If you don’t have time to read a book about Halloween for your research paper or for your own curiosity, I recommend you watch this documentary about it, The Haunted History of Halloween, produced for the History Television Network by Jeff Swimmer in 1997. The DVD is 50 minutes long according to its packaging. If you plan to stop and reverse the documentary to write notes, it will take much longer to watch from beginning to end.
The Haunted History of Halloween DVD contains an abundance of historical dates and names to reference in your research paper. Even if your interest is not academic, the documentary will entertain and educate with historical and recent film footage mixed in with expert testimonies. The documentary will explain where Americans obtained their Halloween rituals and beliefs. For example, American Halloween inherited costuming, parading, ghost stories, and divination on Halloween from the Samhain Night, practiced by the Celts of Ireland. From the Roman festival of Pomona, American Halloween inherited apple-bobbing. Based on my notes from the documentary, it is unclear whether Romans practiced apple-bobbing at the Pomona festival; however, it is clear that the apple was featured as a symbol at the festival for the goddess, Pomona. From Christians, who forced their religion on pagans in Europe, American Halloween inherited the word Halloween and the symbols of the bats, owls, black cats, and witches, who were presumed to be old, ugly, and female. There are other details, explanations, and fusions of traditions discussed in the documentary such as The Day of the Dead in Mexico and Guy Fox Night in England.
From the documentary, you will learn about the City of Anoka, Minnesota, which declared itself “the Halloween capital of the world.” It was one of the first cities to sponsor Halloween events to curtail the pranks and vandalism committed by children. Hyperlinks have been provided below for you to learn more about Anoka, Minnesota. Anoka is not the first place to practice Halloween in the United States. Virginia colonists celebrated Halloween with divination games, ghost stories, and parties for adults. Children took over American Halloween in the 1950s and 1960s. Those children grew up and adult-centered Halloween events returned in the 1970s through the 1990s.
If you are a student, writing a paper about the relationship between pagan religions and Christianity, I recommend your borrowing The Haunted History of Halloween DVD from your local library to get you started with your research paper. I am sure 50 minutes’ worth of information will not contain all details about the origins of Halloween, but this documentary will get you started on your research paper with a geography, cultural groups, historic individuals, and key dates of events that changed Halloween over time.
Reference
The Haunted History of Halloween. Produced by History Television Network. Produced and written by Jeff Swimmer. A&E Television Networks, 2005, copyrighted 1997. DVD, color, black & white, 50 min.
Links:
The Haunted History of Halloween at Amazon.com
The Haunted History of Halloween at Barnes & Noble
Anoka Halloween for Anoka, Minnesota
Anoka, Minnesota: The Halloween Capital of the World at America’s Library
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