Michael Myers is a fictional character from the Halloween series of slasher films. He first appears in John Carpenter's Halloween (1978) as a young boy who murders his older sister, then fifteen years later returns home to murder more teenagers. In the original Halloween, the adult Michael Myers, referred to as The Shape in the closing credits, was portrayed by Nick Castle for most of the film, with Tony Moran and Tommy Lee Wallace substituting in during the final scenes. He was created by Debra Hill and John Carpenter. Michael Myers has appeared in ten films, as well as novels, a video game and several comic books.

The character is the primary antagonist in the Halloween film series, except Halloween III: Season of the Witch, which is not connected in continuity to the rest of the films. Since Castle, Moran, and Wallace put on the mask in the original film, six people have stepped into the role. Tyler Mane is the only actor to have portrayed Michael Myers in consecutive films, and one of only two actors to portray the character more than once. Michael Myers is characterized as pure evil, both directly in the films, by the filmmakers who created and developed the character over nine films, as well as by random participants in a survey.^[2][3]

Appearances[link]

Michael Myers is the primary antagonist in all of the Halloween films, with the exception of Halloween III: Season of the Witch, as that film did not feature any of the characters from the original two films and had nothing to do with Michael Myers. Michael would return immediately following Halloween III, in the aptly titled Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers. The silver screen is not the only place Michael Myers has appeared; there have been literary sources that have expanded the universe of Michael.

Films[link]

Michael Myers made his first appearance in the original 1978 film, Halloween, although the masked character is credited as "The Shape" in the first two films. In the beginning of Halloween, a six-year-old Michael (Will Sandin) murders his teenage sister Judith (Sandy Johnson) on Halloween. Fifteen years later, Michael (Nick Castle) escapes Smith's Grove Sanitarium and returns to his hometown of Haddonfield, Illinois. He stalks teenage babysitter Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) on Halloween, while his psychiatrist Dr. Sam Loomis (Donald Pleasence) attempts to track him down. Murdering her friends, Michael finally attacks Laurie, but she manages to fend him off long enough for Loomis to save her. Loomis shoots Michael six times in the chest, before Michael falls over the house's second-story balcony ledge; when Loomis goes to check Michael's body, he finds it missing.^[4] Michael returns in the sequel, Halloween II (1981). The film picks up directly where the original ends, with Loomis (Pleasence) still looking for Michael's body. Michael (Dick Warlock) follows Laurie Strode (Curtis) to the local hospital, where he wanders the halls in search of her, killing security guards, doctors and nurses that get in his way. Loomis learns that Laurie Strode is Michael's younger sister, and rushes to the hospital to find them. He causes an explosion in the operating theater, allowing Laurie to escape as he and Michael are engulfed by the flames.^[5]

Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988) picks the story up ten years after the events of Halloween II. Michael (George P. Wilbur) and Dr. Loomis (Pleasence) are revealed to have survived the explosion, although Michael has been in a coma at the Ridgemont Federal Sanitarium for a decade. Michael wakes from his coma when he learns Laurie Strode has died, but also learns that she has a seven-year-old daughter, Jamie Lloyd (Danielle Harris). Returning to Haddonfield, he causes a city-wide blackout and massacres the town's police force, before being shot down a mine shaft by the state police.^[6] Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989) begins immediately after the fourth film ends, with Michael Myers (Donald L. Shanks) escaping the mine shaft and being nursed back to health by a local hermit. The next year, Michael kills the hermit and returns to Haddonfield to find Jamie (Harris) again, chasing her through his childhood home in a trap set up by Loomis (Pleasence). Michael is eventually captured and taken to the local police station, but an unseen figure kills the officers and frees him.^[7] Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995) takes place six years after the events of The Revenge of Michael Myers; both Jamie (J. C. Brandy) and Michael (Wilbur) have disappeared from Haddonfield. Jamie has been kidnapped and impregnated by the Cult of Thorn, led by Dr. Terence Wynn (Mitchell Ryan), Loomis' friend and colleague from Smith's Grove. Wynn is revealed to have been manipulating Michael Myers all along, and was his mysterious savior in Halloween 5. Michael kills Jamie, but not before she hides her newborn, who is discovered and taken in by Tommy Doyle (Paul Stephen Rudd). While trying to protect the baby from Michael and Wynn, Tommy learns that the Curse of Thorn may be the cause of Michael's obsession with killing his entire family, in addition to his seemingly supernatural abilities.^[8]

Ignoring the events of the previous three films, Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998) establishes that Michael Myers (Chris Durand) has been missing since the explosion in 1978. Laurie Strode (Curtis) has faked her death to escape her brother, and is now living in California under an assumed name with her teenage son John (Josh Hartnett). On the twentieth anniversary of their last meeting, Michael tracks Laurie and her son to the private boarding school where she is headmistress, and murders John's friends. Getting her son to safety, Laurie willingly goes back to face Michael, and succeeds in decapitating him.^[9] Halloween: Resurrection (2002), which picks up three years after H20, retcons Michael's death, establishing that the man Laurie decapitated was a paramedic whom Michael had attacked and swapped clothes with. Michael (Brad Loree) tracks down an institutionalized Laurie (Curtis) and kills her. Returning to Haddonfield, he finds and kills a group of college students filming an internet reality show inside his childhood home. Contestant Sara Moyer (Bianca Kajlich) and show producer Freddie Harris (Busta Rhymes) escape by trapping Michael in a burning garage.^[10]

