Halloween Trivia and Fun Facts!

A Halloween Scramble for kids http://www.cdc.gov/family/halloween/scramble.pdf
For more health games and tips, visit: www.cdc.gov/family/kids

Halloween Trivia & Fun Facts

Because of the unknown, Halloween is the one of the most captivating holidays, often celebrated by both adults and children. The element of surprise makes it fun and unpredictable. Enlighten yourself with Halloween trivia and fun facts to enjoy the holiday even more. Take the trivia and make a quiz for your next party!

Halloween Holiday Trivia

• Orange and black are Halloween colors because orange is associated with the Fall harvest and black is associated with darkness and death.
• Jack o’ Lanterns originated in Ireland where people placed candles in hollowed-out turnips to keep away spirits and ghosts on the Samhain holiday.
• Pumpkins also come in white, blue and green. Great for unique monster carvings!
• Halloween was brought to North America by immigrants from Europe who would celebrate the harvest around a bonfire, share ghost stories, sing, dance and tell fortunes.
• Tootsie Rolls were the first wrapped penny candy in America.
• The ancient Celts thought that spirits and ghosts roamed the countryside on Halloween night. They began wearing masks and costumes to avoid being recognized as human.
• Halloween candy sales average about 2 billion dollars annually in the United States.
• Chocolate candy bars top the list as the most popular candy for trick-or-treaters with Snickers #1.
• Halloween is the 2nd most commercially successful holiday, with Christmas being the first.
• Bobbing for apples is thought to have originated from the roman harvest festival that honors Pomona, the goddess of fruit trees.
• Black cats were once believed to be witch's familiars who protected their powers.

Monster Trivia & Folklore

• Signs of a werewolf are a unibrow, hair palms, tattoos, and a long middle finger.
• Vampires are mythical beings who defy death by sucking the blood of humans.
• In 1962, The Count Dracula Society was founded by Dr. Donald A. Reed.
• To this day, there are vampire clubs and societies with people claiming to be real vampires.
• There really are so-called vampire bats, but they're not from Transylvania. They live in Central and South America and feed on the blood of cattle, horses and birds.
• Many people still believe that gargoyles were created by medieval architects and stone carvers to ward off evil spirits.

Halloween Movie Details

• "Halloween" was made in only 21 days in 1978 on a very limited budget.
• The movie was shot in the Spring and used fake autumn leaves.
• The mask used by Michael Meyers in the movie "Halloween" was actually William Shatner's mask painted white.
• The character Laurie Strode, played by Jamie Lee Curtis was named after John Carpenter's first girlfriend.
• While the setting for the story is in Illinois, the vehicles have California license plates.
• Halloween is on October 31st, the last day of the Celtic calendar. It was originally a pagan holiday, honoring the dead. Halloween was referred to as All Hallows Eve and dates back to over 2000 years ago.

Creepy Tidbits

• If you see a spider on Halloween, it is the spirit of a loved on watching over you.
• Worldwide, bats are vital natural enemies of night-flying insects.
• The common little brown bat of North America has the longest life span for a mammal it's size, with a life span averaging 32 years.
• In about 1 in 4 autopsies, a major disease is discovered that was previously undetected.
• The Ouija Board ended up outselling the game of Monopoly in its first full year at Salem. Over two million copies of the Ouija Board were shipped.

From- http://www.halloween-website.com/trivia.htm