Things you never knew about Halloween

This is another in our series of debunking the origins of modern festivals. Once again we're pleased to help you realise that everything you've ever known is wrong. And nowhere could this be more true than when it comes to Halloween.

Halloween was originally called "Holloween", and was so called because it was the evening when they all hollowed out the pumpkins. Americans speak funny, which is why it was changed to "Halloween" when it was re-imported to these shores.

The ancient Celts celebrated Halloween by hanging the heads of their enemies from trees. In order to make it look like they had plenty of heads, they decided they would hang up carved out pumpkins - hence the modern day use of punkies at Halloween. Unfortunately for the Celts, pumpkins originated in the New World - hence the attempts of such heroes as Madog to discover America so they can get some pumpkins.

Due to a by-law that was never rescinded, if you dress up as a vampire at Halloween in Chester you can be officially declared "Welsh".  This is an offence carrying a fine of 25 pumpkins, or 3 years in the Castle.

"Trick or treating" goes back 15,000 years to cave-person times. Small children would bang at cave doors demanding treats of fried dormice or badger's nose. Because this was still during the Ice Age, if you stayed at the door too long you would freeze to the doormat - and this was why the children had to threaten a "trick" (normally pushing a sabre-toothed tiger into the victim's house) to encourage the householder to deliver the goods.

Apple-bobbing was originally duck-bobbing, until it was banned by the RSPCA.

Dressing up as Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross is no longer the preferred way of dressing up to scare old people. These days the mask of choice to scare the vulnerable would be either David Cameron or Nick Clegg.