Chad Lewis has traveled the back roads of the world for three decades in search of the strange and unusual.
From tracking vampires in Transylvania and searching for the elusive monster of Loch Ness to trailing the dangerous Tata Duende through remote villages of Belize and searching for ghosts in Ireland’s haunted castles, Lewis has scoured the earth in search of the paranormal.
He shared some of those tales — and more — when discussing the history of Halloween, its folklore and customs at an Oct. 2 presentation at the Shawano Public Library.
“The celebration of Halloween comes from a celebration that is nearly 3,000 years old, a celebration called samhein (pronounced sow-en),” Lewis said. “Samhein was festival of the ancient Celtic people in what is now Ireland, Scotland, the British Isles and the like.”
The festival was after summer and before winter began, an important time on the people’s calendar.
“This was when the harvest was completed,” Lewis said. “They would have celebrations celebrating this movement from one (season) to the other. It would be a happy event.”
It was also a time when friends, family and enemies could rise up from the grave for the night.
“The veil between worlds was at its thinnest, meaning you could get a little glimpse into somewhere else, but they could get a glimpse at you as well,” Lewis said.
The idea was to treat everyone you met with kindness, because you didn’t know if they were a person or a supernatural being.
Some Halloween scholars also note the Christian theory and the celebration of All Saints Day on Nov. 1 and All Souls Day on Nov. 2. Halloween, Oct. 31, was then called All Hallow’s Eve.
Before coming to the United Stats a couple hundred years ago, Halloween had evolved in Europe into a time of dressing in costumes, playing games (apple bobbing) and fortune telling.
“The early days of Halloween came with a lot of pranks,” Lewis said. “Mischief night and pranking was very common throughout the rest of the world where you try to prank your neighbors, scare them.”
Trick-or-treating is a wholly American tradition, Lewis said.
The harmless but fun pranks turned into vandalism, which then led to community or neighborhood celebrations to keep children busy and out of trouble.
Parades, games, costumes and candy came into play, and Anoka, Minnesota, hosted a Halloween parade in 1920 and has since been called the Halloween Capital of the World.
Halloween nearly came an end during World War II, when sugar rations limited the amount of candy produced.
However, Lewis, said the celebrations bounced back after the war with the help of movies such as Disney’s 1952 “Trick or Treat.”
“Trick-or-treating has changed a lot over the years,” Lewis said. “It was really meant to get rid of hell night and mischief night. Nowadays, there’s still pranks going on … but for the most part, Halloween has done its job in getting kids focused on the right way.”
Halloween candy and treats also evolved from homemade treats from neighbors to individually wrapped candy.
“It wasn’t until 1968 that Snickers came out with the first fun-size candy bar,” Lewis said.
In the 1970s and 1980s, there was a growing fear of poisonings, razor blades and needles in children’s candy.
Prepackaged and individually wrapped candy bars were marketed as a way to trust your trick-or-treat candy.
“The marketing worked,” Lewis said. “Today, candy companies sell over $3.5 billion in candy every single year just for Halloween.”
Lewis has written more than 30 books on the supernatural.
kpasson@newmedia-wi.com
