Halloween

Halloween is a popular holiday to set spooky adventures on (Chaosium has hosted a yearly Halloween scenario contest, publishing the best submissions as Monographs).

Explanation

Why would Halloween matter on a Cosmic scale of things? The typical explanation is "because human cultists believe it does", but here are some alternative explanations:

Halloween at St. Odilio's

The scenario Halloween at St. Odilio's provides one explanation:

J.G. Frazer’s third edition Golden Bough, a copy of which can be found at the Orne Library at Miskatonic University, suggests that the most auspicious date for spells and rituals is October 31st, and one cultist's interpretation of this imagery is that on Halloween the veil between the worlds of Dream and Day can be passed through freely:

“But it is not only the souls of the departed who are supposed to be hovering unseen on the day ‘when autumn to winter resigns the pale year’. Witches then speed on their errands of mischief, some sweeping through the air on besoms, others galloping along the roads on tabby-cats, which for that evening are turned into black steeds. The fairies, too, are all let loose, and hobgoblins of every sort roam freely about.” – J.G. Frazer, Golden Bough

History

(To do: describe the history of Halloween.)

Description

(To do: describe typical traditions, beliefs, and superstitions concerned with celebrating Halloween in various settings.)

United States and Canada

(To do.)

1920s to Present

Halloween activities in modern North America:

• Telling ghost stories (the basic inspiration for the Halloween monographs)
• Bobbing for apples (originally introduced into Halloween celebrations by the Roman Empire. After the Romans took over Celtic lands in AD43, a new tradition celebrating the Roman goddess Pomona, the goddess of fruit and trees is seen in present day Halloween celebrations in the tradition of bobbing for apples, as apples are one of the goddess' symbols.)
• Trick-or-Treating or Guising (the Victorians re-invented "guising" as a safe community activity to discourage the traditional vandalism and extortion associated with the practice. In Canada between the 1950s and 2006 children would also collect spare change for the UNICEF organization while trick-or-treating).
• Sack Races
• Carving Jack-O-Lanterns (carving scary faces in vegetables; traditional materials for Jack-O-Lanterns are turnips and other large vegetables found in the UK, but the widely available pumpkins in North America became iconic symbols of Halloween in the Americas)
• The "Harvest Festival" (Halloween in some cases may be combined with or replaced by a more secular "Harvest Festival", which can be similar but may strip many of the more pagan or religious connotations from the celebration.)
• Harvesting Apples, Pumpkins, and other seasonal fruits and vegetables
• Costumes, Costume Parties, and Costume Contests
• "Haunted" Houses and "Hell Houses" (decorating houses to resemble iconic haunted houses for entertainment; the most elaborate haunted houses may become popular neighborhood attractions; by the 1980s, perhaps in reaction to the "Satanic Panic" of that era, some Christian churches may adapt the concept as "Hell Houses" for use in teaching moral lessons about the dangers of the paganism, witchcraft, satanism, and evil associated with Halloween)
• Corn Mazes (mazes cut into corn fields, which are often decorated with creepy scarecrows and jack-o-lanterns in a Halloween theme, and may be as elaborate as - or part of - Haunted House attractions)
• Horror Movies (by the 1960s, Halloween would become associated with showing classic horror movies, and new horror movies, including Halloween-themed movies, would appear in the decades to follow; in this way, the Gothic Universal Horror monsters like Frankenstein, Dracula, the Wolf-Man, and the Mummy would become iconic symbols of Halloween and common subjects of costumes; in television, "Halloween Episodes" with creepy or kitschy treatment of the holiday would become popular by the 1980s)
• Bonfires
• Pranks and Vandalism (youthful pranks and vandalism have long been a darker part of Halloween tradition, ranging from the relatively harmless, such as scaring people, to throwing eggs at houses or "rolling" trees and houses with rolls of bathroom toilet tissue paper, to breaking windows or setting fires or assaults; police may have to work overtime to watch for dangerous activities)

Continental Europe

(To do.)

UK, Australia and New Zealand

(To do.)

Dark Ages and Ancient

Dark Ages and Ancient Scotland, Ireland, England, Wales: the origin of Halloween, known then as the religious celebration of Samhain, and represents some of the more ancient beliefs about this holiday.

Halloween activities in the Ancient and Dark Ages periods:

• Bobbing for apples (originally introduced into Halloween celebrations by the Roman Empire. After the Romans took over Celtic lands in AD43, a new tradition celebrating the Roman goddess Pomona, the goddess of fruit and trees is seen in present day Halloween celebrations in the tradition of bobbing for apples, as apples are one of the goddess' symbols.)

Elsewhere

(To do. These would be more unusual locations where Halloween might be celebrated.)