Halloween Myths

Zombies, vampires, and werewolves are all Halloween myths we believe to be false, but there are many other myths surrounding Halloween that might not be as true as we once thought. Has anyone ever told you that Halloween is a satanic holiday? Or that Halloween is a capitalistic holiday designed to increase candy sales? There are many believed stereotypes and urban legends surrounding this holiday that aren’t actually a reality. 

You may have been told as a child to check your candy for razors before you ate any, or maybe you’ve seen TikToks about black cats being kidnapped for torture around Halloween. Neither of these things are true. As this holiday has progressed and evolved, more and more lies and myths sprout up about it. When asked to think about Halloween, images of candy, pumpkins, and costumes come to mind, but none of these things are involved in the origins of Halloween (see Banner article about this). They all came later as more people celebrated the holiday. 

People didn’t always walk around on Halloween asking for candy, they used to walk around asking for prayers. Many parts of Halloween come from Christianity and other religions, even though many religious people don’t celebrate the holiday. Some even claim it’s satanic or evil, despite the religious background of the holiday. The idea of Halloween having evil or satanic connotations led to other myths, including ones about black cats and poisoned Halloween candy. 

“Black cats have been characterized as bad luck charms for the people who may cross their paths, but in reality, it’s common to run into one. Black fur is a dominant trait in cats, meaning it just takes that one gene for a cat to appear black. That misguided superstition of black cats being unlucky means it takes more effort to get black cats adopted,” says Becky Robinson, the president and founder of Alley Cat Allies. She goes on to say that there isn’t any evidence proving that black cats are more at risk during Halloween, despite them being an “unlucky” animal. 

As for the myth of poisoned Halloween candy, there aren’t any statistics to prove that tampered candy is a common occurrence, with one exception. Ryan O’Brien, a Texan father, gave cyanide-filled pixie sticks to his 8-year-old son Timothy and his friends, but besides Timothy’s tragic case, being murdered because of trick-or-treating is very uncommon. While not everyone has good intentions, you can probably enjoy your Halloween candy without worrying too much about razors or cyanide. 

Although it can be fun to hear people’s spooky Halloween stories on the internet, be careful of where you are getting your information from. There are many other myths about Halloween that people believe are true. For more information about Halloween myths, go to https://www.history.com/news/halloween-folk-legends. 

Happy Halloween Bruins!