So, it’s almost that time of year again….When the shops begin to unveil their new season of creepy creatures, scary shrouds and seemingly-endless ranges of witches, pumpkins and spiders’ webs. TV adverts take on a hint of darkness and usually-chirpy voiceovers now cackle and hiss their way through our lounges….The nights are drawing on, late summer rapidly becoming a distant memory. Thoughts turn towards lighting the fire, maybe putting the heating on (Actually, scratch that, far too expensive!)..
Yes ladies & gentlemen, boys and girls…Let’s welcome Autumn, and more specifically, Halloween!!
We just adore Halloween here at The Flag shop - Our HQ gets draped with all kinds of frightening flags, like scary skull flags, classic witch flags, not to mention our brooding pumpkin bunting, but it’s not too dark! We still have plenty of colour, mainly with our Three Pumpkins Halloween flag and the vibrant and joyful Happy Halloween flag! So we thought we’d share some of our overflowing Halloween happiness with our faithful customers, so below, without further ado, is the Flag shop’s Halloween Hall Of Fame, where we will offer our guide on the very best the seasonal celebration has to offer! You never know, you might just get a few ingenious ideas to help add some pizazz to your chilling celebrations!
Our Top 5 Halloween Pastimes:
Ah, don’t you just love tradition? Well, we certainly do and it just would not be Halloween as far as we’re concerned without the below activities! Do you agree?
- Go Trick or Treating. …
- Throw a Halloween costume party & decorate the house
- Carve some pumpkins
- Bobbing for Apples
- Watch scary movies
Our Top 5 Halloween Movies:
When we’re talking about Halloween, very little can put you in the spooky mood faster than a classic scary movie! Who doesn’t love the edgy sensation of turning off the lights, settling in on the sofa and waiting for that inevitable wave of nausea and apprehension to creep over you, as you know just what scary shocks are in store! Everyone has their favourites, but below we’ve plumped for our Hall of Fame movie chillers that are guaranteed to make you shiver, squirm and squeal! :
- Hocus Pocus (1993
- Halloween (1978
- Casper (1995
- Scream (1996
- It (2017)
Family-friendly classic - The Addams Family (1991)
Our Top 5 Creepy Songs:
We all love an edgy song to help set the mood, whether it’s a moody classic that creeps everyone out or maybe a devilish rock banger that really gets the blood pumping…
Here are our Hall of Fame Top 5 tunes that will make you shudder, slither and maybe even boogie!! :
- ‘Thriller’ - Michael Jackson
- 'The Monster Mash’ - Bobby "Boris" Pickett
- ‘Ghostbusters’ - Ray Parker Jr
- ‘Zombie’ - The Cranberries
- ‘Highway To Hell’ - AC/DC
But what is Halloween all about?
Halloween is an ancient festival with roots in the Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced Sah-ween). This was when the Celts (the ancient inhabitants of Great Britain) celebrated their New Year and the day in which it was believed that the souls of those who had died that year descended to the underworld. It was said to be a night when ghosts, demons and witches roamed the earth and people tried to placate them with offerings of berries & nuts. Sounds lovely doesn’t it? And as they say, the rest is history as the occasion has evolved into what we recognise today as Halloween!
Some fun facts about Halloween:
- The largest pumpkin ever recorded weighed 2,702 lb in 2021.
- The colours most associated with Halloween are black & orange, but why? Well, black is to symbolise darkness and the line between life and death, whilst range signifies the autumn harvest.
- Long ago, Irish locals walked the streets holding hollowed-out turnips containing candles. This practice is thought to be the precursor of our modern ritual of carving pumpkins.
- Nearly 19,000 tons of pumpkins are sold in the Uk & the USA every Halloween season. Imagine all that smell!!!
- ‘Trick or Treating’ is thought to have originated in Ireland, where children would visit homes and perform rhymes to be given rewards.
- A fear of Halloween is known as ‘Samhainophobia.’
