Happy All Hallows' Eve

As we say farewell to All Hallows’s Eve (or, All Hallows’ Evening), and prepare to celebrate Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) on November 1^st, here are just a few fun facts to mull over while trying to stay a step or two ahead of the haints.

· While looking through a collection of old Halloween post cards, several showed Halloween as Hallowe’en with the apostrophe, a contraction of All Hallows’ Evening.

· Trick-or-treating, or, as it was originally called, “guising”, probably began in Scotland and/or Ireland, then came to North America sometime after the turn of the last century.

Here are just a few movie and TV shows about Halloween:

o Halloween (1978) John Carpenter’s original and best still frightens today, with his film score and brilliant build-up of tension.

o Hocus Pocus (1993) is a Walt Disney comedy starring Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy as three witch sisters.

o Pooh’s Heffalump Halloween Movie (2005), with Winnie the Pooh and friends.

o It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966) – It’s not officially Halloween until you watch this classic.

o Monster House (2006), a feature-length animated film, that is just way too much fun.

o Pumpkinhead (1988) with Lance Henriksen, is not specifically about Halloween, but it should be. It contains all the necessary elements – an old witch, spells, deep and dark woods, and a monster with a head resembling a jack-o-lantern.

So, with that, 'til next time... Adios.