A new version of Michael Myers appears in Rob Zombie's Halloween (2007), a reimagining of the original film.^[11] The film follows the basic premise of the original film, with an increased focus on Michael's childhood: ten-year-old Michael (Daeg Faerch) is shown killing animals and suffering verbal abuse from Judith (Hanna R. Hall) and his mother's boyfriend Ronnie (William Forsythe), both of whom he later murders. During his time in Smith's Grove, Michael takes up the hobby of creating papier-mâché masks and receives unsuccessful therapy from Dr. Sam Loomis (Malcolm McDowell). As an adult, Michael (Tyler Mane) returns to Haddonfield to reunite with his beloved younger sister Laurie (Scout Taylor-Compton). Laurie, however, is terrified of him and ends up shooting him in self-defense.^[12] Zombie's story is continued in the sequel, Halloween II (2009), which picks right where the remake leaves off and then jumps ahead one year. Here, Michael (Mane) is presumed dead, but resurfaces after a vision of his deceased mother Deborah (Sheri Moon Zombie) informs him that he must track Laurie (Taylor-Compton) down so that they can "come home". In the film, Michael and Laurie have a mental link, with the two sharing visions of their mother. During the film's climax, Laurie apparently kills Michael by stabbing him repeatedly in the chest and face with his own knife.^[13]

Literature[link]

Michael Myers made his literary debut in October 1979 when Curtis Richards released a novelization of the film. The book follows the events of the film, but expands on the festival of Samhain and Michael's time at Smith's Grove Sanitarium.^[14] Michael returned to the world of literature with the 1981 adaptation of Halloween II written by Jack Martin; it was published alongside the first film sequel, with the novel following the film events, with an additional victim, a reporter, added to the novel.^[15] The final novelization to feature Michael was Halloween IV, released October 1988. The novel was written by Nicholas Grabowsky, and like the previous adaptations, follows the events of Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers.^[16]

Over a four month period, Berkley Books published three young adult novels written by Kelly O'Rourke; the novels are original stories created by O'Rourke, with no direct continuity with the films.^[17] The first, released on October 1, 1997, titled The Scream Factory, follows a group of friends who set up a haunted house attraction in the basement of Haddonfield City Hall, only to be stalked and killed by Michael Myers while they are there.^[18] The Old Myers Place is the second novel, released December 1, 1997, and focuses on Mary White, who moves into the Myers house with her family and takes up residence in Judith Myers' former bedroom. Michael returns home and begins stalking and attacking Mary and her friends.^[19] O'Rourke's final novel, The Mad House, was released on February 1, 1998. The Mad House features a young girl, Christine Ray, who joins a documentary film crew that travels to haunted locations; they are currently headed to Smith Grove Mental Hospital. The crew is quickly confronted by Michael Myers.^[20]

The character's first break into comics came with a series of comics published by Brian Pulido's Chaos Comics. The first, simply titled Halloween, was intended to be a one-issue special, but eventually two sequels spawned: Halloween II: The Blackest Eyes and Halloween III: The Devil's Eyes. All of the stories were written by Phil Nutman, with Daniel Farrands—writer for Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers—assisting on the first issue; David Brewer and Justiniano worked on the illustrations. Tommy Doyle is the main protagonist in each of the issues, focusing on his attempts to kill Michael Myers. The first issue includes backstory on Michael's childhood, while the third picks up after the events of the film Halloween H20.^[21]

In 2003, Michael appeared in the self-published comic One Good Scare, written by Stefan Hutchinson and illustrated by Peter Fielding. The main character in the comic is Lindsey Wallace, the young girl who first saw Michael Myers alongside Tommy Doyle in the original 1978 film. Hutchinson wanted to bring the character back to his roots, and away from the "lumbering Jason-clone" the film sequels had made him.^[22] On July 25, 2006, as an insert inside the DVD release of Halloween: 25 Years of Terror, the comic book Halloween: Autopsis was released. Written by Stefan Hutchinson and artwork by Marcus Smith and Nick Dismas, the story is about a photographer assigned to take pictures of Michael Myers. As the photographer, Carter, follows Dr. Loomis; he begins to take on Loomis's obsession himself, until finally meeting Michael Myers in person, which results in his death.^[23]

In 2008, Devil's Due Publishing began releasing more Halloween comic books, starting with a four issue mini series, titled Halloween: Nightdance. Written by Stefan Hutchinson, Nightdance takes place in Russellville, and follows Michael's obsession with Lisa Thomas, a girl who reminds him of his sister Judith. Lisa is afraid of the dark after Michael trapped her in a basement for days, and years later, he starts sending her disturbing, child-like drawings and murdering those around her on Halloween. Meanwhile, Ryan Nichols is hunting Michael down after seeing him attack and kidnap his wife. In the end, Michael frames Ryan for the murders and buries Lisa alive.^[24] Hutchinson explains that Nightdance was an attempt to escape the dense continuity of the film series and recreate the tone of the 1978 film; Michael becomes inexplicably fixated on Lisa, just as he did with Laurie in the original Halloween, before the sequels established that a sibling bond was actually his motivation for stalking her.^[25] Included in the Nightdance trade paperback is the short prose story Charlie, which features Charlie Bowles, a Russellville serial killer who taps into the same evil force which motivates Michael Myers.^[24] To celebrate the anniversary of the Halloween series, Devil's Due released a one-shot comic entitled Halloween: 30 Years of Terror in August 2008, written by Hutchinson. An anthology collection inspired by John Carpenter's original film, Michael appears in various stories, tampering with Halloween candy, decapitating a beauty queen, tormenting Laurie Strode, and killing a school teacher.^[26][27]

