As long as people have congregated to celebrate all things spooky, they’ve been unable to resist engaging in a little spirited fun...
OUIJA BOARDS
AMERICA 1891
In 1886, an American journalist wrote of a curious visit to the home of two Ohio ladies who showed him a ‘talking board’. Through this simple device, they claimed, they could communicate with the dead. Shortly after this storied appeared, Maryland attorney Elijah Bond patented the Ouija board and they were sold in toyshops advertised as capable of answering questions “about the past, present and future with marvellous accuracy” — all for just $1.50! Though its exact origins are uncertain, the Ouija board is indelibly linked to the spiritualism boom in 19th-century America. A perennial Halloween favourite, Ouija boards have terrified many a curious teen!
BARMBRACK
IRISH 18TH CENTURY
Barmbrack is a traditional Irish sweet bread that is eaten all year round. However, at Halloween it turns into a game as a pea, a stick, a piece of cloth, a small coin and a ring were baked into the loaf. Each item, when received in a slice, was supposed to carry a meaning to the person it was given to. A pea would mean they would not marry that year; the ring signified that they would; the stick would indicate an unhappy marriage; the cloth would portend bad luck or poverty; and the coin promised good fortune or wealth.
APPLE BOBBING
ROME ANCIENT ERA
Perhaps the most famous Halloween game of all, next time you try to grab a floating apple from a basin full of water using only your teeth, spare a thought for the Roman settlers in England. For them, bobbing for apples was a serious business and a vital part of the festival of Pomona, a goddess of fruit trees and, of course, fertility. Young people gathered together to apple bob and the first to successfully catch an apple from the water would be destined to marry before the next festival.
APPLE PASSING
ENGLISH 18TH CENTURY
You’re sure to know your fellow partygoers very well after you’ve played a few games of passing the apple. The object of his game is to pass an apple along a line of people without using your hands. As a festival associated with fertility and the end of the harvest, it’s little surprise that apples were a big part of Samhain celebrations, and that tradition has continued into modern Halloween games.
EGG WHITE DIVINATION
CELTIC ANCIENT ERA
It’s not all apples when it comes to Halloween games, and this ancient Scottish game sees an egg white being dropped into a tall glass of pure water. The person whose fortune is to be told should cover the top of the glass with their hand for 60 seconds. Then, in an albumen-themed variant on reading the tea leaves, the shapes formed by the settling egg white are used to divine the future of the person in question.
FLOUR MOUNTAIN
ENGLISH 19TH CENTURY
This simple but messy game starts as a neat mound of flour with a grape sitting on top of it. Players then take turns to cut away the flour bit by bit with a blunt knife. Whoever is cutting the flour when the mountain collapses has to retrieve the grape using only their teeth. A romantic variation of the game involves putting a gold ring inside the flour mound. The person who reveals it is destined to marry soon.
BONFIRE STONES
CELTIC ANCIENT ERA
Before going to bed for the night, write your initials on a white stone. Place it amongst other stones in a ring around a bonfire, then retire to let the fire die naturally. The following morning, seek out your stone and hope it has remained intact. A cracked stone means a year of bad luck awaits, but an unscathed one means glad tidings for the next 12 months!
THE WITHERED CORPSE
USA LATE 19TH CENTURY
What could be more fun than reciting a grotesque poem about a decomposing corpse? How about reading that poem aloud while blindfolded and being handed bowls of supposed ‘body parts’ that you have to identify from touch alone? From peeled grapes standing in for eyeballs to cooked spaghetti taking the place of ravenous maggots and the ever-popular blood made from tomato ketchup, this is sure to get any party started. A modern iteration of this game might involve food being placed in a ‘mystery box’ rather than the player wearing a blindfold.
WEAL AND WOE
AMERICAN 18TH CENTURY
Once again, apples are a vital part of this Halloween game. Hang a horseshoe above a doorway and invite players to try and bowl an apple through it from a distance of about ten paces. Each partygoer gets three apples and three chances to perform the test of weal and woe. Those who succeed can look forward to enjoying a year of good fortune — those who fail can always try again after 12 months of bad luck!