13 Things You Didn't Know About Halloween

Halloween is one of the most popular holidays in America. We all prepare for it weeks in advance, planning and buying our costumes, decorating our home (inside and out), stocking up on all the candy, and carving pumpkins as scary as our artistic talents allow. Though we are definitely connoisseurs of hosting the best Halloween party, eating buckets of candy corn, and transforming ourselves into terrifying zombies, how much do we actually know about Halloween?

Obviously, everyone dresses up in a spooky costume for Halloween. But in Alabama, there are restrictions: Dressing as a priest on this day is illegal.

Many animal shelters in America won't let black cats be adopted around Halloween as they believe there's a risk that the superstitious/overly keen Halloween followers will torture or sacrifice them, as was once the tradition.

Numerous studies have shown that the average American (and this includes children!) will consume approximately 7,000 calories on Halloween. All that candy really adds up!

Every year around Halloween, Americans buy more than 20 million pounds of candy corn: We can't get enough of this colorful, seasonal treat.

Halloween is believed to have been born in Ireland in around 4,000 B.C. when they celebrated the end of harvest season with a Celtic festival called Samhain.

Halloween costumes haven't always been worn just for fun. Their creation originated in the Celtic Pagan celebration of Samhain. It was believed that on this day, the recently deceased's spirits would return to earth to haunt the living. The Celtics dressed up in costumes as an attempt to scare away, and protect themselves from, any evil ghosts.

Following closely behind Christmas, Halloween in America is the second highest grossing holiday: That's a lot of money spent on costumes, decorations, and candy every year.

Jack O' Lanterns were initially created not as a fun activity to entertain kids, nor to be part of a creative competition, but instead to ward away any haunting evil spirits.

We obviously spend a lot of money on and give a lot of attention to our own Halloween costumes, but throughout America, more than $300 million is also spent on Halloween clothing for pets.

You may love using Silly String to decorate or to scare away any trick or treaters on Halloween, but if you live in Hollywood, make sure you don't buy any Silly String, as you could face a fine of up to $1,000 for using it.

If you see a spider on Halloween, don't scream and panic! The superstitious believe that a visit from a spider on this spooky day is actually the spirit of a deceased loved one watching over you.

Leading up to Halloween, everyone stocks up on bags and bags of candy to hand out to trick or treaters (and to eat themselves). So it's no surprise that Oct. 28 is the day of the year when the most candy is sold in America.

Jack O' Lanterns haven't always been made with pumpkins: The first carved, spirit-warding creations were actually made of much less colorful turnips!