Characterization[link]

A common characterization is that Michael Myers is evil. John Carpenter has described the character as "almost a supernatural force - a force of nature. An evil force that's loose," a force that is "unkillable".^[2] Professor Nicholas Rogers elaborates, "Myers is depicted as a mythic, elusive bogeyman, one of superhuman strength who cannot be killed by bullets, stab wounds, or fire."^[29] Carpenter's inspiration for the "evil" that Michael would embody came when he was in college. While on a class trip at a mental institution in Kentucky, Carpenter visited "the most serious, mentally ill patients". Among those patients was a young boy around twelve to thirteen years-old. The boy gave this "schizophrenic stare", "a real evil stare", which Carpenter found "unsettling", "creepy", and "completely insane". Carpenter's experience would inspire the characterization Loomis would give of Michael to Sheriff Brackett in the original film. Debra Hill has stated the scene where Michael kills the Wallace's German Shepherd was done to illustrate how he is "really evil and deadly".^[28]

The ending scene of Michael being shot six times, and then disappearing from the ground outside the house, was meant to terrify the imagination of the audience. Carpenter tried to keep the audience guessing as to who Michael Myers really is—he is gone, and everywhere at the same time; he is more than human; he may be supernatural, and no one knows how he got that way. To Carpenter, keeping the audience guessing was better than explaining away the character with "he's cursed by some..."^[28] For Josh Hartnett, who portrayed John Tate in Halloween H20, "it's that abstract, it's easier for me to be afraid of it. You know, someone who just kind of appears and, you know [mimics stabbing noise from Psycho] instead of an actual human who you think you can talk to. And no remorse, it's got no feelings, that's the most frightening, definitely." Richard Schickel, film critic for TIME, felt Michael was "irrational" and "really angry about something", having what Schickel referred to as "a kind of primitive, obsessed intelligence". Schickel considered this the "definition of a good monster", by making the character appear "less than human", but having enough intelligence "to be dangerous".^[2]

Dominique Othenin-Girard attempted to have audiences "relate to 'Evil', to Michael Myers's 'ill' side". Girard wanted Michael to appear "more human […] even vulnerable, with contradicting feelings inside of him". He illustrated these feelings with a scene where Michael removes his mask and sheds a tear. Girard explains, "Again, to humanize him, to give him a tear. If Evil or in this case our boogeyman knows pain, or love or demonstrate a feeling of regrets; he becomes even more scary to me if he pursues his malefic action. He shows an evil determination beyond his feelings. Dr. Loomis tries to reach his emotional side several times in [Halloween 5]. He thinks he could cure Michael through his feelings."^[30]

Daniel Farrands, writer of The Curse of Michael Myers, describes the character as a "sexual deviant". According to him, the way Michael follows girls around and watches them contains a subtext of repressed sexuality. Farrands theorizes that, as a child, Michael became fixated on the murder of his sister Judith, and for his own twisted reasons felt the need to repeat that action over and over again, finding a sister-like figure in Laurie who excited him sexually. He also believes that by making Laurie, Michael's literal sister, the sequels took away from the simplicity and relatability of the original Halloween. Nevertheless, when writing Curse, Farrands was tasked with creating a mythology for Michael which defined his motives and why he couldn't be killed. He says, "He can't just be a man anymore, he's gone beyond that. He's mythical. He's supernatural. So, I took it from that standpoint that there's something else driving him. A force that goes beyond that five senses that has infected this boy's soul and now is driving him." As the script developed and more people became involved, Farrands admits that the film went too far in explaining Michael Myers and that he himself was not completely satisfied with the finished product.^[31]

Michael does not speak in the films; the first time audiences ever hear his voice is in the 2007 remake. Michael speaks as a child during the beginning of the film, but while in Smith's Grove he stops talking completely. Rob Zombie originally planned to have the adult Michael speak to Laurie in the film's finale, simply saying his childhood nickname for her, "Boo". Zombie explained that this version was not used because he was afraid having the character talk at that point would demystify him too much, and because the act of Michael handing Laurie the photograph of them together was enough.^[32]

Describing aspects of Michael Myers which he wanted to explore in the comic book Halloween: Nightdance, writer Stefan Hutchinson mentions the character's "bizarre and dark sense of humor", as seen when he wore a sheet over his head to trick a girl into thinking he was her boyfriend, and the satisfaction he gets from scaring the characters before he murders them, such as letting Laurie know he is stalking her. Hutchinson feels there is a perverse nature to Michael's actions: "see the difference between how he watches and pursues women to men".^[25] He also suggests that Michael Myers' hometown of Haddonfield is the cause of his behaviour, likening his situation to that of Jack the Ripper, citing Myers as a "product of normal surburbia - all the repressed emotion of fake Norman Rockwell smiles". Hutchinson describes Michael as a "monster of abjection". When asked his opinion of Rob Zombie's expansion on Michael's family life, Hutchinson says that explaining why Michael does what he does "[reduces] the character". That being said, Hutchinson explores the nature of evil in the short story Charlie—included in the Halloween Nightdance trade paperback—and says that Michael Myers spent fifteen years "attuning himself to this force to the point where he is, as Loomis says, 'pure evil'".^[33] Nightdance artist Tim Seeley describes the character's personality in John Carpenter's 1978 film as "a void", which allows the character to be more open to interpretation than the later sequels alloted him. He surmises that Michael embodies a part of everyone; a part people are afraid will one day "snap and knife someone", which lends to the fear that Michael creates on screen.^[25]

