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Halloween.

The holiday of mischief and mayhem.

A night to stock up on candy,

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and become anyone
or anything you want to be.

This was the best night of my life.

But this holiday was born
out of darkness.

At Halloween, the spirit world
is reaching closer to us.

A time to celebrate the dead.

Halloween is the night
where the dead can freely interact

with the living.

Halloween unleashes
our deepest fears.

When are you more alive
than when you're afraid?

But beware the dark side.

Fires broke out across the city
on the night before Halloween.

I had nothing to do
with my son's death.

Because this is the true story
of Halloween.

Halloween is a multi-billion dollar
industry of candy,

costumes,

and trick or treating.

The second most popular holiday
in America, after Christmas.

But to the countless who celebrate
around the world,

it's much more than sweets
and dressing up.

Trick or treat.

It is a holiday
steeped in nostalgia.

When we were younger, you know,
you didn't go on the streets

until it turned dark

and it became a search for candy,
and it was just phenomenal.

I think there's
something about fall.

The leaves start changing.

It gets dark earlier.

The air starts to get kind of crisp.

It takes us back to our childhood,

and we feel
a little more vulnerable,

and we have this interest
in, in ghosts and spooky things.

Halloween is a time where,
the mystical and the strange

can, can sort of enter
your life a little bit

and you can start thinking about
the weirder things of the world.

Who doesn't like Halloween?

Everybody loves Halloween.

You get to dress up,

be whoever you want to,
and then get free candy.

Sign me up every day of the year.

But its playful appearance
belies another truth.

This holiday started
as something much darker.

What we now call Halloween

was created in the shadows
of a mystical time 2,000 years ago,

in ancient Ireland.

Every year,
ethereal creatures of the night

became frighteningly real...

..during the Celtic festival
of the Samhain.

Samhain meant summer's end.

And that's exactly what it was.

It was the time of year

when Celtic tribes would bring
their herds back from pasture

for wintering.

It was on the edge of going
into the dark, dangerous season.

Cold, scarcity of food.

Anything could happen in the winter.

And so, you gathered together
one last time.

This time was the beginning
of the 'dark half' of the year,

a time of danger,
when evil was present.

The dark half is when the dead

are particularly powerful.

And so, either Samhain or Halloween

is the night where the dead
can freely interact

with the realm of the living.

During the Samhain,

the Celtic Druids
dressed in gruesome costumes

and gathered around massive bonfires,

where they offered sacrifices
to appease the haunting spirits.

Samhain was also a time for them

when the barriers between worlds
were at their thinnest,

and they thought that things could
cross over from the other world.

Of all the creatures that stalked
the Irish peasants on Samhain,

one stood out as the most wicked
and feared of all,

the 'She'.

They believed in very malicious
fairies called the 'She',

and the 'She' could cross over
on Samhain night

and they would wreck all kinds
of terrible havoc.

They might set a palace on fire.

Or bring a corpse back to life.

They were genuinely very frightened
on the 'She' on Samhain.

The 'She' were once Angeles
cast out as punishment for pride.

They could appear
as beautiful maidens,

tempting men to sin
with their enchanting voices.

They feared the evil 'She'.

But they also tried to communicate
with the souls of their loved ones.

And foretell the future.

It was also believed
that you could access information

from the spirit world.

They would try to see visions
of what might happen.

And that was critical to the safety
of the tribe.

They needed to know what was ahead.

These customs endured for generations
until the medieval Catholic Church

wanted to Christianise
Samhain rituals.

The idea that you can speak
to the dead

and they can help you,

and you can get insight
into the future

doesn't really line up
with Christianity's teachings

about how the souls of the dead
are supposed to work.

Church leaders tried to blend
Samhain with All Hallows' Day,

a Christian festival honouring
saints.

By moving it to 1 November,
the day after Samhain,

a new holiday was born.

In time, All Hallow's Eve
becomes Hallowe'en.

By the mid-19th century,

Halloween migrated
to the United States,

along with millions of
Irish and Scottish refugees

of the Great Potato Famine.

Americans openly welcome
the imported holiday.

Its roots in obsession
with the spirit world

appealed to a country overwhelmed
with the death and suffering

of the Civil War.

There were so many dead, lost,
unidentified people in that war.

Americans were desperate to know,

"Where's my son?

"Where's my father?
Is my brother coming back?

"Is he dead?
Is he missing?"

There was a huge unease,

and it was a time
when we as a culture

got extremely interested
in ghosts...

..and in telling the future.

Seances came up at this time.

We wanted to know.

And this holiday that involves
dead spirits

were something that
they just fell in love with.

Today, Samhain traditions
have been revived.

Festivals and bonfires
pay tribute to the Celtic rituals

that gave birth to Halloween.

Revellers in Edinburgh, Scotland,

hold a spectacular
fire festival parade every year.

Ghoulish, costumed dancers evoke
a battle between summer and winter,

the light and the dark.

These modern celebrations

channel the same fear of the unknown
as our ancestors.

Halloween has a connection
to the spirit world

because for the past 2,000 years,

we've been thinking about the dead
at this time of year.

There's a sense that
the other world is present

and things are not all normal.

And basically, it's a warning.

Stay close, don't go into the dark.

Gather around, build a fire,
tell a few stories

and let's hunker down
for the winter.

Be careful.

Like the ancient Celts,

many still believe the veil
between the living and the dead

is thin on Halloween.

I think the veil
is a bit thinner that night.

And I've investigated on Halloween.

I've held seances in haunted places

to see if we could communicate
with the dead a little bit easier.

And, I've had crazy things happen.

A lot of people who may not
give it a lot of thought

tend to think about
ghosts and spirits more at Halloween

because that's kind of
what Halloween is all about.

When people discuss how the veil
thins right around Halloween,

there are so many more people

keyed into life, death

and the afterlife in October

that we seem to be
opening that portal.

We seem to be thinning that veil.

These thoughts of the supernatural
fuel the imagination.

I grew up in Muscle Shoals, Alabama,

and like six houses down,
there was this lady

and she used to decorate
the inside of her house

really creepy and very witchy.

But I thought she was a witch,

and she would let you
come in the house,

and stand in this big entryway
in this old staircase.

And then she would leave up
the stairs to get the candy

and leave you alone to like
think about what's happening.

So, as a kid, it is so exciting
because you're like,

"Do I leave, do I run?"

I have never forgotten her.

People like that
make Halloween spectacular.

Halloween is the one time of year
we confront the darkness

and not just earthly danger.

Many parents
are growing more concerned

about the treats their children
might be getting this Halloween.

The night before Halloween used
to be a time for harmless pranks.

The people that are scared of it,

well, it's like,
well, yeah, you should be scared.

That's part of the point
of Halloween.

This shared fear of a deeper,
supernatural evil

is the heart of almost every
Halloween tradition.

This is the day
when you get to be scared.

You get to worry about ghosts
or witches or see the future.

All of the marvellous,
spooky sort of stuff

that we don't get to do
in our everyday, ordinary lives.

This is the time that everybody
can all be a part of one thing.

And that's being a part
of this fun of Halloween

and enjoying the scares

because really, when are you more
alive than when you're afraid?

We've created an amazing array of
traditions to ward off the darkness.

For almost all of them
we wear costumes.

But why?

Evil is all around us at Halloween.

