How to write

Horror writers rejoice!  All Hallows Eve is upon us and it is ripe with inspiration.   Traditions carried to North America by Irish and Scottish immigrants in the nineteenth century, have endured to protect us from ancient evil.  The Celtic festival Samhain is a celebration of the end of the harvest and an observance of Samana, the Lord of Death, a dark Aryan god who is also known as the Grim Reaper.  The ancient Gaels believed that on October 31 the boundary between the alive and the deceased dissolved.  The dead were able to wreak havoc upon the living, damaging crops or causing illness.  Bonfires, sacrifices of treats or animals and costumes were used for protection or appeasement.   

Halloween is a harmless holiday to most, carving pumpkins to frighten off superstitions, dressing as your favorite character and passing out treats to avoid tricks.  However, there are those who consider Halloween a sacred day to be celebrated or feared.  Halloween is a serious event in the lives of those who practice witchcraft or Satanism.

According to The Secrets of Ancient Witchcraft, by Arnold and Patricia Crowther, “Halloween was the end of the year, the time when the Goddess returned to the underworld; when Mother Nature took her winter sleep beneath her blanket of snow.  There she rested until the vegetation began to grow again.  On this night the Horned God began his reign.”   The Horned God is the Lord of Death and has been represented as the god Pan, with cloven hoofs.  The personification of Pan was the head of a goat or a bull. 

Halloween became a time for gaining knowledge through divination. Lying on a grave, using Ouija boards or a crystal ball are all methods to communicate with the dead.  Wiccans (Wise Ones) are worshippers of the “Earth Mother” the sun, the moon, and stars and do not believe in Satan.  Modern day witches declare that they no longer offer animal or human sacrifices, and in fact find sacrifices distasteful, opting to use symbolical sacrifices in their ceremonies. Satanists may look at the sacrifice in the literal sense.   Richard Ramirez, a serial killer and self styled Satanist, used his allegiance to Satan to satisfy his own blood lust.  

Whether your monsters are the supernatural variety or creepy characters like Ramirez, you can find lots of inspiration from the legends and lore of Halloween.

Symbols of Halloween

Jack-o’-lanterns - The carved out pumpkin (or turnip, squash, potato) is lit with a candle to scare off ghosts and witches and goblins and other supernatural forces wandering around on “the night of the dead.”

Black cats - Totems of witches. Ancients believed that black cats had once been humans who had changed into animals because of evil deeds which they had committed.

Bats and owls - Some believe they are able to communicate with the dead.

Skeletons, skulls, and corpses - Represent death and acknowledge the Grim Reaper or God of Death.

Trick-or-treating - Sacrifices made to wandering spirits to avoid evil mischief.

Masks - Worn to ward off evil spirits, witches, goblins and ghosts.

A Full Moon  - Associated with death and rebirth because of its cycles.

Orange & Black Colors -  Have ties to the occult and masses for the dead which were held in November.

Scarecrows  -  Associated with the ancient ritual of human sacrifice for crop growth on Samhain, hence the crucifix style presentation.