A study was conducted by California State University's Media Psychology Lab, on the psychological appeal of movie monsters—Vampires, Freddy Krueger, Frankenstein's monster, Jason Voorhees, Godzilla, Chucky, Hannibal Lecter, King Kong, The Alien, and the shark from Jaws—which surveyed 1,166 people nationwide (United States), with ages ranging from 16 to 91. It was published in the Journal of Media Psychology. In the survey, Michael was considered to be the "embodiment of pure evil"; when compared to the other characters, Michael Myers was rated the highest. Michael was characterized lending to the understanding of insanity, being ranked second to Hannibal Lecter in this category; he also placed first as the character who shows audiences the "dark side of human nature". He was rated second in the category "monster enjoys killing" by the participants, and believed to have "superhuman strength". Michael was rated highest among the characters in the "monster is an outcast" category.^[3]

In popular culture[link]

In Robot Chicken's nineteenth episode, "That Hurts Me", Michael Myers (voiced by Seth Green) appears as a housemate of "Horror Movie Big Brother", alongside other famous slasher movie killers such as Jason Voorhees, Ghostface, Freddy Krueger, Pinhead, and Leatherface. Myers is evicted from the house, and takes off his mask to reveal himself to be the comedian Mike Myers, and utters his Austin Powers catchphrase, "I feel randy, baby, yeah!" He then proceeds to kill the host.^[34] Michael appeared on the April 25, 2008 episode of Ghost Whisperer, starring Jennifer Love Hewitt, titled "Horror Show". Here, a spirit communicates with Hewitt's character by placing her in scenes from the deceased's favorite horror movies, and one of the scenes involved Michael Myers.^[35] The Cold Case episode "Bad Night" has the main characters reopening a 1978 murder case after new evidence indicates the victim was not killed by a mentally disturbed man who, after seeing Halloween in theatres, went on a killing spree dressed as Michael.^[36] Michael Myers makes a cameo appearance in Rob Zombie's The Haunted World of El Superbeasto, released on September 22, 2009.^[37]

In the collection of short stories The Nightmares on Elm Street: Freddy Krueger's Seven Sweetest Dreams, a character, while looking through a book entitled Beasts Who Walk As Men: A Case History of America's Vilest Serial Killers, finds a page in it mentioning Michael, as well as Jason Voorhees and the Sawyer family.^[38]

In one of the various merchandises to feature the character, Michael Myers made his video game debut with the 1983 Atari video game Halloween. The game is rare to find, often being played on emulators. No characters from the films are specifically named, with the goal of the game focusing on the player, who is a babysitter, protecting children from a "homicidal maniac [who] has escaped from a mental institution".^[39]

Michael was one of several horror icons to be included in the 2009 version of Universal Studios Hollywood's Halloween Horror Nights event, as a part of a maze entitled Halloween: The Life and Crimes of Michael Myers.^[40]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Halloween: Nightdance scribe Stefan Hutchinson interviewed at ComiXology.com
• Michael Myers at the Halloween Series wiki
• Michael Myers at the Horror Film Wiki, a horror film Wikia
• Michael Myers (character) at the Internet Movie Database
• Official site of the Halloween series

Halloween All Hallows' Eve
A Jack-o'-lantern
Also called	All Hallows' Eve All Saints' Eve Samhain
Observed by	Western Christians & many non-Christians around the world[1]
Date	October 31
Celebrations	Parades, Festivals, costume parties, trick-or-treating/guising, carving pumpkins, ghost tours, haunted attractions, Hell houses, bonfires, divination, apple bobbing, fireworks displays
Observances	Church services,[2] prayer,[3] fasting,[1] and vigils[4]
Related to	Samhain, All Saints' Day (cf. vigils)

Halloween (a shortening of All Hallows’ Evening),^[5] also known as Hallowe'en or All Hallows' Eve,^[6] is a yearly holiday observed around the world on October 31, the night before All Saints' Day. Unlike Day of the Dead celebrations, the Christian feast of All Hallows' Eve, according to some scholars, incorporates traditions from pagan harvest festivals and festivals honouring the dead, particularly the Celtic Samhain;^[6][7][8] other scholars maintain that the feast originated entirely independently of Samhain.^[9] Typical festive Halloween activities include trick-or-treating (also known as "guising"), attending costume parties, carving jack-o'-lanterns, lighting bonfires, apple bobbing, visiting haunted attractions, playing pranks, telling scary stories, watching horror films, as well as the religious observances of praying, fasting and attending vigils or church services.^[1][2][3][4]

History[link]

Etymology[link]

The word Halloween was first used in the 16th century and represents a Scottish variant of the fuller All-Hallows'-Even ("evening"), that is, the night before All Hallows' Day.^[10] Although the phrase All Hallows' is found in Old English (ealra hālgena mæssedæg, mass-day of all saints), All-Hallows-Even is itself not seen until 1556.^[10]

Pre-Christian influences[link]

The Halloween holiday is commonly thought to have pagan roots, even though the etymology of the word is Christian.^[11] 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, derived from the Old Irish Samuin meaning "summer's end".^[11] Samhain was the first and the most important of the four quarter days in the medieval Irish and Scottish^[12] calendar^[13][14] and, falling on the last day of autumn, it was a time for stock-taking and preparation for the cold winter months ahead.^[11] There was also a sense that this was the time of year when the physical and supernatural worlds were closest and magical things could happen.^[13][14] To ward off these spirits, the Gaels built huge, symbolically regenerative bonfires and invoked the help of the gods through animal and perhaps even human sacrifice.^[11] In the Western Isles of Scotland the Sluagh, or fairy host was regarded as composed of the souls of the dead flying through the air, and the feast of the dead at Hallowe'en was likewise the festival of the fairies.^[15]

Christian influences[link]

Snap-Apple Night (1832) by Daniel Maclise.
Depicts apple bobbing and divination games at a Halloween party in Blarney, Ireland.

