The fly agaric's road from Siberia to fairyland
How a poisonous mushroom from Siberian travel tales became fairyland's favourite toadstool, a Christmas card staple and Mario's power-up.
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A Serbian village gave Europe the word 'vampire' in 1725
An Austrian official's report on a staked corpse in Kisiljevo put 'vampyri' into print. Overcrowded graves and village terror did the rest.
Ireland's barmbrack hides a ring, a coin and a cloth
Irish bakers sell barmbrack each autumn. Whoever finds a charm in a slice reads it as an omen of marriage, money or lean times.
Irish immigrants swapped turnip lanterns for pumpkins in America
Irish immigrants carved turnips for Halloween. In America they found a bigger vegetable, and the old lantern lost out. Modern Farmer traces the switch.
Village girls bobbed for apples to find a future husband
Apple bobbing began as fortune-telling. The Guardian describes girls dunking for fruit marked with a suitor's initial, and a peel flung over a shoulder.
A Celtic fire festival and a Church feast made Halloween
Samhain marked summer's end in Celtic Ireland, and Church feasts on 1 and 2 November gave it the name Halloween. Here is what the sources can show.
Northern England still keeps Mischief Night alive
Mischief Night, a night of treacle and egg pranks, survives in northern England. The Guardian dates records to 1790. In Detroit it is Devil's Night.
The Celtic origin of Halloween costumes rests on thin evidence
BBC Bitesize and Smithsonian Magazine say Celts wore disguises at Samhain, but the Guardian finds the evidence thin. Witch outfits came later.