How Halloween Took Over The World - Ideas On Tap (Lectures In Pubs)

How an Ancient Celtic Festival Became the World’s Biggest Night of Fear

A few beers, a few ghosts and 2,000 years of Halloween. Plus prizes to be won.

Come down to the pub for a night of drinks, stories and some seriously strange history as we dig into where Halloween actually came from.

On the night, we’ll discover:

• 🎃 Why the original Jack-o’-lanterns weren’t pumpkins and the much darker story behind them.
• 👻 Why people believed the dead could return at this time of year, and what they did to protect themselves.
• 🔥 What actually happened at Samhain, and how much of what we’re told about its connection to Halloween is really true.
• 🧙 The bizarre rituals people used to predict their future, from finding a husband or wife to discovering who might die next.
• 🍬 How Halloween crossed the Atlantic and became huge, turning old traditions of bonfires, disguises and spirits into costumes, trick-or-treating and the Halloween we know today.

Long before the costumes, pumpkins and horror films, people were gathering at the darkest time of the year, lighting fires, telling stories and worrying about what might be lurking in the night.

So where did it all begin?

We’ll go back to Samhain and the ancient Celtic world, then work our way through ghosts, witches, medieval superstitions, bonfires, fortune telling, trick-or-treating and eventually the Halloween we know today.

We’ll find out why people thought the dead could return at this time of year, where some of our weirdest Halloween traditions came from, and whether everything you’ve heard about the ancient origins of Halloween is actually true.

This isn’t a night of sitting quietly through a history lecture. Grab a pint, bring your mates and get involved. There’ll be questions, challenges and prizes along the way, with plenty of strange stories to tell over a drink.

You don’t need to know anything about history. Just turn up, grab a beer and enjoy the story of how an ancient seasonal celebration became one of the biggest nights of the year.

History, horror, pints and prizes.

Not a bad way to spend an evening.

Every event features a different speaker and theme, covering everything from science, history, psychology, philosophy, politics, film, Irish culture, and bizarre internet rabbit holes to cinema breakdowns, existential questions, and strange moments from history.

One night could be about history, cult movies, or the psychology of personality. Another could explore black holes, political movements, philosophy, true crime, science fiction, or the weird side of human behaviour.

After each talk there’s a live Q&A, drinks, conversation, and a chance to meet new people who are curious about the world and up for a good night out that’s a little different from the usual pub routine.