Halloween is also thought to have been heavily influenced by the Christian holy days of All Saints' Day (also known as Hallowmas, All Hallows, and Hallowtide) and All Souls' Day.^[16] Falling on November 1 and 2 respectively, collectively they were a time for honoring the saints and praying for the recently departed who had yet to reach heaven. By the end of the 12th century they had become holy days of obligation across Europe and involved such traditions as ringing bells for the souls in purgatory and "souling", the custom of baking bread or soul cakes for "all crysten christened souls".^[17] It was traditionally believed that the souls of the departed wandered the earth until All Saints' Day, and All Hallows' Eve provided one last chance for the dead to gain vengeance on their enemies before moving onto the next world.^[18] To avoid being recognised by a soul, Christians would wear masks and costumes to disguise themselves, following the lighted candles set by others to guide their travel for worship the next day.^[18] Today, this practice has been perpetuated through children guising (trick or treating).^[18]

In Britain the rituals of Hallowtide and Halloween came under attack during the Reformation as Protestants denounced purgatory as a "popish" doctrine incompatible with the notion of predestination.^[16] In addition the increasing popularity of Guy Fawkes Night (5 November) from 1605 on saw Halloween become eclipsed in Britain with the notable exception of Scotland.^[19] There and in Ireland, they had been celebrating Samhain and Halloween since the early Middle Ages,^[12] and the kirk took a more pragmatic approach towards Halloween, viewing it as important to the life cycle and rites of passage of local communities and thus ensuring its survival in the country.^[19] North American almanacs of the late 18th and early 19th century give no indication that Halloween was recognized as a holiday.^[20] The Puritans of New England, for example, maintained strong opposition to the holiday^[20] and it was not until the mass Irish and Scottish immigration during the 19th century that the holiday was introduced to the continent in earnest.^[20] Initially confined to the immigrant communities during the mid-19th century, it was gradually assimilated into mainstream society and by the first decade of the 20th century it was being celebrated coast to coast by people of all social, racial and religious backgrounds.^[21]

Symbols[link]

Jack-o'-lanterns in Kobe, Japan

Development of artifacts and symbols associated with Halloween formed over time. For instance, the carving of jack-o'-lanterns springs from the Christian souling custom of carving turnips into lanterns as a way of remembering the souls held in purgatory.^[22] The turnip has traditionally been used in Ireland and Scotland at Halloween,^[23][24] but immigrants to North America used the native pumpkin, which is both much softer and much larger – making it easier to carve than a turnip.^[23] Subsequently, the mass marketing of various size pumpkins in autumn, in both the corporate and local markets, has made pumpkins universally available for this purpose. The American tradition of carving pumpkins is recorded in 1837^[25] and was originally associated with harvest time in general, not becoming specifically associated with Halloween until the mid-to-late 19th century.^[26]

The imagery of Halloween is derived from many sources, including national customs, works of Gothic and horror literature (such as the novels Frankenstein and Dracula) and classic horror films (such as Frankenstein and The Mummy).^[27] Among one of the earliest works on the subject of Halloween is from Scottish poet John Mayne, who, in 1780, made note of pranks at Halloween; "What fearfu' pranks ensue!", as well as the supernatural associated with the night, "Bogies" (ghosts), influencing Robert Burns' Halloween 1785.^[28] Elements of the autumn season, such as pumpkins, corn husks and scarecrows, are also prevalent. Homes are often decorated with these types of symbols around Halloween.

Halloween imagery includes themes of death, evil, the occult or mythical monsters.^[29] Black and orange are the holiday's traditional colors.

Trick-or-treating and guising[link]

Trick-or-treating in Sweden

Trick-or-treating is a customary celebration for children on Halloween. Children go in costume from house to house, asking for treats such as candy or sometimes money, with the question, "Trick or treat?" The word "trick" refers to a (mostly idle) "threat" to perform mischief on the homeowners or their property if no treat is given. In this custom the child performs some sort of trick, i.e. sings a song or tells a ghost story, to earn their treats.

