilde have all been made into cinematic versions. Novel-length tales have been difficult to adapt to cinema, although that of The Haunting of Hill House to The Haunting in 1963 is an exception.[146]
Sentimental depictions during this period were more popular in cinema than horror, and include the 1947 film The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, which was later adapted to television with a successful 1968–1970 TV series.[146] Genuine psychological horror films from this period include 1944's The Uninvited, and 1945's Dead of Night.
Post-modern (1970–present)
See also: List of ghost films
Further information: List of ghosts § Popular culture, and Category:Fictional ghosts
The 1970s saw screen depictions of ghosts diverge into distinct genres of the romantic and horror. A common theme in the romantic genre from this period is the ghost as a benign guide or messenger, often with unfinished business, such as 1989's Field of Dreams, the 1990 film Ghost, and the 1993 comedy Heart and Souls.[147] In the horror genre, 1980's The Fog, and the A Nightmare on Elm Street series of films from the 1980s and 1990s are notable examples of the trend for the merging of ghost stories with scenes of physical violence.[146]
Popularised in such films as the 1984 comedy Ghostbusters, ghost hunting became a hobby for many who formed ghost hunting societies to explore reportedly haunted places. The ghost hunting theme has been featured in reality television series, such as Ghost Adventures, Ghost Hunters, Ghost Hunters International, Ghost Lab, Most Haunted, and A Haunting. It is also represented in children's television by such programs as The Ghost Hunter and Ghost Trackers. Ghost hunting also gave rise to multiple guidebooks to haunted locations, and ghost hunting "how-to" manuals.
The 1990s saw a return to classic "gothic" ghosts, whose dangers were more psychological than physical. Examples of films from this period include 1999's The Sixth Sense and The Others.
Asian cinema has also produced horror films about ghosts, such as the 1998 Japanese film Ring (remade in the US as The Ring in 2002), and the Pang brothers' 2002 film The Eye.[148] Indian ghost movies are popular not just in India, but in the Middle East, Africa, South East Asia, and other parts of the world. Some Indian ghost movies such as the comedy / horror film Chandramukhi have been commercial successes, dubbed into several languages.[149]
In fictional television programming, ghosts have been explored in series such as Supernatural, Ghost Whisperer, and Medium.
In animated fictional television programming, ghosts have served as the central element in series such as Casper the Friendly Ghost, Danny Phantom, and Scooby-Doo. Various other television shows have depicted ghosts as well.
Metaphorical usages
Nietzsche argued that people generally wear prudent masks in company, but that an alternative strategy for social interaction is to present oneself as an absence, as a social ghost – "One reaches out for us but gets no hold of us"[150] – a sentiment later echoed (if in a less positive way) by Carl Jung.[151]
Nick Harkaway has considered that all people carry a host of ghosts in their heads in the form of impressions of past acquaintances – ghosts who represent mental maps of other people in the world and serve as philosophical reference points.[152]
Object relations theory sees human personalities as formed by splitting off aspects of the person that he or she deems incompatible, whereupon the person may be haunted in later life by such ghosts of his or her alternate selves.[153]
The sense of ghosts as invisible, mysterious entities is invoked in several terms that use the word metaphorically, such as ghostwriter (a writer who pens texts credited to another person without revealing the ghostwriter's role as an author); ghost singer (a vocalist who records songs whose vocals are credited to another person); and "ghosting" a date (when a person breaks off contact with a former romantic partner and disappears)." (wikipedia)
"Paranormal events are purported or imagined phenomena described in popular culture, folklore, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding.[1][2][3][4] Notable paranormal beliefs include those that pertain to extrasensory perceptions (for example, telepathy), and the pseudosciences of ghost hunting, cryptozoology, and ufology.[5]
Proposals regarding the paranormal are different from scientific hypotheses, or speculations extrapolated from scientific evidence, because scientific ideas are grounded in empirical observations and experimental data gained through the scientific method. In contrast, those who argue for the existence of the paranormal explicitly do not base their arguments on empirical evidence but rather on anecdote, testimony, and suspicion. The standard scientific models give the explanation that what appears to be paranormal phenomena is usually a misinterpretation, misunderstanding, or anomalous variation of natural phenomena.[6][7][8]
Etymology
The term paranormal has existed in the English language since at least 1920.[9][10] The word consists of two parts: para and normal. The definition implies that the scientific explanation of the world around us is normal and anything that is above, beyond, or contrary to that is para.
Paranormal subjects
On the classification of paranormal subjects, psychologist Terence Hines said in his book Pseudoscience and the Paranormal (2003):
The paranormal can best be thought of as a subset of pseudoscience. What sets the paranormal apart from other pseudosciences is a reliance on explanations for alleged phenomena that are well outside the bounds of established science. Thus, paranormal phenomena include extrasensory perception (ESP), telekinesis, ghosts, poltergeists, life after death, reincarnation, faith healing, human auras, and so forth. The explanations for these allied phenomena are phrased in vague terms of "psychic forces", "human energy fields", and so on. This is in contrast to many pseudoscientific explanations for other nonparanormal phenomena, which, although very bad science, are still couched in acceptable scientific terms.[11]
Ghost hunting
Main article: Ghost hunting
Ghost hunting is the investigation of locations that are reportedly haunted by ghosts. Typically, a ghost-hunting team will attempt to collect evidence supporting the existence of paranormal activity.
In traditional ghostlore and fiction featuring ghosts, a ghost is a manifestation of the spirit or soul of a person.[12] Alternative theories expand on that idea and include belief in the ghosts of deceased animals. Sometimes the term "ghost" is used synonymously with any spirit or demon;[13] however, in popular usage, the term typically refers to the spirit of a deceased person.
The belief in ghosts as souls of the departed is closely tied to the concept of animism, an ancient belief that attributed souls to everything in nature.[14] As the 19th-century anthropologist George Frazer explained in his classic work, The Golden Bough (1890), souls were seen as the 'creature within' which animated the body.[15] Although the human soul was sometimes symbolically or literally depicted in ancient cultures as a bird or other animal, it was widely held that the soul was an exact reproduction of the body in every feature, even down to the clothing worn by the person. This is depicted in artwork from various ancient cultures, including such works as the ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead (c. 1550 BCE), which shows deceased people in the afterlife appearing much as they did before death, including the style of dress." (wikipedia)
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