October is here and its time for one of the craziest, most successful and fun holidays of the year, Halloween. Both young and old get creative with out of this world costumes and do not forget all the costume balls and great candy. Halloween brings out the creative side of everyone in the physical and virtual worlds and is full of tradition.
Modern day Halloween is a combination of Celtic traditions, roman traditions honoring the dead and Christians All Hallows Day. The Celtic new year started on November 1st. It was the beginning of the long cold winter. They believed on October 31st, which they called Samhein, the boundary between the world of the living and the world of the dead merge. The ghosts of the dead come to reek havoc on the living by causing damages to crops. The Celtics also believed that on that day it was easiest to tell fortunes. The tradition of wearing costumes came from their tradition of wearing animal heads and skins.
The Romans held their day to honor the dead and the following day to celebrate their deity Pomona, the goddess of fruit and trees. The symbol for Pomona is an apple and this is where the tradition of bobbing for apples was incorporated into the modern day celebration.
The name Halloween derived from the Christians celebrating All Saints Day on November 1st which was more popularly called All Hallows. The Celtic celebration of Samhein became All Hallows Eve and eventually Halloween.
The tradition of Trick or Treating started on the Christian All Souls Day, the day after All Hallows. The poor would go begging and the town’s housewives would give them special treats called soul cakes. Over time the town’s children, seeing the poor getting special treats, also started asking and Trick or Treating began.
Haunted Houses are a big part of the Halloween tradition. There is not much research on the beginnings of the modern haunted house but in Egypt and Greece, temples used automated doors and moving or speaking statues as a way to awe and scare the members into believing what the religious leaders were saying.
More recently, grassroots organizations created haunted houses as a way to raise money for their organizations. With virtual worlds being a replica of things that happen in the physical world, haunted house builds pop up almost overnight.
Halloween creates 5-7 billion dollars in sales revenue from costumes, decorations, candy, etc. It is only outdone by Christmas in the physical world. In Second Life, it could be number one in holiday sales. Many stores add Halloween decorations and costumes to their inventory. Linden Lab recognized the popularity of Halloween by giving out goody bags including a Halloween bear one year.
Halloween is a creative holiday and that creativity abounds throughout Second Life. There are builds that are Halloween inspired such as the Salem Witch Memorial Park, a reproduction of the actual memorial in Danvers, Massachusetts a memorial to the individuals who lost their lives during the Witch Trials (http://slurl.com/secondlife/Caernhoe/30/38/69)
A few of the haunted sims are available year round.
Halloween Town http://slurl.com/secondlife/Sinners%20Bliss/132/199/22
A sim inspired by the Nightmare before Christmas
DarkDharma Haunted Manor http://slurl.com/secondlife/Benten/87/221/29
Bentham Manor http://slurl.com/secondlife/Sevenfold/205/132/170
Open all year
Kleio Island Amusement Park Spook House http://slurl.com/secondlife/Kleio/155/153/25
Octoberville http://slurl.com/secondlife/PixelTrix/226/26/2
Not just a haunted house but an adventure (not open to public yet)
