Halloween Fun Facts Halloween From A to Z

[icymist]

by Zachary Burns

The Artvoice guide to Halloween From A to Z: 26 little known tidbits about the dark day.

ApplesUrban legends have long existed of apples laced with pins, razor blades, and other stomach-mangling shrapnel being handed out to unsuspecting trick-or-treaters. Prior to 2000, you would have been branded an idiot for believing anything so blatantly paranoid. That was before Joseph James Smith was charged with altering a substance with intent to cause harm for giving Snickers bars packed with needles to Minneapolis children. Luckily, in this case no one was seriously injured. As for apples, the real threat is probably to the homeowner himself for giving out fruit to sugar-dependent children on a night wrought with wanton mischief. Hope your siding is egg-proof.

BlackfaceA lot of white guys out there are going to think they can pull off the Obama or Kanye West costume this year. Inevitably some will even go as far as to color their skin to achieve the desired effect. Don’t do it. Just don’t. Seriously. That shit will be posted on Facebook and you will look like a titanic jackass to all your friends and acquaintances. If you’re worried about looking like just another white guy in a business suit, wear a freakin’ name tag.

CoulorphobiaA very real and actually quite common disorder entailing a fear of clowns. You could blame the horror world for distorting a once-innocent children’s icon into a malevolent monster (Stephen King, we’re looking in your direction), or you could look at the real world. Serial killer John Wayne Gacy, above, a twisted sadist who murdered 33 men during the 1970s, entertained at neighborhood parties under the moniker “Pogo the Clown.” Can’t sleep. Clown will eat me.
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[winyanstaz]

1. I enjoyed this post...

However I was dismayed to hear a city in the state I live in abolished halloween (Puyallup) with the half-assed explanation that it "Might insult the Wiccans". I have known many a Wiccan in my day and I don't know a single one that would have been insulted. sheesh..I think that was a Christian excuse to do away with the holiday myself. :P