What better way to face our fears
than to blend in

and become something monstrous
ourselves?

Halloween is the one day of the year
we can reach deep inside,

and transform into something
totally different.

Demons...

..superheroes...

..cartoons...

..or monsters.

I'm a big fan of
the 'Phantom of the Opera'.

My dad got me
the old 1920 silent film,

and I'm obsessed with that film.

That's my favourite film.

I just love that look,
the 'Phantom of the Opera',

the mask, mysterious, you know,
the hat, the cape, everything.

I was that for maybe
four or five years straight,

and I was just walking around,
creeping people out.

It was fun, it's Halloween.

What's behind our desire
to become someone else,

even something horrifying,
on Halloween?

The truth may frighten you.

It was commonly believed
that ghoulish spirits

roamed the Earth
on All Hallow's Eve.

Costuming may have started
when people went door-to-door,

disguised as these evil beings,
to receive offerings on their behalf.

People also wore disguises
as protection.

It was believed that you dress up

on these nights to create

this affront to the dark side,

so that they would

stay away from you.

As the centuries passed,

the old folk beliefs
in the spirit world faded.

but the costumes remained
and combined with other traditions.

Masking was part of disguised
begging back in Europe.

The idea was to disguise yourself,

so nobody knew who you were

when you came out

and banged on someone's door.

And so, these people
would come very often

dressed in traditional costumes
that they would make,

spooky costumes

representing the other world

or the somewhat monstrous

or what have you.

When modern Halloween traditions
began to emerge,

this desire to disguise ourselves

as something strange, powerful,
and evil was familiar.

Halloween was really just
the beginning of the social season

where people put on fancy dress
and went out to balls

and masquerades and clubs.

Masks were a big part of that

and the mystery of, "Who am I?"
Was a big part of that.

The earliest masks
would have been handmade.

They would have been made
out of cotton or muslin

and shaped like a face
or a devil or a witch or something.

Of course, the classic costume

of just cutting
some holes in a sheet,

putting it over your head
and you're a ghost.

To our eyes
these early Halloween costumes

are the stuff of nightmares.

As Halloween
grew in popularity though,

the handmade,
nightmarish costumes of the past

gave way to off-the-shelf
merchandise.

There was money to be made

and yet people still wanted
to channel the dark side

with their costume.

But once people figured out
that there was a market in this,

some of these paper companies
started establishing

what American Halloween costumes
should look like.

The first, store-bought costumes

drew inspiration from the world
of spirits and monsters,

evil witches and ghosts.

Anything that was taboo
in normal society.

Halloween is always
a little bit edgy

and some of its core costumes
are people on the edge.

At one point in our culture,

it might've been
what we call hobos or tramps

or gypsies...

..pirates, outlaws.

The whole idea of being
outside of our everyday life

is great as far
as Halloween costumes go,

and it's something that
you can see through time.

One of the main companies that drove
the commercialisation of Halloween

was the
Dennison Manufacturing Company.

They churned out paper costumes
that depicted classic characters

along with stars from the radio
and comic books.

Dennison released 'Bogie Books',

a kind of how-to guide
for celebrating Halloween.

What's great about them
is they have extensive,

beautiful graphics,

and we can now look back
at those 'Bogie books'

and see exactly how people
were celebrating Halloween

in like the 1910s and '20s.

They tell you
how to throw the parties

how to hold
the fortune-telling games,

how to make some really
basic costumes,

how to decorate your house.

When we started to get Halloween
decorations mass-produced,

the colours started to settle
on orange and black.

And people will say it symbolises
fire and night, or leaves and death.

I've heard many things,
but definitely opposites.

In the 1940s and 50s,

fairy tale characters
and cowboys became popular.

That's where you see the companies
like Ben Cooper and Collegeville

coming out with these
great plastic masks

and our rayon suit of some sort

that were usually modelled
after licenced characters

like Disney or cartoons
that the kids would have seen,

or famous people in culture.

When you're a kid in the '50s,

people don't ask you,
"What are you going to wear?"

They asked you,
"Who are you going to be?"

Because you could be
any one of those people.

Once television truly conquers
America in the 1960s,

pop culture takes over.

By the 1970s and '80s, and beyond,

it's rare to see a costume
that doesn't reference a movie

or a television show.

What's hot in this year's
Halloween costumes?

Those California raisins
of commercial fame,

also Spuds McKenzie,
Reagans are still popular,

so are Jim and Tammy Faye Baker.

Hulk Hogan, George Bush, and the
usual assortment of scary monsters.

I just remember growing up,

always being fascinated
with comic books and superheroes,

so dressing up like Spiderman
and these different things.

Do kids still get dressed up
for Halloween?

Yeah, it's fun.

My brother who was obsessed
with Darth Vader,

so he got the actual plastic helmet

and my brother just has like

a black bed sheet

and a black t-shirt

with scribbled buttons on it.

I really loved those old costumes
that you would get in a box

with the plastic helmet.

And then it was just like a bib,
like a lobster bib at a restaurant.

It was a flat plastic mask
with a small rubber band,

and you'd pray that it would make it
through the night.

Most likely, it didn't.

And the costumes were pretty much
a one-shot one wear.

You come home that night,
take them off,

and they were never to be worn again
because they'd fallen apart.

Most no longer fear evil spirits
in the dark around Halloween

but the desire
to disguise ourselves remains.

I was a very morbid child,

so, I always did something
really spooky.

Like I was a kindergartener

dressed up as a zombie with like
blood coming out of my mouth.

I think I really liked
painting my face

and having blood,
like there had to be blood.

Being a vampire
was the coolest thing

because I could like
paint my face all white

and like try to scare people.

I was a vampire
for many, many years.

I'm a devil.

Wanna go to hell?

80s zombie.

I'm Robin Hood, man, I take from
the rich and I give to the poor!

From witches to devils and demons,

to psychotic killers
from horror movies,

Halloween lets us explore
the dark side.

Halloween gives us all that moment
to step away from who we are

and be a little bit of
what we wish we were,

or want to be.

For that one brief moment in time

and the next year you could be
somebody totally new

and reinvent yourself.

Every year, Halloween costumes
give us the opportunity

to be anyone or anything.

And sweet treats wait for some
who venture out on All Hallow's Eve.

But this delicious tradition
like most things Halloween

did not start
with wholesome intentions.

It was born of desperation

to escape Halloween's own
special brand of Hell.

Trick or treating
is a wholesome tradition

but it came about to solve
a very troublesome problem.

In the 1930s, when modern
trick-or-treating appeared,

adults faced some serious threats
to public order.

Roaming bands of rambunctious youths
raised hell on Halloween.

There was a lot of mischief
associated with Halloween.

This was not new.

There was mischief associated
with this time of year

in the old countries

and certainly in this country,
well before the 20th century.

Under the cover of darkness
of the fall, things happened.

And when you have this holiday
where the spirits are out,

many more things happened.

Young kids would pull tricks
at this time.

The mischief got to be known
more as vandalism,

as the decades wore on.

The pranks were crazy.

I have a postcard from a small,
I think it's Iowa town, in 1910.

It's the morning after Halloween
and the entire front main street

is covered with things
that these kids have moved.

Carriages, bathtubs, outhouses,

and the kids are all sitting on top
of this stuff.

During the Great Depression,

the cauldron of mischief takes
a dark and sometimes deadly turn.

