BTS x Horror: All Hallows' Eve stories

intro

At long last, Halloween has finally arrived! From brainstorming spooky costumes  to trying out pumpkin carving with our kids, eating unfathomable amounts of Halloween treats , candy, and chocolate and indulging in everything pumpkin-spice-flavored, there's so much to anticipate during this frightfully fun October holiday.

No matter how old you are or how many times you've been around the block, the holiday simply never gets old. The littlest ones get a chance to dress up and go trick or treating, and parents have an excuse to sip on a boo-zy Halloween cocktail.

But in the midst of the candy  and sugar rushes, have you ever wondered about the origin and history of Halloween? 

After all, this old-fashioned holiday actually dates back many, many years. It's a lot older than you might think! And as for the witches and wizards that you've come to associate with it? They're part of the story, too. Here's the true tale of how Halloween officially came to be.

You already know that Halloween takes place on the last day of October, but here's something you might not know: The word itself literally means "hallowed evening," and was previously known to early European celebrators as All Hallows' Eve. All Hallows' Eve (October 31) and All Saints' Day, November 1, both paid homage to saints ("hallows" = saints). The name was eventually shortened to "Halloween," which we know and love to this day.

The pagan and Christian occasions hadn't always been back-to-back, though. Up until the 7th century CE, All Hallows' Eve actually feel on May 13th . Perhaps in an attempt to offset the occasion with a religious celebration, Pope Boniface IV ultimately made the call to change the observance to its current November 1 date. 

The early pagan holiday of Samhain involved a lot of ritualistic ceremonies to connect to spirits, as the Celts were polytheistic. While there isn't a lot of detail known about these celebrations, many believe the Celts celebrated in costume (granted, they were likely as simple as animal hides) as a disguise against ghosts, enjoyed special feasts, and made lanterns by hollowing out gourds (hence, the history of jack-o'-lanterns). Over time, as Christianity took over and the pagan undertones of the holiday were lessened, the basic traditions of the holiday remained a part of pop culture every year; they simply evolved and modernized. 

The mystical rituals of earlier times evolved into more lighthearted fun and games. For example, the somewhat heavy concept of connecting to the dead was replaced with the more lighthearted idea of telling the future. Bobbing for apples, for example, became popular as a fortune-telling game on All Hallows' Eve: Apples would be selected to represent all of a woman's suitors, and the guy—er, apple—she ended up biting into would supposedly represent her future husband. In fact, Halloween previously posed a huge (albeit rather superstitious) matchmaking opportunity for young women in the 19th century.

Another popular All Hallows' Eve ritual was mirror-gazing, as people hoped to catch a vision of their future by looking into the mirror. There are also reports of fortune-cookie-like favors being given out during earlier times. People wrote messages on pieces of paper in milk, and the notes were then folded and placed into walnut shells. The shells would be heated over a fire, causing the milk to brown just enough for the message to mystically appear on the paper for the recipient. 

Halloween obviously remains a popular holiday almost everywhere across the world today, but it actually almost didn't make it across the Atlantic. The Puritans were disapproving of the holiday's pagan roots, so they didn't take part in the celebrations. But once Irish and Scottish immigrants began to arrive in America in greater numbers, the holiday made its way back into the zeitgeist. The very first American Colonial Halloween celebrations  featured large public parties to commemorate the upcoming harvest, tell ghost stories, sing, and dance.

And while some of us have had a pretty rough day either looking after your younger siblings, or having to complete that assignment for that annoying teacher's class; I encourage you to sit back and enjoy my version of Horror featuring almost everyone's favorite K-pop boyband, BTS. 

-Kai

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