1. Because the movie Halloween (1978) was on such a tight budget, they had to use the cheapest mask they could find for the character Michael Meyers, which turned out to be a William Shatner Star Trek mask. Shatner initially didn’t know the mask was in his likeness, but when he found out years later, he said he was honored.
2. The first Jack O’Lanterns were actually made from turnips.
3. Halloween is the second highest grossing commercial holiday after Christmas.
4. The word “witch” comes from the Old English wicce, meaning “wise woman.” In fact, wiccan were highly respected people at one time. According to popular belief, witches held one of their two main meetings, or sabbats, on Halloween night.
5. Samhainophobia is the fear of Halloween.
6. Fifty percent of kids prefer to receive chocolate candy for Halloween, compared with 24% who prefer non-chocolate candy and 10% who preferred gum.
7. The owl is a popular Halloween image. In Medieval Europe, owls were thought to be witches, and to hear an owl's call meant someone was about to die.
8.The Guinness World Record for Heaviest Pumpkin is held by Mathias Willemijns from Belgium and his 2,624.6-pound pumpkin.
9. Stephen Clarke holds the record for the world’s fastest pumpkin carving time: 24.03 seconds, smashing his previous record of 54.72 seconds. The rules of the competition state that the pumpkin must weigh less than 24 pounds and be carved in a traditional way, which requires at least eyes, nose, ears, and a mouth.
10. The first known mention of trick-or-treating in print in North America occurred in 1927 in Blackie, Alberta, Canada.
11. With their link to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (a precursor to Halloween) and later to witches, catshave a permanent place in Halloween folklore. During the ancient celebration of Samhain, Druids were said to throw cats into a fire, often in wicker cages, as part of divination proceedings.
12. Black and orange are typically associated with Halloween. Orange is a symbol of strength and endurance and, along with brown and gold, stands for the harvest and autumn. Black is typically a symbol of death and darkness and acts as a reminder that Halloween once was a festival that marked the boundaries between life and death.
13. Ireland is typically believed to be the birthplace of Halloween.
14. Halloween has variously been called All Hallows’ Eve, Witches Night, Lamswool, Snap-Apple Night, Samhaim, and Summer’s End.
15. According to tradition, if a person wears his or her clothes inside out and then walks backwards on Halloween, he or she will see a witch at midnight.
16. Mexico celebrates the Days of the Dead (Días de los Muertos) on the Christian holidays All Saints’ Day (November 1) and All Souls’ Day (November 2) instead of Halloween. The townspeople dress up like ghouls and parade down the street.
17. The famous magician Harry Houdini died on October 31, 1926.
18. A child born on Halloween is said to have the ability to talk to spirits.
19. Both Salem, Massachusetts, and Anoka, Minnesota, are the self-proclaimed Halloween capitals of the world.
20. Pumpkins are classified as a fruit, not as a vegetable. In fact, in 2006, New Hampshire declared that its state fruit is the pumpkin.
21. The original name of Count Dracula in Bram Stoker's famous book was Count Wampyr.
22. The blockbuster movie Halloween was filmed in just 21 days.
23. The movie Halloween was originally titled Babysitter Murders.
24. The average bag of candy that one child will collect on Halloween contains about 11,000 calories.
25. The least healthy Halloween candy is Candy Corn. Just 15 pieces of Candy Corn equal 110 calories and 22 grams of sugar. The healthiest Halloween candy is Hershey’s Special Dark.
26. October 31st is not only Halloween, it's also National Doorbell Day
27. Candy Corn was originally called Chicken Feed.
28. Illinois produces five times more pumpkins than any other state.
29. Finding a spider on Halloween is considered good luck.
30. The sounds of stabbing in the Halloween movie is made by a knife being plunged into a watermelon.
