🎃 Halloween Villains
This mask-wearing killer from Halloween was inspired by a real-life visit John Carpenter made to a psychiatric hospital.
Who is Michael Myers?
In European folklore, this creature’s transformation under a full moon was often blamed on a curse known as lycanthropy.
What is a werewolf?
This candy’s inventor, H.B. Reese, was originally a dairy farmer and employee of this larger chocolate company before creating his own peanut-butter-filled masterpiece.
What is Hershey?
The phrase “trick or treat” became widespread in the U.S. during this decade, thanks to post-war suburban growth and baby-boom families.
What are the 1950s?
They’re creepy and they’re kooky—this family debuted in 1938 as a single-panel cartoon before haunting television decades later.
Who are The Addams Family?
Freddy Krueger’s burnt skin was originally modeled after melted cheese, according to this director of the 1984 classic.
Who is Wes Craven?
The legend of this nocturnal blood-drinker can be traced to Eastern European superstition—and was popularized worldwide by an 1897 novel set in Transylvania.
What is a vampire?
Developed to withstand heat during WW II, this candy was first sold in cardboard tubes and earned the slogan “melts in your mouth, not in your hand.”
What are M&M's?
Before pumpkins, these pale root vegetables were carved in Ireland to ward off spirits like Stingy Jack.
What are turnips?
In 1984, director Joe Dante’s film about cute creatures that turn deadly if fed after midnight blended horror with this specific holiday.
What is Christmas (Gremlins)?
In Friday the 13th, Jason’s iconic hockey mask didn’t appear until this numbered sequel in the franchise.
What is Part III?
Mary Shelley subtitled her 1818 novel about this creature “The Modern Prometheus,” linking scientific ambition to mythic punishment.
Who is Frankenstein’s monster?
Marketed in the U.S. as “Taste the Rainbow,” this candy was first produced by a British division of Mars in 1974.
What are Skittles?
This fortune-telling party game, in which players tried to bite fruit floating in water, symbolized future romance and was a Halloween favorite for Victorian youths.
What is bobbing for apples?
The 1993 film featuring the Sanderson sisters was initially a box-office flop but became a cult favorite thanks to annual airings on this TV network.
What is Disney Channel (or Freeform’s 31 Nights of Halloween)?
Chucky’s real name—before transferring his soul into a Good Guy doll—was this serial killer with a voodoo connection.
Who is Charles Lee Ray?
First appearing in Homer’s Odyssey, this six-headed sea monster devoured sailors who strayed too close to her lair opposite Charybdis.
Who is Scylla?
Once sold by Goelitz Confectionery Co. as Chicken Feed, this tri-colored treat didn’t become a Halloween staple until corn syrup replaced sugar in the 1950s.
What is candy corn?
The Catholic Church introduced this holiday on November 1 to Christianize pagan festivals that honored the dead.
What is All Saints’ Day?
This 2017 Jordan Peele film coined the term “Sunken Place” as a metaphor for racial disempowerment.
What is Get Out?
In Stephen King’s It, Pennywise is merely one form of a cosmic entity that feeds on fear—its true shape exists in this other dimension of madness.
What is the Macroverse (or Deadlights)?
This Japanese vengeful spirit, often depicted as a long-haired woman in white, inspired films like The Ring and The Grudge—its name literally means “grudge spirit.”
What is an onryō?
This polarizing candy’s flavor comes from anethole—the same compound in anise and fennel—but it also contains glycyrrhizin, a natural toxin restricted in high doses by the EU.
What is black licorice?
The modern name “Halloween” originates from a contraction of a phrase once used to describe the vigil held on the eve of this holy day.
What is All Hallows’ Eve?
This long-running anthology created by Ryan Murphy explores different horror themes each season, from Murder House to Apocalypse.
What is American Horror Story?