5 Wholesome Memories of Halloween in the Nineties

There’s nothing more amazing to me than Halloween in the nineties. My ‘gothic’ aesthetic aside, the spookiest season of the year reminds me of warmer and simpler times.

But before we go any further, I want you to take a moment to set the scene. Imagine it’s autumn 1994. You’re dressed in a black bin bag, wearing a flimsy mask held onto your face by an even flimsier piece of elastic. On your head you have a lopsided, PVC Witches hat with a tatty wig stabled to the inside. Your nan hands you a plastic bag from Woolworths and tells you to pose with your newly acquired apple, and a twenty pence piece.

This, by a milestone, is one of my most treasured core memories. It’s wholesome, vintage and comforting. I can even smell the apple pie fresh from the oven, and I can hear the fireworks erupting outside.

Back in the mid-late 1990’s, Halloween was fairly basic. We didn’t have fancy decorations or costumes. There weren’t a variety of events or festivals to attend, and trick or treating was very much the highlight of the season! As the years went on my family and I attended annual events at the Ulster American Folk Park just outside Omagh. There we got a taste of traditional colcannon, watched the actors dress up and put on scary exhibits, and we even left with a goodie bag. But beyond this, Halloween was very much about family parties and very, very basic costumes. Most of which were made from black bin bags and face paint.

Without a doubt, the 1990’s and early 2000’s were prime Halloween entertainment here in Ireland. And here are a few reasons why.

5 Wholesome Memories of Halloween in the Nineties

Everything involved apples!

Seriously! From apple pies to dunking for apples, you’re guaranteed to get your five a day during the autumn season. But, really, what’s with all the apples?

It actually goes back to the ancient Celts who believed that apples represented love and fertility. During Halloween, young women would bob their heads into a bucket or basin of water in an attempt to grab an apple with only their teeth. Traditionally, the apples were ‘named’ for their male suiter. So, if they successfully caught the apple on their first attempt, it was love at first ‘bite.’ If not, then it wasn’t meant to be.

Another way people played bobbing for apples also included romance. Numerous people would take part at once, and the first person to grab an apple with their teeth would be the first to get married.

However, when I was a child, it was just an excuse to get messy and cover your granny’s kitchen floor in water.

Similar to bobbing for apples, children were also encouraged to put their hands behind their backs and attempt to bite into apples tied up on strings. The tradition is similar to the above, but a little more difficult. The longer the rope, the harder to catch.

Carving Turnips!

They may have pumpkins in America, but in Ireland we started off by carving turnips. And, boy, were they difficult! I personally blame my early childhood of carving into extremely dense root vegetables for my carpel tunnel. They’re a devil to carve, which could be a good explanation as to why some of them are so haunting in appearance!

It wasn’t just the fact that pumpkins were outside our remit, but carving turnips is also a Celtic tradition. In years gone by it was thought that the wearing of spooky masks and the carving of turnips would ward the devil and his evil spirits.

If you want to see one of these terrifying carvings in the flesh, you can find one during the Samhain celebrations in The Museum of Country Life in Castlebar. If County Mayo is a bit far for you, we’ve popped one below.

Costumes held together with stables and glue

There was no such thing as Amazon, and seldom decent costume shops in rural Ireland during the nineties. But most granny’s and mum’s knew a thing or two about homemade costumes.

While my late grandmother was a stitcher and turned out some wonderful costumes, she also made use of stables, Velcro and glue. I wore many a black bin bag as a cape, and a PVC witches hat with long, ragged black ‘hair’ glued to the brim. Our brooms were often cheap plastic sticks with some straw taped to the end.

Now, kids have professional grade costumes picked up from the high street or ordered online. I’m always surprised at how class the wee ones look when they darken my door on Halloween, but give me a janggy costume held together with grannies love any day!

Ghost stories!

It often started with your older cousin hoarding you into a dark room, shutting the door and shining a torch beneath their chin.

“It was a dark and stormy night…” turned into a legend about a local landmark. Or a story about the devil buried beneath a door step. No matter what it was, you were guaranteed to either laugh, scream or storm off in disappointment. Now we have hundreds of Youtubers discussing serial killers, online conspiracies and even real life paranormal events. Nothing is a shock anymore and it takes a lot to scare kids these days.

But to me, nothing beats being locked into your mum’s store cupboard and forced to listen to an old fashioned ghost story!

Twenty Pence from the neighbours.

I can’t let an old fashioned Halloween article go by without mentioning the generosity of our neighbours. It may not sound like much, but twenty pence from every door your went to was a big feat for a child. And it was better than apples, oranges and shelled peanuts.

I’m not sure where the tradition of giving children money in their trick or treat bags came from, but it could have something to do with baking money into pies.

Do you have any core memories from Halloween in the nineties? Share them in the comments!

About the author

Chloe is the writer behind Nyxie’s Nook. A blog predominantly focused on mental health, wellness and eating disorder recovery. Chloe is also a keen illustrator who has been comissioned for many pieces from tattoos to and upcoming children’s book.
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