Halloween Traditions
The term "Halloween" is a contraction of this phrase, which refers to the evening before All Saints' Day.
What is All Hallows' Eve?
The traditional remedy to ward off a vampire, according to European folklore.
What is garlic?
This Gothic novel by Bram Stoker features the villain Count Dracula.
What is Dracula?
This hockey-mask-wearing killer's primary hunting grounds are around Camp Crystal Lake.
Who is Jason Voorhees?
This 1960 Alfred Hitchcock film famously features a shower scene and is one of the first psychological horror films.
What is Psycho?
This traditional Halloween activity was originally a form of fortune-telling, predicting the marriage prospects of the participants.
What is bobbing for apples?
This creature is a man who transforms into a wolf, often under the influence of a full moon.
What is a werewolf (or lycanthrope)?
This 19th-century novel, considered the first modern horror novel, was written by a 19-year-old Mary Shelley.
What is Frankenstein?
This killer, known for his burnt face and bladed glove, targets teenagers in their dreams.
Who is Freddy Krueger?
The family who moves to the isolated Overlook Hotel for the winter in this 1980 Stanley Kubrick film, based on a Stephen King novel.
What is the Torrance family (in The Shining)?
The country where the tradition of carving jack-o'-lanterns began, originally using turnips and potatoes.
What is Ireland?
In classic folklore, this monster is assembled from disparate body parts and is often mistakenly called by his creator's name.
What is Frankenstein's monster (or creation)?
This Edgar Allan Poe poem features a narrator haunted by a single word repeated by a talking bird.
What is "The Raven?"
The 1974 film that originated the trope of the chainsaw-wielding, mask-wearing Leatherface and was marketed as being based on a true story.
What is The Texas Chainsaw Massacre?
The 1973 film where the possessed girl, Regan MacNeil, says the iconic phrase, "I see dead people."
What is The Exorcist?
The ancient Celtic festival that is considered the origin of modern Halloween, meaning "summer's end."
What is Samhain?
The historical figure from Wallachia who is widely believed to be the inspiration for Bram Stoker's Dracula.
Who is Vlad the Impaler?
The Shakespeare play that contains the famous witch's chant, "Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble."
What is Macbeth?
The film that popularized the "rules" of surviving a horror film, often listed by the character Randy.
What is Scream?
This 1978 apocalyptic zombie film by George A. Romero takes place primarily inside a shopping mall.
What is Dawn of the Dead?
A custom, primarily in Scotland and Ireland, where children wear costumes and visit homes for food, which inspired modern trick-or-treating.
What is "guising" or "souling?"
The name of the water-dwelling creature in Slavic folklore, often depicted as a seductive, malevolent spirit that drags victims to watery graves.
What is a Rusalka?
The author of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, which features the spectral Hessian soldier known as the Headless Horseman.
Who is Washington Irving?
The fictional town in Illinois that is terrorized by Michael Myers in the Halloween franchise.
What is Haddonfield?
The 1999 found-footage horror film that was a massive box office success after being marketed as authentic documentary footage.
What is The Blair Witch Project?