We Just Call It “Halloween”

It probably doesn’t shock anyone to learn that when we aren’t working hard to improve PolicyMap, we like to find other interesting maps on the internet. We came across a great map used by an article at the Atlantic. This maps shows all the different names people call the night before Halloween. Here in the Mid-Atlantic, we seem to have a monopoly on “Mischief Night,” but Vermont has “Cabbage Night” and Michigan “Devil’s Night.” And you just thought it was Wednesday!

How about tonight? Many of us call it Halloween but there are other names for it. Thanks to PolicyMap, you can find out what people call it in your neck of the woods.

Due largely to the heritage of William Penn’s holy experiment, we here in southeastern Pennsylvania have the chance to live near people from lots of different religious backgrounds, many of which differently celebrate October 31st. So, if you call today one thing and your neighbor calls it another PolicyMap is here to help. Using our data, you can view the proportion of adherents to a specific religion in a given area.

If you or your neighbors are Roman Catholic:


or Episcopalian:

…Tonight is All Hallows Eve: A holiday to pray for the dead that goes back to the 9th century, where cakes were baked and given to the children and poor as good works to help dearly departed loved ones out of purgatory before tomorrow’s celebration of All Saints Day. I’ll take candy over medieval cake recipes myself.

If you or your neighbors are Presbyterians:

or Lutherans:

…Then today is Reformation Day. This dates back to 1517 CE, and celebrates Martin Luther’s nailing his 95 theses, one of which was concerned with All Hallows Eve turning from a day where food was given to the poor in order to help the dearly departed to a day where the poor gave to the rich to help the souls of their loved ones.

If your neighbors are Muslim:

…This week is about winding down from the festivities of the last month of the Islamic calendar Eid al-Adha, the month which features the famous Dhul-Hijjah pilgrimage to the sacred site of Mecca, and preparing for the fasting of the first month of the New Year Muharram.

If you or your neighbors are Jewish:

…Then today is the 27th of Cheshvan, the day to mark the end of Noah’s great flood.

And I thought today was Halloween!