Halloween is upon us, bringing all manner of ghosts, ghouls and goblins to haunt one and all. Halloween captivates the child in all of us, making for frightful fun and macabre merriment. Here’s a little trivia to get us in the mood for spooky season.
25% of all candy sold annually is for Halloween trick or treating. Christmas isn’t even close. We spend about 2 billion bucks a year in the United States on sweet stuff to hand out to the neighborhood witches and warlocks.
Halloween is second only to Christmas as far as highest grossing commercial holidays in the United States. Costumes, candy, decorations and all other expenses due to Halloween add up to a tidy average of $56 per shopper.
Think pumpkins are scary? Well, they weren’t the original source for Jack-O-Lanterns. Nope, that honor belongs to turnips, which were hollowed out by the Irish after faces of the dead were carved into the front.
Speaking of Jack O Lanterns – according to Irish legend, they are so named for a man who tricked the devil numerous times and was then forbidden to enter neither heaven nor hell. He was cursed to wander the earth, using his lantern to lead people away from their paths. What a jerk.
While only 50% of adults say they dress up for Halloween, almost 90% say they sneak candy from their kids’ trick or treat goodie bags. Their favorite candy of choice to sneak? Snickers.
Scared of Halloween? You’re not alone. Samhainophobia is the fear of Halloween, striking fear in unfortunate souls this time of year. Other relevant phobias include phasmophobia (ghosts), wiccaphobia (witches), and coimetrophobia (cemeteries).
Notable Halloween birthdays include Peter Jackson (who turns 54), Dan Rather (turning 84), and Nick Saban (64). Perhaps the scariest Halloween birthday of all? Vanilla Ice himself, Robert Van Winkle, turns 48 this year.
You’ll be a hoot at your friend’s Halloween Monster Mash with these fun and completely useless trivia facts.