The Spookiest Halloween Superstitions from Around the Globe

 

A superstition is defined as a belief that is not consistent with things that are considered to be true. Halloween is a common time for superstitions and they date back thousands of years. Check out some spooky Halloween superstitions!

Related: How Halloween is Celebrated Around the World

Spooky Halloween Superstitions

Black Cats & Bats, Oh My!

  • Black cats got their bad reputation during the Dark Ages, when witch hunts were as commonplace as bargain hunting is today. The witch hunters convinced naïve believers that the devil turned into a cat when he was fraternizing with the witches, and the black cat superstition was born. In many cultures, though, it’s actually considered GOOD luck when a black cat crosses your path!

 Halloween is a common time for superstitions and they date back thousands of years. Check out some spooky Halloween superstitions!

  • According to medieval folklore, bats are thought to be an ominous sign. There are a couple of common superstitions surrounding bats and Halloween. One is that if you saw a bat in your home on Halloween, it meant that your house was haunted and they were let in by the ghosts in the home.

Ghostly Visions and Dastardly Spirits

  • If you want to fight off evil spirits, you should walk around your house three times backwards and then three times counterclockwise prior to sunset on Halloween.
  • On Halloween night, if you hear footsteps behind you, don’t turn around to look since these footsteps are said to be death itself.
  • In order to ensure that ghosts would not enter a home on Halloween, photos of animals or bones of animals were buried.

 Halloween is a common time for superstitions and they date back thousands of years. Check out some spooky Halloween superstitions!

  • People that were born on Halloween were said to have the gift of not only seeing spirits but talking to them as well.
  • When you drive by a cemetery and you hold your breath, it is said that evil spirits will go into your body.
  • Knock, knock…knock. Who’s there?  If you hear three strange knocks and no one is there, it may mean death has come knocking on the door of someone close to you.

Related: Not So Spooky, But Oh So Fun Halloween Family Movies

Other spooktacular Halloween superstitions

  • You can learn what important things will happen in the next year by going to crossroads on Halloween and listening to the sounds of the wind.
  • There was an old Celtic custom of lighting bonfires on Halloween. Once the fires had burned out, you should make a circle using the fire ashes. Then, inside this circle, each person that helped with making the fire would place a pebble. They would go back the next morning and if one of the pebbles was damaged or displaced, it meant that the person who placed that pebble there would die within the next 12 months.
  • All you single ladies, want to see the face of your true love? Carry a lamp to a body of spring water and glance in the reflection!
  • The Germans believe that laying around in coffins, even for fun, is just asking for death to come for you. There goes my Saturday night entertainment!

These are just a few of the spooky Halloween superstitions. The holiday is ripe with strange beliefs, and each culture has their own thoughts on how you should behave on All Hallows Eve.

What about you? Do you believe any of these spooky Halloween superstitions?

 

6 thoughts on “The Spookiest Halloween Superstitions from Around the Globe”

  1. Hehehehe I always get scared when I see black cats because of the superstition! I always feel like such a dork after I think about it lol

  2. Robin Rue (@massholemommy)

    I definitely believe in ghosts, but not any of these superstitions. Maybe the black cat one, but not really.

  3. How spooky! Thanks I had fun reading these superstitions, I’ve heard of some before, like the witches turning into black cats and that one about death following you. It makes Halloween a lot more exciting.

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