The practice of dressing up in costumes and begging door to door for treats on holidays dates back to the Middle Ages and includes Christmas wassailing. Trick-or-treating resembles the late medieval practice of souling, when poor folk would go door to door on Hallowmas (November 1), receiving food in return for prayers for the dead on All Souls' Day (November 2). It originated in Ireland and Britain,^[17] although similar practices for the souls of the dead were found as far south as Italy.^[30] Shakespeare mentions the practice in his comedy The Two Gentlemen of Verona (1593), when Speed accuses his master of "puling [whimpering or whining] like a beggar at Hallowmas."^[31]

In Scotland and Ireland, Guising – children disguised in costume going from door to door for food or coins  – is a traditional Halloween custom, and is recorded in Scotland at Halloween in 1895 where masqueraders in disguise carrying lanterns made out of scooped out turnips, visit homes to be rewarded with cakes, fruit and money.^[24] The practice of Guising at Halloween in North America is first recorded in 1911, where a newspaper in Kingston, Ontario reported children going "guising" around the neighborhood.^[32]

American historian and author Ruth Edna Kelley of Massachusetts wrote the first book length history of the holiday in the U.S; The Book of Hallowe'en (1919), and references souling in the chapter "Hallowe'en in America";

The taste in Hallowe'en festivities now is to study old traditions, and hold a Scotch party, using Burn's poem Hallowe'en as a guide; or to go a-souling as the English used. In short, no custom that was once honored at Hallowe'en is out of fashion now.^[33]

Halloween in Yonkers, New York, US

In her book, Kelley touches on customs that arrived from across the Atlantic; "Americans have fostered them, and are making this an occasion something like what it must have been in its best days overseas. All Halloween customs in the United States are borrowed directly or adapted from those of other countries".^[34]

While the first reference to "guising" in North America occurs in 1911, another reference to ritual begging on Halloween appears, place unknown, in 1915, with a third reference in Chicago in 1920.^[35]

The earliest known use in print of the term "trick or treat" appears in 1927, from Blackie, Alberta, Canada:

Hallowe'en provided an opportunity for real strenuous fun. No real damage was done except to the temper of some who had to hunt for wagon wheels, gates, wagons, barrels, etc., much of which decorated the front street. The youthful tormentors were at back door and front demanding edible plunder by the word “trick or treat” to which the inmates gladly responded and sent the robbers away rejoicing.^[36]

The thousands of Halloween postcards produced between the turn of the 20th century and the 1920s commonly show children but do not depict trick-or-treating.^[37] The editor of a collection of over 3,000 vintage Halloween postcards writes, "There are cards which mention the custom [of trick-or-treating] or show children in costumes at the doors, but as far as we can tell they were printed later than the 1920s and more than likely even the 1930s. Tricksters of various sorts are shown on the early postcards, but not the means of appeasing them".^[38] Trick-or-treating does not seem to have become a widespread practice until the 1930s, with the first U.S. appearances of the term in 1934,^[39] and the first use in a national publication occurring in 1939.^[40]

Costumes[link]

People dressed in Halloween Costumes in Dublin.

Man out on Halloween

Halloween costumes are traditionally modeled after supernatural figures such as monsters, ghosts, skeletons, witches, and devils. Over time, the costume selection extended to include popular characters from fiction, celebrities, and generic archetypes such as ninjas and princesses.

Dressing up in costumes and going "guising" was prevalent in Ireland and Scotland at Halloween by the late 19th century.^[24] Costuming became popular for Halloween parties in the US in the early 20th century, as often for adults as for children. The first mass-produced Halloween costumes appeared in stores in the 1930s when trick-or-treating was becoming popular in the United States.

Halloween costume parties generally fall on, or around, 31 October, often falling on the Friday or Saturday prior to Halloween.

UNICEF[link]

"Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF" has become a common sight during Halloween in North America. Started as a local event in a Northeast Philadelphia neighborhood in 1950 and expanded nationally in 1952, the program involves the distribution of small boxes by schools (or in modern times, corporate sponsors like Hallmark, at their licensed stores) to trick-or-treaters, in which they can solicit small-change donations from the houses they visit. It is estimated that children have collected more than $118 million for UNICEF since its inception. In Canada, in 2006, UNICEF decided to discontinue their Halloween collection boxes, citing safety and administrative concerns; after consultation with schools, they instead redesigned the program.^[41][42]

Games and other activities[link]

In this Halloween greeting card from 1904, divination is depicted: the young woman looking into a mirror in a darkened room hopes to catch a glimpse of the face of her future husband.

There are several games traditionally associated with Halloween parties. One common game is dunking or apple bobbing, which may be called "dooking" in Scotland^[43] in which apples float in a tub or a large basin of water and the participants must use their teeth to remove an apple from the basin. A variant of dunking involves kneeling on a chair, holding a fork between the teeth and trying to drop the fork into an apple. Another common game involves hanging up treacle or syrup-coated scones by strings; these must be eaten without using hands while they remain attached to the string, an activity that inevitably leads to a very sticky face.

Some games traditionally played at Halloween are forms of divination. A traditional Scottish form of divining one's future spouse is to carve an apple in one long strip, then toss the peel over one's shoulder. The peel is believed to land in the shape of the first letter of the future spouse's name.^[44] Unmarried women were told that if they sat in a darkened room and gazed into a mirror on Halloween night, the face of their future husband would appear in the mirror. However, if they were destined to die before marriage, a skull would appear. The custom was widespread enough to be commemorated on greeting cards^[45] from the late 19th century and early 20th century.

Another game/superstition that was enjoyed in the early 1900s involved walnut shells. People would write fortunes in milk on white paper. After drying, the paper was folded and placed in walnut shells. When the shell was warmed, milk would turn brown therefore the writing would appear on what looked like blank paper. Folks would also play fortune teller. In order to play this game, symbols were cut out of paper and placed on a platter. Someone would enter a dark room and was ordered to put her hand on a piece of ice then lay it on a platter. Her "fortune" would stick to the hand. Paper symbols included: dollar sign-wealth, button-bachelorhood, thimble-spinsterhood, clothespin- poverty, rice-wedding, umbrella- journey, caldron-trouble, 4-leaf clover- good luck, penny-fortune, ring-early marriage, and key-fame.^[46]

The telling of ghost stories and viewing of horror films are common fixtures of Halloween parties. Episodes of television series and Halloween-themed specials (with the specials usually aimed at children) are commonly aired on or before the holiday, while new horror films are often released theatrically before the holiday to take advantage of the atmosphere.