While many cities consider
outlawing Halloween,

some residents try to save
the holiday with a clever ploy.

Bribing the tricksters
with treats.

They drew inspiration from earlier
religious traditions.

Especially the practice of souling.

Souling
was an interesting tradition

that actually is connected
to All Souls Day.

Part of the belief
with All Souls Day

was that your loved ones
may be trapped in purgatory

and were unable to move on.

And so, you would offer prayers
to your loved ones

to help them move on up to heaven.

And souling became a thing
where beggars and kids

would go from house to house,
and they would say,

"If you give me a cake or a treat,

"I will offer up a prayer
for your loved one."

The small, round cakes given out
came to be known as 'soul cakes'.

With souling as a model,

treats are given out
at Halloween costume parties

in hopes of curbing kids' urge
to cause mayhem.

The idea of buying the kids off
was brilliant.

It worked.

Kids came to depend much more,
of course, on the parties,

and the costuming, and the candies
than they did in the pranking.

Every kind of organisation
threw a Halloween party for kids

and tried to curtail what was
going on outside in the dark.

While parties curb
some of the mischief,

kids continue
sneaking door-to-door in the dark

threatening to play tricks.

This was actually what eventually
evolved into trick or treat,

because the parties and all of those
tactics didn't entirely work.

There was still
a little bit of mischief,

and it was when the homeowner
took up the effort

that it actually did start to work.

Since kids are out,
since they're ringing your doorbell,

since they're banging on your door
anyway, have something for them.

As America eases out
of the Great Depression,

the custom of handing out goodies
gains widespread acceptance.

In the 1940s and '50s,

trick or treating takes off and
becomes a coast-to-coast tradition.

Neither rain nor snow will keep
kids from their candy.

I grew up in Colorado in Denver,
and it could get quite cold,

so Halloween could get spoiled
relatively easily

with a snowfall or two.

But it doesn't matter.

We'd still trudge out there
in the middle of winter

and go door to door and try to get
as much candy as we could.

I think I remember one year,
I dressed up as Huck Finn

and I was like, "I'm going to go
barefoot like Huck Finn."

And my mum was like,
"What the hell are you doing?"

I went around like a few blocks.

I think I almost got frost bite.

They almost had to saw off
a few toes.

But, hey, I was committed
to my outfit.

As the popularity
of trick-or-treating soared

in the middle of the 20th century,
candy companies got on board.

The candy companies also realised

that there was
a tremendous market here,

that they could have a candy

marketed specifically

for trick or treat sweets.

And so, candy companies
started making spooky candies,

and candy specifically
for this holiday.

This sort of Halloween candy
helped establish trick or treating

as a child-friendly activity
for children.

Trick or treat!

It's kids! Hundreds of 'em!
What do we do?

Give them Tootsie Rolls.

But there are so many kids
out there.

And there's so many Tootsie Rolls
in this Halloween package.

All of a sudden, we've got kids,

we've got suburbs,
we've got candy manufacturers,

and we've got a good reason for them
to be going house to house.

And that's where Halloween
is trick or treat,

really coast to coast.

With a little help
from candy companies,

Halloween made
trick-or-treating a fall fixture.

Our parents were like,
"OK, peace out,

"you're going to go trick
or treating all by yourself."

And it was just this fun,
wild night

where we got to be out
after dark and go trick or treating.

And you feel very free,
but it's also a little spooky.

Halloween was great because
it was a time that I had mapped out.

I grabbed my pillowcase,
grabbed my costume,

grabbed my buddies and we went
to the furthest edges of town.

So, we could work our way
from the far end of town

all the way back home.

And of course,
the secret was always

carrying a second pillowcase
in the back holster

just in case you filled up
the first one.

Today, over 40 million kids take part
and parents often join the fun.

The idea was to get as much candy
as humanly possible.

So, we all had pillowcases.

I take my kids out now,
I don't see any pillowcases.

I just see the little
plastic pumpkins.

I'm like, "You can't get
too much candy in there."

When it comes to trick or treating,

every kid develops a sixth sense
for where to find the best candy.

Kinda gotta plan your route.

It's strategic.

And so, I did that.

I knew the good houses,
I'd skip the bad houses.

You know, I was raised
by a single mother,

so my mum was smart.

She would take us
to rich neighbourhoods, you know.

Our neighbourhood got me a little
couple snicker bars here and there,

the fun size.

They didn't give you the large ones

until you go
to the nice neighbourhoods,

then they give you the full candy.

And that's what we used to do.

At the end of the evening,

Halloween turns into
a high stakes game

as the candy trading begins.

You dump your bag on the ground
and you start sorting it all

because you've got to go,

"Alright, how many Kit-Kats
do I have?

"How many Snickers do I have?

"Alright, I got ten Snickers,
only five Kit-Kats.

"Let's trade a couple Snickers
and get some more Kit-Kats."

"Oh, do you want a Snickers?"

"No, I'll take your M and M's
and you can have this."

Clearly, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups
were the hottest commodity.

And then you start eating it,

and you don't even care
about a stomach-ache at all.

'Cause you're just chowing down.

And then, all of a sudden,

you hit this super high,
and then you just crash.

And you want to stay up all night
but it's really hard to

when you just downed
a ton of candy bars.

Halloween has a reputation
as a carefree night

for children of all ages.

Trick or treat!

But in the 1970s and '80s...

..the holiday faced crisis

when a series of sensational
media stories caused mass panic.

All during the Halloween weekend

police across the state
received reports

of candy containing
dangerous objects.

Candy given out by strangers
was no longer safe.

It could contain poison,
razor blades,

needles, even broken glass.

Many parents are growing
more concerned about the treats

their children might be getting
this Halloween.

Police in New York are warning
people buying Halloween treats

to check their purchases carefully.

Straight pins were found in candy
from four Long Island stores.

I remember getting home
from trick or treating on Halloween

and my mother,
based on the news reports

that someone's putting razor blades
in the candy,

started to take a Snickers bar
and start cutting it in slices.

There might be things in the candy.

So, break open candy bars
before you eat them.

I think it was my dad was like,
"What are you doing? They're fine."

But I think these reports
were coming out

that this really happened.

The panic started with a real case.

A shocking story the media dubbed
the 'Candy Man Murder'.

In 1974,
eight-year-old Timothy O'Bryan,

of Pasadena, Texas,
died of poisoning on Halloween night.

Even more horrific,

the boy's father, Ronald O'Bryan,

was arrested and put on trial
for the crime.

Most of today's testimony
came from Jimmy Bates,

a close friend
of the O'Bryan family.

Bates said O'Bryan went to one house
where no one appeared to be home

and after the children had scampered
ahead to the next house,

O'Bryan came off the front porch
carrying the pixie sticks.

Later that night,

Timothy O'Bryan died
from eating a poisoned pixie stick.

Ronald O'Bryan was convicted
of killing his son

and sentenced to death.

The state of Texas executed him
by lethal injection

setting off another wave
of publicity surrounding the case.

It became a very famous case.

And after that, people were
in an absolute panic

thinking that there were
anonymous psychos out there

tampering with their
children's treats.

The paranoia only accelerates in 1982

when a series of murders in
Chicago, Illinois,

make national news.

Tylenol capsules were removed
from the market

after seven deaths
were reported in the Chicago area.

In 1982, a number of Tylenol bottles
were tampered with in Chicago

and people died.

