Halloween History
This ancient Celtic festival, which marked the end of the harvest and the beginning of winter, is widely considered the origin of Halloween.
What is Samhain?
The word translates from Gaelic and Irish as "summer's end" (saa-wn)
In the landmark 1891 case Stambovsky v. Ackley, a New York appellate court famously ruled that a house was legally "as a matter of law" to be this, allowing a buyer to rescind their contract.
What is Haunted?
Fun Fact (Backgroud): Helen Ackley had spent years claiming the house was inhabited by poltergeists, even featuring the home in local press and a 1977 Reader's Digest article ("Our Haunted House on the Hudson") and walking tours. However, she never disclosed this to Jeffrey Stambovsky when he agreed to buy it.
In October 1962, Bobby "Boris" Pickett hit number one on the US Billboard charts with this graveyard smash novelty song that is still played every Halloween.
What is the "Monster Mash"?
He is a silent, towering figure who escaped a sanitarium to return to his hometown of Haddonfield on Halloween night. He never speaks, never runs, and is famously recognized by his dark blue mechanic's coveralls and a pale, expressionless rubber mask.
Who is Michael Myers from Halloween?
This 2018 post-apocalyptic horror film directed by John Krasinski follows a family forced to live in absolute silence to hide from blind monsters with acute hearing.
What is A Quiet Place?
The name "Halloween" is a shortened version of this phrase, which refers to the night before the Christian holiday honoring saints.
What is All Hallows' Eve?
During the Salem Witch Trials of 1692, the court notoriously allowed this type of evidence, which permitted witnesses to testify that they were harmed by a suspectâs invisible spirit or apparition.
What is Spectral Evidence?
Definition: a form of legal testimony based on dreams, visions, or spiritual apparitions in which a witness claims an accused person's spirit (or "specter") afflicted them.
She is the undisputed "Queen of Halloween" pop culture, famous for hosting her massive, star-studded annual Halloween party where she transforms into hyper-realistic costumes like a giant worm or a peacock.
Who is Heidi Klum?
A hulking, undead force of nature who stalks the woods and shores of Camp Crystal Lake.
Who is Jason Voorhees from Friday the 13th?
Filmed on a shoestring budget of around $15,000, this 2007 supernatural movie used mock home-surveillance footage to become one of the most profitable films ever made.
What is Paranormal Activity?
This classic, three-colored triangular candy was originally invented in the 1880s by the Wunderle Candy Company and was originally marketed under the unspooky name "Chicken Feed."
What is Candy Corn?
In one of the most infamous Halloween true-crime cases in American history, lawyer and chemist Ronald Clark O'Bryan was convicted of murder in Texas after using this specific candy spiked with cyanide to kill his own son for insurance money.
What is a Pixy Stix?
This famous American gothic fiction author, who passed away in 2021, revolutionized vampire pop culture with her 18th-century New Orleans setting and characters like Lestat and Louis.
Who is Anne Rice?
Bonus Point! What is the name of the book?
He is a brilliant but obsessive Swiss scientist who becomes consumed by the desire to conquer death.
Who is Dr.Frankenstein?
In this chilling 2002 psychological horror remake, anyone who watches a bizarre, cursed videotape receives a phone call warning them they have exactly seven days left to live.
What is The Ring?
Trick-or-treating became widely popular in America in the 1930s, but it had to be completely paused during the 1940s due to the domestic rationing of this specific ingredient.
What is Sugar?
This latin legal doctrine, meaning "buyer beware," typically applies to real estate sales, but it was famously overridden in the Stambovsky case because a routine home inspection cannot uncover ghosts.
What is caveat emptor?
In the iconic 1996 horror movie Scream, the killer Ghostface famously terrorizes his victims by asking them this specific pop culture trivia question over the phone.
What is "What's your favorite scary movie?"
A scarred, burned figure who was targeted by vigilante parents in his lifetime, he now haunts teenage dreams.
Who is Freddy Krueger from A Nightmare on Elm Street?
Jack Nicholson famously chopped through a bathroom door with an axe while yelling "Here's Johnny!" in this legendary 1980 psychological horror film.
What is The Shinning?
This Massachusetts city, famous for its 1692 witch trials, officially brands itself as the "Halloween Capital of the World" and draws hundreds of thousands of tourists every October.
What is Salem?
During his 1981 Connecticut murder trial, Arne Cheyenne Johnson famously became the first defendant in U.S. legal history to enter a plea of not guilty by reason of this supernatural defense, popularized by paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren.
What is demonic possession?
Michael Jacksonâs Thriller remains the best-selling album of all time, but the iconic 14-minute music video actually holds this unique legal distinction as the first music video to be?
What is Inducted into the Library of Congress National Film Registry.
A wild-haired, chaotic "bio-exorcist" hangs out in the afterlife and can only be summonedâor banishedâif a living person repeats his name exactly three times in a row.
Who is Beetlejuice?
This 1973 supernatural thriller about a young girl possessed by a demon became the first horror film ever nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.
What is The Exorcist?