Haunted attractions[link]

Haunted attractions are entertainment venues designed to thrill and scare patrons. Most attractions are seasonal Halloween businesses. Origins of these paid scare venues are difficult to pinpoint, but it is generally accepted that they were first commonly used by the Junior Chamber International (Jaycees) for fundraising.^[47] They include haunted houses, corn mazes, and hayrides,^[48] and the level of sophistication of the effects has risen as the industry has grown. Haunted attractions in the United States bring in an estimate $300–500 million each year, and draw some 400,000 customers, although press sources writing in 2005 speculated that the industry had reached its peak at that time.^[47] This maturing and growth within the industry has led to more technically-advanced special effects and costuming, comparable with that of Hollywood films.^[49]

Foods[link]

Candy apple

Because the holiday comes in the wake of the annual apple harvest, candy apples (known as toffee apples outside North America), caramel or taffy apples are common Halloween treats made by rolling whole apples in a sticky sugar syrup, sometimes followed by rolling them in nuts.

At one time, candy apples were commonly given to children, but the practice rapidly waned in the wake of widespread rumors that some individuals were embedding items like pins and razor blades in the apples.^[50] While there is evidence of such incidents,^[51] they are quite rare and have never resulted in serious injury. Nonetheless, many parents assumed that such heinous practices were rampant because of the mass media. At the peak of the hysteria, some hospitals offered free X-rays of children's Halloween hauls in order to find evidence of tampering. Virtually all of the few known candy poisoning incidents involved parents who poisoned their own children's candy.^[52]

One custom that persists in modern-day Ireland is the baking (or more often nowadays, the purchase) of a barmbrack (Irish: báirín breac), which is a light fruitcake, into which a plain ring, a coin and other charms are placed before baking. It is said that those who get a ring will find their true love in the ensuing year. This is similar to the tradition of king cake at the festival of Epiphany.

List of foods associated with the holiday:

• Barmbrack (Ireland)
• Bonfire toffee (Great Britain)
• Candy apples/toffee apples (Great Britain & Ireland)
• Candy corn, candy pumpkins (North America)
• Caramel apples
• Caramel corn
• Colcannon (Ireland)
• Novelty candy shaped like skulls, pumpkins, bats, worms, etc.
• Pumpkin, pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread
• Roasted pumpkin seeds
• Roasted sweet corn
• Soul cakes

Around the world[link]

Halloween is not celebrated in all countries and regions of the world, and among those that do the traditions and importance of the celebration vary significantly. In Scotland and Ireland, traditional Halloween customs include children dressing up in costume going "guising", holding parties, while other practices in Ireland include lighting bonfires, and having firework displays.^[53][54] Mass transatlantic immigration in the 19th century popularized Halloween in North America, and celebration in the United States and Canada has had a significant impact on how the event is observed in other nations. This larger North American influence, particularly in iconic and commercial elements, has extended to places such as South America, Australia,^[55] New Zealand,^[56] (most) continental Europe, Japan, and other parts of East Asia.^[57]

Religious perspectives[link]

Christianity[link]

Christian attitudes towards Halloween are diverse. In the Anglican Church, some dioceses have chosen to emphasize the Christian traditions associated with All Hallow's Eve.^[58][59] Some of these practises include praying, fasting and attending worship services.^[1][2][3]

Father, All-Powerful and Ever-Living God, today we rejoice in the holy men and women of every time and place. May their prayers bring us your forgiveness and love. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. —All Hallow's Eve Prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours^[60]

Other Protestant Christians also celebrate the holiday as Reformation Day, a day to remember the Protestant Reformation, alongside All Hallow's Eve or independently from it.^[61][62] Often, "Harvest Festivals" or "Reformation Festivals" are held, in which children dress up as Bible characters or Reformers.^[63]

Father Gabriele Amorth, a Vatican-appointed exorcist in Rome, has said, "if English and American children like to dress up as witches and devils on one night of the year that is not a problem. If it is just a game, there is no harm in that."^[64] In more recent years, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston has organized a "Saint Fest" on the holiday.^[65] Similarly, many contemporary Protestant churches view Halloween as a fun event for children, holding events in their churches where children and their parents can dress up, play games, and get candy for free. Many Christians ascribe no negative significance to Halloween, treating it as a purely cultural holiday devoted to celebrating "imaginary spooks" and handing out candy. To these Christians, Halloween holds no threat to the spiritual lives of children: being taught about death and mortality, and the ways of the Celtic ancestors actually being a valuable life lesson and a part of many of their parishioners' heritage.^[66] In the Roman Catholic Church, Halloween's Christian connection is sometimes cited,^[67] and Halloween celebrations are common in Catholic parochial schools throughout North America and in Ireland. Nevertheless, the Vatican has strongly condemned the traditions popularly associated with Halloween as being "pagan" and "anti-Christian".^[68]

Some Christians feel concerned about the modern celebration of Halloween, and reject the holiday because they feel it trivializes – or celebrates – paganism, the occult, or other practices and cultural phenomena deemed incompatible with their beliefs.^[69] A response among some fundamentalist and conservative evangelical churches in recent years has been the use of "Hell houses", themed pamphlets, or comic-style tracts such as those created by Jack T. Chick in order to make use of Halloween's popularity as an opportunity for evangelism.^[65] Some consider Halloween to be completely incompatible with the Christian faith,^[70] believing it to have originated as a pagan "Festival of the Dead".

