Happy Halloween 2015! Pumpkins, Witches, Trick or Treats & More! 13 Fun Facts & Trivia

Happy Halloween, MstarsNews readers! In honor of this Spooktacular weekend, check out this list of 13 fun facts and trivia surrounding this delightfully wicked holiday. Trick or treat!

1. October 31st lands on the last day of the Celtic calendar. Originally a pagan holiday, Halloween honors the dead and was referred to as All Hallows Eve, dating back to over 2000 years ago.

2. Halloween candy sales average about 2 billion dollars annually in the United States.

3. Jack O'Lanterns were originally made from turnips.

4. The classic 1978 horror flick Halloween was filmed on a very tight budget. Producers purchased a William Shatner Star Trek mask, since it was the cheapest. Several years later, Shatner said he was honored to be associated with the creepy serial killer, Micheal Myers.

5. Orange and black are popular Halloween colors because orange is associated with the Fall harvest and black is associated with darkness and death.

6. The Ouija Board outsold the game of Monopoly in its first full year at Salem, with over two million copies shipped.

7. "Witch" is derived from the Old English word "wicce," meaning "wise woman." Back then, those who practiced wiccan were highly respected people. Legend has it that witches hold one of their two main meetings on Halloween night known as sabbats.

8. Samhainophobia is the fear of Halloween.

9. Bobbing for apples probably originated from the ancient Roman harvest festival that honors Pamona, goddess of fruit trees.

10. Signs of a werewolf are a unibrow, hair palms, tattoos, and a long middle finger.

11. Scarecrows, a popular harvest fixture, symbolize the ancient agricultural roots of the holiday.

12. In Medieval Europe, owls were thought to be witches in disguise. If you heard an owl's call, someone was about to die. 

13. Ancient Celts believed that spirits and ghosts roamed the countryside on Halloween night, so they began wearing masks and costumes to "blend in" and avoid being recognized as human. 

(via Random History and Halloween Website).

Share your festive Halloween costume ideas in the comments section below!