Halloween: A History of Ghoulish Proportions

Since The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is based on ghost stories and legends of the past, it is only fitting that Fox aired its new show during the fall. Having been on a two-week hiatus, there will not be a Halloween special as with the case of most shows, but we can expect more suspense with next week’s new episode. In the next post I will dive more into the history of the town of Sleepy Hollow, but given today’s holiday, it is only appropriate to provide a bit of history on it.

Historical Facts about Halloween

• Halloween is a shortening of All Hallows' Evening also known as Hallowe'en or All Hallows' Eve
• The holiday celebrated on the night of October 31 
• Its origins go back to the ancient Celtic festival Samhain, celebrating the end of the harvest season
• They believed that on this day the boundaries between the living and dead coincided and that the dead would come back to life and spread illness and/or damage crops
• To avoid running into ghosts when leaving homes, people would wear masks so they would go unrecognized
• Then on Halloween night, people would leave food bowls outside to please the ghosts and prevent them from entering homes
• The concept of trick-or-treating dates back to the Middle Ages; the saying would be to play a trick on the homeowner if they did not provide any treat
• Flash forward to Halloween today and Americans alone spend an estimated $6 billion annually on the holiday
• The costumes have also undoubtedly gotten more risqué throughout the years as well, and nowadays, don’t leave much to the imagination

The history of Halloween has been referenced from this website, which goes more in depth. 

Typical Halloween symbols include bats, black cats, jack-o-lanterns, spiders and witches.

Bats: commonly seen at bonfires due to the attraction of insects

Black cats: believed to be a facilitator to other worlds/realms

Jack-O-Lanterns: used to provide light for those trick-or-treaters

Spiders: like black cats, they were thought to have supernatural abilities

Witches: since Halloween marks the time when the wall between living and dead is lowest and witches are devoted to the supernatural, it’s only fitting they’re a traditional symbol of Halloween

Demons and Witches & the Sandman, oh my!

The movie and television world seems to be in love with all things supernatural. This genre has been ongoing for centuries (i.e., Frankenstein, Dracula); however, in my opinion it has really jumped in popularity in the last decade or so. The last few years in particular have spun out a number of TV shows, including, but not limited to: True Blood (HBO), American Horror Story (FX), Witches of East End (Lifetime), The Vampire Diaries (The CW) and The Walking Dead (AMC).

Serilda, witch in episode 2 of Sleepy Hollow

Throughout these shows, we are introduced to vampires, witches, demons, zombies and a number of other gruesome figures. Sleepy Hollow is no exception to all of this as three different supernatural forms come alive within the first three episodes. First, we find out the Ichabod Crane’s wife was a witch and fortunately for Ichabod and Abbie, a “good” one who has been helping them defeat the evils coming back to the town of Sleepy Hollow. In the second episode, Serilda, another witch from a different coven, appears and starts to wreak havoc. Does this remind anyone else of The Wizard of Oz with the good witch and bad witch? In the Sheriff’s recordings, there was mention of two covens, so it should be safe to expect more witches in future episodes. But since Abbie and Ichabod already know one way to destroy them, will there be more of a fight to wipe out them out?

Moloch, Sleepy Hollow's demon

The demon, whose name is Moloch, is one of the season’s main antagonists, and will be a repetitive piece to Sleepy Hollow’s storyline. Having already gained the cooperation of Officer Andy Brooks, it is possible that Moloch may employ more help from other townspeople. Was Andy chosen simply because he was there at the wrong place and the wrong time, or is there more to his character than first let on?

The Sandman, episode 3 of Sleepy Hollow

The Sandman makes his appearance in episode three and is portrayed in a rather scary nature, as opposed to the mythical folklore character that brought good dreams to children as they slept. In this episode Abbie comes face to face with the Sandman and only after she admits seeing a demon in the woods when she was younger and not being afraid anymore is he destroyed. Fear can be a powerful motivator indeed and I’ll touch on character motivations in a later post.

As the season continues, what other creatures will we come across? What is it about suspense, thrillers and the supernatural that get people so interested? Thoughts on this and what characters/creatures should be featured next? Leave your comments below.