They did not find who did it
by the time Halloween happened.

And as a result, there was a culture
of fear around Halloween.

Towns and cities stopped allowing
people to trick or treat that year.

Halloween is on Sunday,
and there's a spreading fear

that this year
the real Halloween scare

will be many more cases
of contaminated treats.

Halloween candy sales at this
Minneapolis supermarket

are down 10-15%.

A lot of people say they won't give
out candy treats on Halloween.

It's too dangerous,
and they're too scared.

I think it's a very sad situation.

With concerns about copycat crimes,

the tainted candy
and product tampering scare

threatens to end
trick-or-treating forever.

Officials all over the country

are emphasising when in doubt,
throw it out.

I remember seeing it on the news

where we all had to be careful

because there were people putting
razor blades in the candy.

So, I remember having to dump out
all of my candy.

My mum had to check all of my candy.

It was a really scary time for us.

In reality,
what we had were isolated cases

that were far from anonymous.

We knew exactly who had done
these things and why,

but it caught on
in people's minds.

The razorblade thing
didn't alter my view of Halloween,

but I just remember it
being something

that we all had to be careful of
because it was happening.

In time, the panic dissipates,
and Halloween survives the ordeal.

But the mass hysteria leaves
an indelible mark on our culture.

Urban legends of tainted treats
still sweep through communities

along with growing alarm
over stranger danger.

Some parents never shake the feeling

that a real monster could be lurking
in the shadows on Halloween.

There would also be stories where
crimes were happening in the area,

and it was tied
to closer to Halloween.

They told you to be more careful

and to keep your kids closer

because, you know,
something bad could happen.

We have that phrase,
"Never take candy from strangers."

OK, so around comes Halloween
and what do we tell kids?

Hell, go take candy from strangers.

Trick or treat!

Trick or treat.

The real-world fears
of psychotic killers

stalking kids on Halloween
had another effect.

In the late '70s and into the '80s,
a bloody wave of terrifying films,

built on old Halloween obsessions,
took the country by storm.

I've been obsessed with
horror movies my entire life

and Halloween just fits into that.

You know, I remember
going trick or treating

and then going back to the house
and watching, you know, 'C.H.U.D.',

and all of these different movies
while I'm sifting through my candy,

and I still continue that tradition.

It's just the best thing ever
it really is.

In 1978, Halloween and Hollywood
cement a lifelong bond

after the release
of a low-budget thriller

cleverly named after the holiday.

'Halloween', by John Carpenter,

was originally called
'The Babysitter Murders'.

Fortunately, one of the producers
of the film was smart enough to go,

"You know, we could tie this
to that holiday,

"and I'll bet
it would be more successful,"

and was completely right.

That, of course,

is the movie that not only kind of
associated Halloween

and horror movies forever,

but also turned Halloween
really scary.

I think any movie that's scary
around Halloween, it works for me.

The movie 'Halloween' is amazing,

but I like the '80s movies
around Halloween.

'Nightmare on Elm street',
'Pet Cemetery'.

They're more like campy and fun.

I'm a 'Friday the 13th' girl though.

Part one's the best one.

Once I got old enough
to maybe watch real scary movies,

I started watching the classics
like all the slasher movies,

everything I got...

That's where I was exposed
to horror movies,

and that's where I found my love
for horror

and I still am obsessed with horror.

'Nightmare on Elm Street'.

That was the first movie
that actually terrified me.

And so, every Halloween,
I like to try to watch that movie

just to get back into the spirit
of being scared

and remember my childhood
a little bit.

Fans of horror
became fans of Halloween.

Adults found their way
into celebrating Halloween,

and older teenagers found their way
back into Halloween.

So, it actually increased

the celebration of Halloween
in America,

but it also changed the look
of Halloween

to become much more
visually dangerous.

A new generation
of Halloween costumes

are inspired by violent,
slasher films.

For me, it was always
the special makeup effects.

Ever since I can remember, you know,

having the eyes
dripping out of my head.

I couldn't wait to get everything

and, you know,
really make myself up every year.

Horror films revel in the mayhem
of Halloween but it's all for show.

What happens when the chaos
turns frighteningly real?

It was Devils Night last night in
Detroit the night before Halloween.

Could lawless Halloween revellers

plunge a major American city
into anarchy?

Halloween cooks up
delicious frights every year,

and while trick-or-treating
was meant to contain

kids' destructive impulses,

the mischievous spirit
never went away entirely.

What we'd do is we'd go T-ping,

which is when you grab
just like a toilet paper roll

and you unravel it a little bit,
that's the pro technique,

and then you just huck it as high
as you can up into the trees.

And the higher it is,
the better it is

because it's harder to get out.

And you don't TP like random
people's houses.

You go to your friend's house
and like TP them,

and then you tell them about it
'cause it's funny.

But like you never went to like,

try to make it like malicious
or try to be mean to someone.

We decided to egg our school.

And we ended up egging the windows
of our own classroom.

And we just thought
it was kinda funny.

And I remember going into school
that next morning

and the windows were just covered
so much that you couldn't see out.

I mean, the teacher knew it was us
because we were just laughing.

It didn't last long to find out
who were the culprits.

Rowdy kids have a reputation
for wild behaviour on Halloween.

But they're not the only ones
that pull pranks

and scare the living daylights
out of strangers.

It's funny, like most of my
Halloweens are spent scaring people,

I guess,
now that I'm thinking about it.

My dad is a prank guy
and he taught me young to do pranks.

The front of our house,

we had a scarecrow there
all year round

just sitting on the chair there.

And so we got a similar looking
outfit so it blended in.

And I was in the scarecrow
stuffed suit

and scared people
when they run up to the front door.

I did that for the whole night
of Halloween for one Halloween.

What I like to do
is just turn my yard into a show.

I got the lights
and the fog machines.

I tend to hide with the little
fog machine clicker

in my pocket and wait and time it

just as the kids come up
to the door, and I'll blast them.

They go crazy.

I did a really cool party one time,

and I built all these monsters

with actuation out of PVC and masks.

And I used timers
and I used motion sensors,

and the mechanism
from an oscillating fan

to move the heads

and created this big
out of it.

And I had a guy who was
in the bushes with a chainsaw

and he would scare everybody.

I used to deck up my house.

I would set up sheets
with rear-facing projector systems

and, and have scary things
moving on it.

At one point,
I created a false garage door,

and I had a rear projector system
shooting on a sheet,

which looked like the door,

and it would go off with a sensor as
kids were walking down the driveway.

My wife made me stop that
after the second year

because people would drive by
and purposefully avoid our house.

So, the wife made me stop doing that

so kids would feel safe and secure
enough to come up our driveway

and trick or treat.

In many parts of the country,

Halloween mischief is confined to a
specific night where youths run amok.

The night before Halloween

has often been called
Mischief Night, Cabbage Night,

Damage Night, Ticktack Night,
Devil's Night.

When I was growing up,
it was Doorbell Night,

and that's what we did.

We rang doorbells and ran away.

So, it depends on what area
of the country you're from,

what you call that night,

but it is the night
where you make mischief.

Over its long history,
Devil's Night represents rebellion,

when city youths pull petty pranks

like egging, or soaping houses
and cars.

But in the 1980s,

Devil's Night in Detroit, Michigan,
took on a much darker reputation.

Playful mischief
transformed into mayhem.

Halloween celebrations
were under siege by arsonists

and for a time,

many wondered if Halloween
should be cancelled entirely.

It was Devils Night
last night in Detroit,

the night before Halloween

used to be a time
for harmless pranks,

but no longer.

200 fires were set in the city.

When you think of Devil's Night,

you often think
of Detroit, Michigan,

which had a problem with arson
around Halloween,

and their Devil's Night
was especially powerful.

For several years,

residents felt like the city

was teetering on the edge
of total anarchy on Devil's Night.

Hundreds of fires were being set
all over the city,

and the authorities felt at times

powerless to stop it.

They basically called
for community support

to knock these practices out,
especially arson.

The authorities simply
couldn't keep up.

But the true spirit of Halloween
was resilient.

Brigades of volunteers
patrolled the streets of Detroit.

They were determined
to keep Halloween safe

and transform Devil's Night
into Angel's Night.

No arsonist will touch

this house.

My lamp will burn,

not my neighbourhood.

We'll keep an eye out for anyone
who doesn't belong.

Halloween will be safer
this year!

So, within a couple of years,

they had amassed volunteers

that would patrol the neighbourhoods
and keep a lookout.

Last year, the people of Detroit

made it clear through
their anti-arson efforts

that they would no longer tolerate

the senseless destruction
of our neighbourhoods.

Ten years later, they had
something like 50,000 volunteers,

which eventually did change
Devil's Night to Angel's Night.

Angel's Night brought the fires
under control in Detroit.

As we join together to keep
the Devil out of Devil's Night,

we are taking another step in making
Detroit a world class city.

Halloween survived the chaos
of Devil's Night.

But what kind of evil
truly lurks in the shadows?

Could Halloween open a portal

that allows ghosts, ghouls,

demons and devils to walk the Earth?

Halloween is terrifying
and mysterious,

a night when we hide
our true selves behind masks

and embrace the dark side.

It's a time of year
when the veil thins,

and a portal
to another world opens up.

The dead walk among us.

Could demons and devils
break into our world as well?

Does Halloween bring
the spirit world closer to us?

Does paranormal activity increase?

Common belief in the paranormal

that more activity happens

that night.

I have no proof of that,

but I wouldn't be surprised.

And I would actually love to go
to a haunted place on Halloween.

That might be maybe what I do
this next Halloween

and put it to the test.

But if any night
of the 365 days out of the year,

is going to be haunted,
it's going to be that night.

It's a scary time of year.

You've been told that's when

the veil is thinned,

and we're so much closer

to the other side,

so maybe it's just the intention

of millions of people and maybe even
billions of people

around the world focused

on the meaning of that day

and looking for it

so that these opportunist spirits

find a way to make
their presence known.

Chilling, paranormal encounters
on Halloween

are more common than you think.

And the sheer terror of them
can haunt a person for years.

It was probably 1977, 1978,

I grabbed my stuff.

I was on my way
to my buddy's house

to go for trick or treating.

And there was a house
that I passed by,

I noticed that there was a man
standing in the window

and he was just looking out.

And I took a few more steps,

and I turned back to look,
only now he was outside.

When I turned back,
he was in the middle of the yard

just standing there staring at me.

And at that point
I Scooby Doo-ed it.

Boom, I was out of there

running all the way
to my buddy's house.

I did find out that the father
had passed away in that house

a few years earlier on Christmas.

So, I don't know

if I was encountering
that as my first full on apparition,

but I have no idea

how this guy moved from inside
to outside,

to the middle of the yard
without making a sound.

Can we make contact with the spirits
of the dead on Halloween?

That notion would be put to the test

by someone who made a career
out of cheating death.

The great magician
and escape artist, Harry Houdini.

Harry Houdini
was a dynamic personality.

He was a man of great ego.

The man of great force.

Houdini was world famous
for his thrilling escapes

from straightjackets
suspended from skyscrapers.

Or sealed in water tanks.

Even being buried alive.

But on Halloween 1926,

death finally claimed Houdini.

Many wondered,

could the great Houdini
pull off the ultimate escape?

The renowned magician
would use Halloween

to test the limits
of the afterlife.

Harry Houdini had left instructions

to his widow

that she would hold a yearly seance

to try and contact him on Halloween.

He left a very specific passphrase

which supposedly only she knew.

Faithfully keeping her promise,

his wife Bess held a seance
on Halloween night, 1927.

It is a spirit
of Houdini we wish to contact.

Houdini, are you here?

But the great Houdini was silent.

For ten years, Bess tried
to reach her beloved husband.

In 1936, she tried one last time

atop the Knickerbocker Hotel
in Hollywood, California.

Mrs. Houdini, the ten years are up.

Have you reached a decision?

Yes. Houdini did not come through.

I do not believe that Houdini

can come back to me or to anyone.

Good night, Harry.

Since then,
others have tried diligently

to contact the famous magician,
especially around Halloween.

Every year Houdini's descendants
and his family members

still hold the seances.

And then, of course,
there are other groups

that continue to try
to contact Houdini

every Halloween as well.

Perhaps the great Houdini
is still out there

waiting for the right time

to reach across the veil

and touch the world of the living.

No one can be sure
how active the spirit world is

on All Hallow's Eve.

But one thing is certain,

some of our most cherished
Halloween traditions

are rooted in the paranormal.

For our ancestors,
the spirit world was very real.

They were celebrating it with a lot
of fortune-telling games,

and some of those
were incredibly macabre.

They were calling on the devil

to reveal the name
of their future husband or wife

or calling on various
sort of spirits and so forth

to help them discern the future.

There's a whole panoply
of different games

that would have been played
back in the day.

Bobbing for apples seems to be
a very, very old game.

We have a certainly medieval
descriptions of this.

It could well be going back
much, much further than that.

Apples would've been
a harvestable fruit

around this time period.

Some people have suggested
that that bobbing, you know,

having to go under the water
is in a sense,

a dipping into the other world
and then back again.

For your insight.

Certainly apples are associated
with the other world

in some these stories.

So we still see some of these themes

about the other world of the dead,
of the fairy folk.

Of these lines between the living
and dead being permeable.

And the realm of the dead

is being able
to foretell the future

even in something as simple
as a Bobbing for apples.

The face of Halloween itself,
the jack-o-lantern,

once had a paranormal purpose.

The first jack-o-lanterns
were far scarier

and carved into turnips.

You would hollow these little
scary looking faces out

and put candles in them

and put them in front of your door

to scare away

the spirits of the dead

so that they wouldn't be coming

in your house.

Jack-o-lanterns also have
this history

that goes along with the holiday.

The idea of Jack-o-lantern
or 'Jack of the lantern'

is where jack-o-lantern comes from.

A Jack was sort of a stock character

so there's many, many stories
involving Jack.

Very often he does things wrong.

One story that's been paid
to the idea of the jack-o-lantern

was Angry Jack, or Drunken Jack.

It's an interesting Irish story.

There's a guy who is
too fond of the bottle,

he's very frequently drunk,
causing trouble,

causing so much trouble
that the Devil gets jealous.

He's like, "Wow, this guy
is causing more trouble than I am."

So the Devil goes to try
and take him to Hell

but Drunken Jack
is able to outwit the Devil

through playing tricks on the Devil.

In the end the Devil agrees
to never take him to Hell.

Well of course, Drunken Jack

eventually gets old and dies

and he goes up to Heaven
and Heaven says,

"No, you've lived
this horrible life.

"We're not taking you."

And he goes down to Hell
and the Devil says,

"No, I made an agreement.
I'm not taking you."

And thus he is condemned
to roam our world,

lighting his way
with his little lantern.

We don't carve turnips anymore,
but pumpkins.

Something Irish immigrants
brought to America.

Pumpkin-carving has lost
its spiritual meaning

but it's become so much more.

During Halloween,

my family would always,

we always go to a pumpkin patch

and we'd pick out our pumpkin's

and go home and we carved them.

Of course, I would try to make mine

either really funny
or really scary.

Never really worked out.

It just, not very good at it.

I had this friend
in elementary school.

Her father was a farmer,

and every Halloween,
he would have a massive display

of pumpkin carvings,
but they were elaborate.

Amazing.

So we would drive out to the farm

and there would be
hundreds of pumpkins

lined up along the road.

They were just amazing carving

so that's one thing
I really found special

about Halloween.

Pumpkin carvings
attract onlookers and artists.

But the pumpkin itself
can be an invitation for mischief.

Smashing pumpkins was a big thing

when I was a kid on Halloween,

but looking back

now that I have a house and kids,

if anybody's smashed a pumpkin

on my driveway, I'd be pissed.

I mean, 'cause then
I gotta clean it up.

So, I regret sort of the mayhem

that I caused
when I was a teenager, I think.

Does Halloween mark the return
of restless spirits?

Or something far more sinister?

Are Satanic forces at work
on Halloween?

For me, Halloween
has always been tricky.

My mother has been
a pastor of a church

since I was in the third grade.

So I'm talking about
nondenominational Christian,

speaking in tongue, shouting,

Holy ghost-catching Southern church.

So we didn't celebrate Halloween.

My mother would never
let me trick or treat.

She would never let me dress up,
never decorated anything.

Halloween we would be in church
praising the Lord,

and not glorify what they thought
was the devil in Halloween.

I think for me in my upbringing,

you didn't mess with
the demonic energies.

You didn't mess with ghosts,
you didn't mess with spirits.

We would shy away
from the name Halloween

because of me growing up

in a religious household.

And we were always told

it's demonic.

Religious fears of devil worship
at Halloween are centuries old.

In Scotland,

around the 1500s and 1600s,

they were extremely obsessed
with witchcraft and witches.

For the Scots,
witches were frightening.

They had made a pact with the devil,

and this was all something
that needed to be eradicated.

So when the Scots began
to write about Halloween,

it always had witchcraft in it.

Fear of witches and the diabolical

were burned into American culture
from its earliest days.

No town knows this better
than Salem, Massachusetts.

In the winter of 1692,

this superstitious settlement
of 2,000 souls

nearly destroyed itself

when three women were first accused
of witchcraft.

Tell how you suckle the snake!

Tell, tell, tell, tell!

You are liars!

Accusations turned into mass hysteria

and 200 people
were accused of witchcraft.

Do the condemned wish to speak?

I'm innocent!

14 women and six men were executed.

Even a dog was killed
for being in league with the Devil.

The panic ended when
the Governor of Massachusetts' wife

was accused of being a witch.

But the fear of witchcraft
and the Devil

is still a potent force,

especially around Halloween.

Many churches are so fearful
of demonic influence

they've created
alternatives to Halloween.

All over America, children attend
'Hallelujah Nights'.

'Hallelujah Night' for me,
we would get together with friends.

Go to different booths
in like a church parking lot

and pick up some candy

with a Bible verse attached
to the trick or treat bags.

We still get candy.

We'd still hang out with the kids,

they felt like it was
a lot safer to be in church

than it would be on the streets.

Most church groups provide simple,

family friendly alternatives
to the holiday.

But a few churches
have taken it a step further

and ignited controversy

when they embrace the dark
and deeply offensive.

It's a haunted house,

the likes of which
you've never seen before.

And it's playing
to standing room only.

In recent decades,

some churches have opened
'Hell Houses' on Halloween.

A Pentecostal congregation
in suburban Denver

is delivering its version
of a Halloween Hell House.

Somebody call the hospital, please.

The Hell House plays on fear
of Satanic powers

and eternal damnation.

To this day,

Hell Houses are a fixture

in some parts of the country
around Halloween.

But religious alternatives
to Halloween traditions

have never been broadly accepted.

And many kids forbidden
from celebrating,

find creative ways
to bend the rules.

The worst part was going to school

and they would allow kids
in elementary

to dress up in Halloween costumes.

But, then I got smart,

and I say maybe about
the 4th, 5th, 6th grade,

the rap group Kris Kross came out,

and their whole thing was

they wore their clothes backwards.

So I would leave to go to school
with my jeans on regular

and a baseball Jersey.

As soon as I got to school,

I would go in the bathroom

and I would turn
my clothes around backwards.

And when the teacher asked me
who was I, I was Kris Kross.

That was the only costume
I could get away with

because my mum never knew.

Many denied Halloween as children

find new meaning in the holiday
when they become parents.

Growing up, the way I did,

our family, it wasn't
in their belief system

to celebrate Halloween.

So growing up without it,

I think I missed it more while
it was happening, as a child.

As a grown up,

I am reliving it

and I get to see it all
happen right in front of me

and I get to live it
real time with my daughter.

Halloween takes on
a whole new meaning for me now

because I have kids.

I allow them to have as much fun
as possible on Halloween.

My parents on Halloween now,

they ask if my kids
have a good time,

but they always tell me,

"Well, remember the underlying
connotations of Halloween

"and what you were taught
growing up."

Even to this day,
they still hold to the belief

that Halloween could be dangerous
just celebrating it.

Despite the controversies,

the popularity of Halloween
continues to rise.

For many, the lure of the dark side
is irresistible.

Halloween means being able to

be somebody that

you're not normally.

Breaking outside of the box.

Is the rebellious reputation
of Halloween

powerful enough
to change an entire culture?

Have you ever seen
anything like this before?

Never! Never in my life.

What's so funny?

Nothing.

The Halloween parade is all about
the perfect photo-op for parents.

Race time.

OK, next time we check in,
we'll see Frankenstein.

A way to show off kids

and make that perfect
social media post.

Do I look like Frankenstein?
You look just like him.

Like a monster?

Every year, millions of people
take part

in some kind of Halloween parade.

Bye, dad.

Frankenstein.

Yeah.

But there's a deeper meaning
to the tradition.

Religious processions
are a part of many holidays.

But Halloween parades

took a devilish spin
on the ancient practice,

growing in popularity
through the 20th century

as the holiday caught on.

Halloween parades started
in the early 20th century

as a way that the whole town
could enjoy Halloween

and they've continued in
several cities across the country.

It's a great way
of including everyone

in a Halloween parade.

When Halloween was seen as dangerous
during the 80s and 90s,

neighbourhoods started throwing
their own Halloween parades

to keep kids on their street
and for the enjoyment of everybody,

even people who didn't
celebrate Halloween.

So it's a wonderful way
to come together

and be safe together

and exhibit together

because Halloween is really
an exhibitionist holiday.

As Halloween evolves,
some see an opportunity.

Could the freewheeling,
rebellious nature of Halloween

be used to ignite changes

in how society views itself
and what is accepted?

Parades were a perfect tool.

After the tumultuous 60s

and the second wave feminism
that happened in the 70s

and that general feeling of freedom
and expression in our culture,

it started to spill out
onto Halloween.

Have you ever seen
anything like this before?

Never! Never in my life.

Gay men in outrageous costume,

kind of pushing the envelope,
which became more and more popular.

Halloween parades were a way

for the gay community
to be visible in society

at a time when mainstream culture
pushed them to the margins.

In Halloween parades that
sprouted up all over the country,

they took the spotlight
and demanded recognition.

This is what happens
when Key West lets loose.

What you get is the Mardi Gras
of the bizarre.

The Fantasy Fest Halloween parade

is about as glittery
and flamboyant as you can get.

Thousands of costumed spectators
jam the streets

and tourists came
from as far away as Virginia.

Are you a little shocked at all
by some of this?

Yes, I am!

These parades may have shocked
the sensibilities of Middle America,

but in time,

they helped drive the country
toward greater acceptance

of the LGBTQIA community.

The widespread Pride parades
of today

have their roots
in Halloween parades of the 1980s.

The West Hollywood parade
in Los Angeles

is a famous Halloween parade.

People just fill the streets
and those costumes are crazy.

They're wild. It's fun.

I mean, you're really

just transported
to another place in time.

I'm completely naked!
I feel so underdressed.

One of my favourite memories
of Halloween

was when I marched in

the Greenwich Village
Halloween parade.

With 2 million people
on either side of me

and 40,000 to 60,000 behind me
in this parade.

I would say it was one of
the highlights of my life.

It was delightful.

Parades and street festivals

are not the only destinations
for Halloween revelry.

Sometimes, you just need
a good scare.

Why do so many people
look for new and creative ways

to scare themselves senseless
around Halloween?

Everyone loves to get scared.

I don't know why people
love it so much,

but even I love it.

It's like this natural
adrenaline rush

that you can't really
get anywhere else.

Here we go.

Why are we drawn
to things that scare us?

This is something
that's been in our culture,

this delight in being frightened

and it has just become
more and more sophisticated

as we do it in our own yards

and we pay to have ourselves scared.

Psychologists will say
that this is good for you.

When you know it's fake,

it helps you practice for being
frightened in real situations.

It makes you a warrior.

In my neighbourhood
when I was growing up,

there were a few houses

that really went all out,

and I remember this to this day,

I could not have been older

than like four or five

walking down
this really dark pathway

to the door to ring the doorbell.

And this guy was hiding

and he was reaching out

and grabbing at us as we walked by.

I had nightmares about that
for so long.

We're so eager
to scare ourselves on Halloween...

..we've created entire attractions

designed to throw us into the most

terrifying encounters imaginable.

Haunted houses feed our hunger
for blood-curdling scares.

They can be found
all over the country

and draw in millions
of visitors every year.

If you go through a haunted house

and you haven't had a few jumps,

you kind of feel cheated

by the whole situation.

Commercial haunted houses have
been around for at least a century.

And they've been refined
to the point

where many would describe them

as the closest thing
they will get to hell.

I investigate haunted houses.

And people are like,
"You like other haunted houses?"

I'm like,
"Yes, I love haunted houses

"and if you ever see me

"in one of those,

"I am like screaming,

"holding onto people

"'cause I know that

"I'm about to get scared."

They are amazing.

They play on your fears,

they make you scream,
you feel alive for a moment.

I did not see it coming.
I was like, ahh.

I started crying.

When Poison was on tour one time,

I went to this haunted house

at a fair that we played at

and the people recognise and said,

"Hey, we'll do a private tour?"

I said, "I don't want to do that.

"I want to be in the haunted house."

And they said,
"OK, you've got a job."

So they dress me up,

gave me a chainsaw, all this stuff.

And I spent a couple hours
scaring people.

It's scary.
Honestly horrifying.

Oh, my god.

Your worst nightmares
come to life.

Haunted houses are now
multi-million-dollar ventures.

There's somewhere around

5,000 of them in the United States
at any given time.

They've become
Hollywood sophisticated

in terms of their props,

and their animatronics,

and their actors
are gorgeously costumed

and hideously masked.

Somebody's dying tonight!

The bar has risen
for the haunted house industry.

This was the best night of my life.

These heart-pounding attractions
are no longer limited to houses,

and now crop up almost everywhere.

I grew up in upstate New York

and so of course,

we would hit a lot

of the haunted corn mazes.

A haunted corn maze is a cornfield
that has been cut out into a maze.

And, some of them can become
extremely incredible in size.

You could spend hours
in some of these.

But you just walk around

and you try to figure out
how to get out.

But during the time you're in there,

there's people dressed in costumes

hiding within the maze,
jumping out startling you.

Creepy corn mazes,

hellish hayrides,

spooky cruise ships...

Meet my friend.

..are just a few of the ways
we choose our frights.

And with all of these attractions,

there is plenty of opportunity
for those who do the scaring.

My mom would set up

a haunted trail every year

for our neighbourhood.

My buddy Tanner,
Chelsea, and Alex,

who are with me doing the show,
'Destination Fear',

would help set up
this Haunted Trail.

It was actually in woods

that the whole town
called the 'boogie woods'

because apparently before
we moved in there,

there was satanic rituals
in the woods.

And so my mom's like,

"Oh, let's do a haunted trail
in these woods for Halloween."

Dakota and Chelsea's family,

Alex's family, and my family

actually chopped this path
in the woods in their backyard.

We had like
eight different stations,

and everyone had their like thing

they're supposed to do
to freak everyone out.

I had a white mask on

standing next to a bunch of dolls
in white masks

doing like this, like sleeping.

And then when people walk by,
I would scare them.

Multiple times I remember like

actually terrifying many people

that would walk by.

'Cause they're not expecting it.

They see a dead body
laying on the ground

or fake dead body
laying on the ground.

But then a hand
comes out from behind it.

I was a hang-man at one year

where I got in a full climbers gear,

put a rope over a tree branch,

and was just like this hang-man,
that scared everybody.

There's all sorts of things,
you had like the standard gore mask,

those scary pumpkin people.
We had it all.

I don't know there's
something about it,

when you see someone freak out

and make a face that you've never
seen them make before,

you feel accomplished.

For decades,

Halloween has been
a child-friendly holiday

and fun for the whole family.

Grown-ups today have hijacked

what was supposed to be nice
and sometimes scary

celebration of childhood fantasies.

And turned this
ever-changing holiday

into something very, very naughty.

Happy Halloween.

Trick or treat!

Hey there.

Say thank you.

Thanks.

Halloween used to be
the one day of the year,

where kids dress up
as their favourite character,

stay up late,

and eat as much candy
as they desire.

But something truly scary happens
when those kids grow up.

One of the saddest
moments of my life

was realising that maybe

I'm a little old
to go trick or treating.

Maybe there is like an age

where you shouldn't trick or treat.

It's so sad because you're like,
"What?"

I would say keep going

until you get the weird looks.

Happy Halloween.

But at the same time,

I don't really feel like you should
put an age restriction on it.

Denied the joy of trick-or-treating,

these kids-turned-adults
can't let go of Halloween.

Halloween to my generation

was still huge,

and now it's all those kids

have grown up into adults

and we're still partying

for Halloween.

Now we just have to do it
in different way

because the neighbours frown on you
knocking on the door at age 50

asking for candy,
and dressed up as a sexy mermaid.

Just doesn't work as well.

In recent decades,

adults have turned
a once home-spun holiday

into the biggest,
craziest party day of the year.

These are the kids
that were brought up

in these very sort of intensively

child-friendly Halloween parties,

and now they're young adults

and they want to continue

with these traditions.

They grew up with Halloween.

Many of them are having
kids of their own

and so this idea that the adults
should be a part of it.

The adults should have costumes.

This really is reemerging
from these same kids.

Grown-ups take Halloween far beyond
their childhood dreams,

hosting outlandish parties,

pushing the boundaries of Halloween

to explore a scarier,
sexier side of the holiday.

Sex and death, right?
The essential motifs of the world.

And they're both being really
pulled to fruition

and focused on at Halloween.

Adult parties
are a feast for the eyes,

with costumes just as bloody
and violent as a slasher film.

Halloween took from Hollywood,
a lot of its pizazz.

So the sophisticated,

wonderful special effects

that we see translate on Halloween

into contact lenses
that blot out your eyes,

effects of scars and blood.

We take from Hollywood
into Halloween

and create it for ourselves
and our costumes.

And Hollywood also inspires
the style of costume.

For young adults,

Halloween parties
are the perfect time

to shed their inhibitions
and find that special someone.

There is a correlation between
the adrenaline rush you get

from being scared

and the adrenaline rush
you might get

from being excited
at a potential sexual partner.

So here we have this idea
of making Halloween

not only scary
but a part of courtship.

It's like the night where a person

that has to wear
work clothes to work

can put on the most provocative
costume of all time,

and it's totally acceptable.

It's the night where you're like,
"Look at what I've got to offer."

That's the adult version
of Halloween, in my opinion.

Grown women, they take Halloween
to a whole different...

It's not like Disney movies.

It becomes like wow,

this is what Halloween is about.

34% of all adults
will dress up.

Young adults, 62%.

And they want sexy.

Women and men alike

are ready to put themselves out there
on Halloween.

I was in college.

And we had a Halloween party
in the student centre,

but I didn't know what to be
for Halloween.

So I literally got a towel

and I wrapped it around my waist

and I was 'Towel Man'.

Literally, I came out the shower
and I was Towel Man.

It was kind of cool 'cause
all the girls liked it

but it was the cheapest costume
that I could come up with.

As more and more adults
join the fun,

costumes become even more creative
and redefine 'sexy.'

Currently costumes have become
a lot more satirical and ironic.

These sexy costumes

that in the beginning
of the 21st century

were kind of glamorous,

after the crash of 2008,
they never quite bounced back.

So now when you see sexy costumes,
it's satirical.

It's kind of meta,
it's like sexy Mr Rogers.

There are comments we make
with our costumes

that work on a number of levels
and one of them is irony.

Each new generation reimagines
Halloween for themselves.

It is ever-changing but there is
something that unites us all.

What drives this constant
reinvention of the holiday?

What is the true meaning
of Halloween?

Halloween was born in a different,
more magical world.

Where ghosts, ghouls

and other creatures of the night
stalked our ancestors.

But it's become a night
for family and friendship,

where memories are made
as we scare ourselves silly.

Why does a holiday inspired by death
and the spirit world

stir so many warm,
nostalgic emotions?

Halloween has come a long way

from its pagan origins.

But it maintains
a few essential elements

that have been there all along.

Number one is, it's a time
to gather together.

Number two,
there's something spooky about it.

The spiritual world is present,
the other world is present.

And number three,
there's some sort of exchange

that goes on at Halloween.

Whether it's candy for costume

or visions of the future,
there's an exchange.

So there are things
that are the same,

but it's not the same holiday.

We didn't have it in America
until the late 1800s.

So it's not an unbroken line,

but there are things
about this time of year

that remain, no matter what culture
it's in.

For thousands of years,

Halloween has marked
the end of summer

and the beginning of the dark days
of fall and winter.

This haunting, scary time of year
makes all of us stop and think.

The essence of Halloween
is remembering the dead.

Remembering where you came from,

remembering your great grandparents,
your ancestors,

the ones who created the world
that you live in.

So maintaining those connections
with the past,

with the dead are a way
of also maintaining connections

with our own cultural traditions.

And the reason is to allow us
to move into the future

with some sort of self-confidence.

Through the decades,

we've taken comfort in the company
of those we love.

Halloween is the scariest,
darkest holiday of the year.

Who better to spend it with
than our family and friends?

The real meaning of Halloween

or what it was and is to me

is family, friends,

and togetherness.

It's a bonding, it's fun.

It's exciting,
it's something to look forward to.

My father is the reason
I even like Halloween.

He would sing his own songs.

He would make up songs as kids

about Halloween.

He would get us
so excited for Halloween.

If it wasn't for him, honestly,

I would not be this excited
about Halloween to this day.

I've got three daughters
and three sons.

And my daughters always

for 15, 16 years straight,

I had to be the Beast every year

because one of them
wanted to be Beauty.

It was a great time.
It really, it really was.

And it's one of those days
that we love immensely in my house.

Hi, bunny!

Beyond family nostalgia though,

the true meaning of Halloween
is something unique and personal.

I love to see kids
trick or treating.

Like I love to see parents

taking their kids out

and just kind of like
allowing them the opportunity

to just explore their creativity
in putting a costume together.

Oh, my god, you're so scary!

Halloween has become almost too easy

because you can just go to the store

and you buy a catalogue costume.

But I see it more and more

with my kids now where

they're making their costumes.

They're pulling stuff together
out of their closet.

I feel like it's old-school
Halloween is coming back.

I think that it's just going to keep

getting more and more fun,

more and more realistic.

I think people are getting

more and more creative
with their costumes.

3-D printing.

If you could 3-D print
your own mask,

that would be amazing. Right?

Or your prosthetic,

and a lot of those secrets

with the YouTube

and stuff like that,

you can figure out how to do
a lot of the make-up effects

that 20 years ago there was no way
you'd be able to do them.

And you can be
anybody you want to be

for a day these days.

It definitely changes with age

but all my friends,

we love to get dressed up

and it kinda brings you back
to your youth.

You kinda get a little bit
of jump back in time.

I feel like Halloween's
for everyone.

Do you have your teeth, in Dan?

No.

Put your teeth in, let's see.

It's a time to release our untamed,
rebellious spirit

and embrace the darkness.

Halloween is a time where people

feel they can be creative
without judgement.

And I think that's
really liberating.

Because everybody's
kind of being crazy

and they're expressing themselves

and they're exploring things

and they're doing it
without being judged so much.

So that's a beautiful thing.

Because for some people,
that's the only day of the year

that they truly feel free enough
to do that.

Reborn in America,

Halloween carries the torch
of a tradition

that began around a bonfire
in Ireland over 2,000 years ago.

I don't see Halloween ending
anytime soon,

so I think as our society
changes radically,

it's nice to have these traditions,

and they'd give us a little bit
of a something to hold onto,

something that we've been doing
for many thousands of years

and is still with us today.

Each year, the festive celebration

of goblins and ghosts

grows in popularity.

Halloween is a shadowy reflection

of who we are as people,

and our enduring struggle

between the seasons,

life and death,

the light and the dark.

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