This is Halloween

[Jetthebinturong]

The month of the dead, undead and otherwordly is nearly upon us, on the 31^st serial killers, movie villains and miscellaneous other unsavoury characters will knock on your door and demand sweets and chocolate from you.

To commemorate the month of the skeleton war, I propose that we fill this thread with cool music videos we find of the song This is Halloween, originally from The Nightmare Before Christmas. I will of course post the original (and others)

[Cornflower MM]

I love The Nightmare Before Christmas!

Only good video I could find:

[Unimaginative]

This song is traditional in my house. At Halloween (we're one of those families that have ghouls in every window, a graveyard out front, creatures on the roof, and dramatic lighting everywhere.), we have a ton of versions of the song blaring through the neighborhood. It's great!

[The Skarzs]

Hmm, I remember seeing a Sonic the Hedgehog video with "This is Halloween" song.

Does anyone know the origin of the holiday of Halloween? (Not the celebratory stuff we do, but the name and date)

[Rusvul]

It's hidden somewhere in one of the deeper folds of my brain. I don't remember. All Hallow's Eve, day of the dead, something along those lines.

I'm not sure I'm going to actually dress like anything this year... And really, the only difference between how I'd dress and how I normally do would be that I would wear a neat shirt and strap a telescope-like object to my arm. And maybe that nice cape I have... I already wear goggles and a tunic-style belt everywhere I go...

Or maybe I'll just dye my hair green and splatter red paint/ketchup/tomato sauce on my face and upper chest, I dunno. Heh. That might be fun.

[The Skarzs]

It's All Hallow's Eve, or All Holies' Eve. It is the eve of All Saint's Day, November first. Halloween is All Soul's Day, the day for all dead.

Does anyone else not find skeletons scary at all? I think they are a beautiful thing.

[Jetthebinturong]

It depends on what the skeletons are from, real skeletons aren't scary but those in movies and TV can be.

Halloween comes from the pagan festival of... Samhain? Something like that, people used to give out cakes which were supposed to protect against spirits or something

[Rainshadow]

  What I've heard is that All Hallow's Eve was the day when the evil spirits roamed freely on the earth, so people would dress up in masks to disguise themselves so that the spirits wouldn't harm them.  Or something along those lines.  Iunno, I could be wrong.  That's just what I've heard.

[Jetthebinturong]

From Wikipedia:

"Historian Nicholas Rogers, exploring the origins of Halloween, notes that while "some folklorists have detected its origins in the Roman feast of Pomona, the goddess of fruits and seeds, or in the festival of the dead called Parentalia, it is more typically linked to the Celtic festival of Samhain", which comes from the Old Irish for "summer's end". Samhain (pronounced sah-win or sow-in) was the first and most important of the four quarter days in the medieval Gaelic calendar and was celebrated in Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man. It was held on or about 31 October – 1 November and kindred festivals were held at the same time of year by the Brittonic Celts; for example Calan Gaeaf (in Wales), Kalan Gwav (in Cornwall) and Kalan Goañv (in Brittany). Samhain and Calan Gaeaf are mentioned in some of the earliest Irish and Welsh literature. The names have been used by historians to refer to Celtic Halloween customs up until the 19th century, and are still the Gaelic and Welsh names for Halloween.

Samhain/Calan Gaeaf marked the end of the harvest season and beginning of winter or the 'darker half' of the year. Like Beltane/Calan Mai, it was seen as a liminal time, when the spirits or fairies (the Aos Sí) could more easily come into our world and were particularly active. Most scholars see the Aos Sí as "degraded versions of ancient gods [...] whose power remained active in the people's minds even after they had been officially replaced by later religious beliefs". The Aos Sí were both respected and feared, with individuals often invoking the protection of God when approaching their dwellings. At Samhain, it was believed that the Aos Sí needed to be propitiated to ensure that the people and their livestock survived the winter. Offerings of food and drink, or portions of the crops, were left for the Aos Sí. The souls of the dead were also said to revisit their homes. Places were set at the dinner table or by the fire to welcome them. The belief that the souls of the dead return home on one night or day of the year seems to have ancient origins and is found in many cultures throughout the world. In 19th century Ireland, "candles would be lit and prayers formally offered for the souls of the dead. After this the eating, drinking, and games would begin". Throughout the Gaelic and Welsh regions, the household festivities included rituals and games intended to divine one's future, especially regarding death and marriage. Nuts and apples were often used in these divination rituals. Special bonfires were lit and there were rituals involving them. Their flames, smoke and ashes were deemed to have protective and cleansing powers, and were also used for divination. It is suggested that the fires were a kind of imitative or sympathetic magic – they mimicked the Sun, helping the "powers of growth" and holding back the decay and darkness of winter. Christian minister Eddie J. Smith suggests that the bonfires were also used to scare witches of "their awaiting punishment in hell".

In modern Ireland, Scotland, Mann and Wales, the festival included mumming and guising, the latter of which goes back at least as far as the 16th century. This involved people going house-to-house in costume (or in disguise), usually reciting verses or songs in exchange for food. It may have come from the Christian custom of souling (see below) or it may have a Gaelic folk origin, with the costumes being a means of imitating, or disguising oneself from, the Aos Sí. In Scotland, youths went house-to-house on 31 October with masked, painted or blackened faces, often threatening to do mischief if they were not welcomed. F. Marian McNeill suggests the ancient festival included people in costume representing the spirits, and that faces were marked (or blackened) with ashes taken from the sacred bonfire. In parts of Wales, men went about dressed as fearsome beings called gwrachod. In the late 19th and early 20th century, young people in Glamorgan and Orkney dressed as the opposite gender. In parts of southern Ireland, the guisers included a hobby horse. A man dressed as a Láir Bhán (white mare) led youths house-to-house reciting verses—some of which had pagan overtones—in exchange for food. If the household donated food it could expect good fortune from the 'Muck Olla'; not doing so would bring misfortune."

[The Skarzs]

Interesting.

I haven't been trick-or-treating for four years.

[The Mask]

Yeesh. The AOT one...

[The Skarzs]

AOT?

[The Mask]

Attack on Titan.

[BadgerLordFiredrake]

Yeesh. The AOT one...

well now I won't sleep @_@

[Rusvul]

Gore?

EDIT: