Uncovering the Origins of Halloween Stories and Legends

With Halloween up coming, you may be wondering where the well-known, spooky legends and stories come from. 

“My favorite vampire is Dracula,” said sophomore Kitty Lubin. In the 19th century, the fear of vampires spread like fire around Europe. During this time, tuberculosis, also known as consumption, claimed the lives of entire families in the Northeast, in places like Rhode Island and Vermont. The disease caused the infected to appear as if life was being sucked out of them. Unsurprisingly, the symptoms of consumption were similar to the symptoms that Dracula’s victims were experiencing in Bram Stoker’s Dracula, published in 1897. However, by the end of the 19th century, German physician and microbiologist Robert Koch discovered the tuberculosis bacteria and the vampire craze started to die out. Even though we can prove that vampires were not actually feeding on New Englanders, copies of Dracula have been in print for over 125 years and the superstition of vampires lives on to this day. “Last year I had to read and analyze Dracula for my English class,” said junior Noah Zinman, proving that vampire stories live on, even if just in literature. 

Witches flying on broomsticks is another popular superstition. Witches are a very popular costume, often complete with a pointy hat and a flying broomstick. “When I was younger, I dressed up as a witch four times!” said junior Eliza Fogarty.  Where did this notion of flying on a broomstick come from? It likely comes from what is known as the “broomstick dance.” The dance was used by farmers to boost crop growth. Rural farms performed this pagan ritual by dancing on and around poles, pitchforks and brooms under a full moon. These dances became mistaken for witches flying through the night. Anxiety around witchcraft halted by the 18th century, but there are still people in the United States who self-identify as “witches,” though very few claim to fly on broomsticks. 

Many Halloween enthusiasts look forward to haunted houses, but few know that haunted houses only became a Halloween staple recently. “I always go to my neighborhood haunted house. It’s my favorite!” said freshman Gavin McGurn. In the 1800s and early 1900s, Halloween became a festival that young men and teenage boys dedicated to pranks and antics to blow off steam. At first, it was a positive outlet, but the pranks became progressively harmful. When the Great Depression hit, these pranks only escalated. The boys would flip cars, vandalize the city, saw off telephone poles and terrorize their communities. The term “Black Halloween” picked up in popularity, drawing on “Black Tuesday” and the stock market crash. Many called for Halloween to be canceled, but instead, communities started working on a plan to keep the boys occupied. Trick-or-treating, parades, parties and the new idea of haunted houses were popular solutions. The concept of haunted houses only grew in popularity and today, over 1,200 houses in America charge for admission. At the same time, many other families and communities still participate by creating small-scale haunted houses for free. 

Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is an iconic Halloween story. It tells the tale of a headless horseman who haunts the real-life village of Sleepy Hollow. In the story, the main character Ichabod Crane, a schoolmaster, arrives in Sleepy Hollow, a small New York town. He meets and pursues a young heiress, Katrina van Tassel; however, van Tassel is being courted by Dutchman Brom Bones. At the van Tessel party, Katrina rejects Crane, and he decides to leave the farm. While departing, Crane gets chased from the farm by a headless horseman who throws a pumpkin at him, knocking Crane from his horse. Ichabod Crane is never seen again. Irving likely got his inspiration from Sir Walter Scott, another writer, and Irving’s friend. Scott wrote The Chase, in 1796, translating the German poem The Wild Huntsman. “I’ve never read the book, but I watched the movie and really liked it,” said Senior Harper Auchincloss. Today, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is recognized as one of America’s first ghost stories and one of its scariest.