Paganism[link]

Celtic Neopagans consider the season a holy time of year.^[71] Celtic Reconstructionists, and others who maintain ancestral customs, make offerings to the gods and the ancestors.^[71]

Image gallery[link]

See also[link]

	Christianity portal
	Holidays portal

References[link]

Further reading[link]

External links[link]

Find more about Halloween on Wikipedia's sister projects:
	Definitions and translations from Wiktionary
	Images and media from Commons
	News stories from Wikinews
	Source texts from Wikisource

• Halloween at the Open Directory Project
• Samhain: Season of Death and Renewal – Celtic Studies, Gaelic culture and religion
• "The History of Halloween" by the History Channel

v t e Halloween Main topics History Symbols Trick-or-treating Activities Around the world Religious perspectives Traditions Apple bobbing Food Ghost tours Costumes Jack-o'-lantern Trick-or-treating Events Bonfire Brooke Hills Spooktacular Fear Fest Halloween Horror Nights Halloween Spooktacular (Orlando) Halloween Spooktacular (San Diego) Halloween in the Castro Haunted attraction Headless Horseman Hayride Howl-O-Scream (San Antonio) Howl-O-Scream (Tampa Bay) Howl-O-Scream (Williamsburg) Movie World's Fright Nights Knott's Halloween Haunt New York's Village Halloween Parade Pumpkin Fest Pumpkin queen Rutland Halloween Parade Shocktoberfest Spinning tunnel State Street Halloween Party (Madison) Terror Behind the Walls The Great Pumpkin Fright Fest Media Television Films Books Music Albums Songs Related days and times All Saints Allantide Beggars Night Day of the Dead Devil's Night Eid il-Burbara Hop-tu-Naa Koroksun Mischief Night Samhain Friday the 13th Superstition Walpurgis Night

Michael Myers (or Mike Myers) may refer to:

• Michael Myers (judge) (1873–1950), sixth Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of New Zealand
• Michael Myers (New York) (1753–1814), New York politician
• Michael Myers (politician) (born 1943), American congressman
• Michael Myers (American football) (born 1976), National Football League defensive tackle
• Mike Myers (actor) (born 1963), Canadian comic actor
• Mike Myers (baseball) (born 1969), Major League Baseball pitcher
• Mike Meyers (baseball) (born 1977), former professional baseball pitcher
• Michael Myers (character), a fictional character and antagonist in the Halloween films

This disambiguation page lists articles about people with the same name. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (January 2011)

Dick Warlock (born February 5, 1940) is an American actor and stuntman. He is best known for playing Michael Myers in Halloween II and he was Kurt Russell's personal stunt double for over 25 years. Warlock has two sons, Billy Warlock and Lance Warlock, and one daughter Rhonda.

Warlock now resides in Kingsport, TN.

Warlock is also the owner of one of the original hockey masks used in the Friday the 13th series.

Filmography[link]

• Spider-Man (2002) City official
• Raven Hawk (1996) (TV) - Dale Rice
• Casino (1995) - Security Guard (with cattle prod) & Stunt Coordinator
• Dreamrider (1993) - Drunk
• Guncrazy (1992) - Sheriff
• Beastmaster 2: Through the Portal of Time (1991) - Scientist #1 & NDstunts
• The Rocketeer (1991) (as Richard Warlock) - FBI Agent
• Delta Force 2: The Colombian Connection (1990) (as Richard Warlock) - DEA Agent in *Van & NDstunts
• Spontaneous Combustion (1990) (as Richard Warlock) - Mr. Fitzpatrick (Gate Guard)
• The Abyss (1989) (as Richard Warlock) - Dwight Perry & Stunt Coordinator
• Pumpkinhead (1988) (as Richard Warlock) - Clayton Heller & Stunt Coordinator
• Omega Syndrome (1987) - Marshall #1
• Rags to Riches (1987) (TV series) - Man in Bar fight
• Remote Control (1987) (as Richard Warlock) - Mr. James
• Convicted (1986) (TV) (as Richard Warlock)
• Quicksilver (1986) (as Richard Warlock) - Cab Driver
• Rags to Riches (1986) (TV) - Man in Bar
• Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning (1985) - Stunt Coordinator
• Firestarter (1984) (as Richard Warlock) - Ray Knowles
• Magnum, P.I. (1984) (TV series) - Jimmy Kiedash
• The Master (1984) (TV series) - Terrorist Waiter
• Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982) - Assassin & Stunt coordinator
• Halloween II (1981) - Michael Myers (The Shape)/Patrolman #3 Stunt Coordinator
• The Nude Bomb (1980) (uncredited) - Kaos man on plane (Your boot's ringing)
• Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo (1977) (as Richard Warlock) - Driver Stunt Coordinator
• McNaughton's Daughter (1976) (TV) (as Richard Warlock) - Nick Fleming
• Earthquake (1974) (uncredited) - Diver at Hollywood Reservoir
• Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry (1974) - Trooper #7
• The Love Bug (1968) (as Richard Warlock) - Driver ND Stunts
• The Green Berets (1968) (uncredited)

External links[link]

Biography portal

• Dick Warlock at the Internet Movie Database
• Amazon.com profile
• Official website