Halloween from A to Z
Strange facts about candy, trick-or-treating and why we celebrate the holiday at all
What do you know about Halloween? Here’s a collection of random facts and trivia, ordered from A to Z, to get you in the mood to celebrate.
Apparitions: Halloween may be high season for Chattanooga Ghost Tours, but this locally owned company gives visitors a sense of the city’s haunted places yearround. Owner Amy Petulla recently told the Times Free Press she didn’t believe in ghosts when she started the business in 2007, but she and her guides have experienced enough odd encounters that she’s changed her mind.
Billions: That’s the bar for how high Halloween spending is expected to go this year, according to WalletHub. Total projected spending is $12.2 billion, with costumes accounting for $4.1 billion of that total and candy taking a $3.6 billion bite.
Candy: Candystore.com has studied 16 years of bulk candy sales to determine that the most popular Halloween candy for 2023 is Reese’s Cups, followed by M&M’s and Hot Tamales. The breakdown by state finds that Tootsie Pops are tops in Tennessee, Georgians love Jolly Ranchers and Alabamians are all about Skittles. One surprise in the survey, according to the experts, is that candy corn is making a comeback, landing at No. 8 in the national Top 10.
Delayed gratification: An assistant professor at Brigham Young University says Halloween candy can be used to teach children about personal finance. “It’s related to delayed gratification, just like saving up for something you want or budgeting,” Ashley LeBaronBlack told WalletHub. “Halloween candy can also be used to instill habits of giving, that candy and money bring more joy when they are shared, not hoarded.” Parents can use that sharing lesson when they’re tempted by their kids’ candy stash.
Eerie noises: Want to add some aural ambiance when trick-ortreaters approach? Pixabay.com has 451 royalty-free eerie sound effects you can download.
Flourishes: The Halloween decorations market, valued at $4.5 billion in 2021, is projected to reach $9.2 billion by 2030, according to Verified Market Research. A study for Meble Furniture found that the most popular decorations this year are skeletons, ahead of pumpkins, witches, spiders and bat decorations. In the tri-state, the top decorations are clowns in Tennessee, crows in Alabama and Demogorgons (monsters from the TV series “Stranger Things”) in Georgia.
Give up the ghost: According to CableTV.com data, Tennessee ranks 21st in states in which you’re most likely to die in a horror movie, with four deaths in one movie. The chart doesn’t specify the movie, but our best guess is “The Evil Dead,” which is set in Tennessee and has a low body count (by horror movie standards). By contrast, Pennsylvania piles up the bodies with 615 deaths in six horror movies.
Haunted houses: According to WalletHub, the Halloween attraction industry is expected to generate $1 billion in annual revenue for 2023. Eighty percent of haunted attractions are run by charities.
Incantations: One of literature’s best-known magic spells comes from the three witches in Shakespeare’s “Macbeth.” You’ll recognize the final words, but here’s the full passage. Second Witch:
Fillet of a fenny snake,
In the cauldron boil and bake; Eye of newt and toe of frog, Wool of bat and tongue of dog, Lizard’s leg and owlet’s wing, For a charm of powerful trouble, Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.
All:
Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble.