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How the Irish really invented Halloween

Halloween • 2 mins

There is a sense that Halloween was a time when Oweynagat could open the gates of hell or become an entrance to a magical world." Photo: Gary Dempsey

'Ireland's gate to hell': a Co Roscommon cave and the Otherworld

Halloween • 20 Oct

"Burial close to a saint would increase the chances of getting into heaven, as if the saint's resurrection on Judgment Day would act like a vortex pulling other souls out of the ground with him/her"

The cult of the dead in medieval Ireland

History • 31 Oct 19

"No wonder the subsequent lighting of the great Samhain fire held much significance returning warmth and light once more while keeping the forces of death at bay for another year." Photo: Shay Murphy/Getty Images

How the Irish Celts invented Halloween

Folklore • 31 Oct 19

And you think aul' pumpkins are scary?

A guide to Irish Halloween magic spells

Halloween • 05 Nov 19

"Cleary was burned to death by her husband and family members, who claimed that they had done so to force fairies to return Cleary, whom the family believed had stolen and replaced with a changeling."

"Darkest Ireland" and the burning of Bridget Cleary

Folklore • 6 hrs

"Werewolf myths have proven a ripe metaphor for the changes associated with adolescence, including aggressive behaviour, heightened sexual emotions, muscle development and emerging body hair"

The science of werewolves

Halloween • 29 Oct 19

Heads will roll in Shakespeare's world

Shakespeare's world of deaths, corpses and ghosts

Shakespeare • 31 Oct 19

I always feel like somebody's watching me: Bela Lugosi as Count Dracula and Frances Dade as Lucy in the 1931 film of Dracula based on the novel by Bram Stoker. Photo: Culture Club/Getty Images

Was Dracula Irish?

Vampires • 23 Oct 19

The moment when you realise you've ran out of shower gel

The science of horror movies

Horror Movies • 08 Nov 19

Snap-Apple Night, by Irish artist Daniel Maclise (1833), inspired by a Halloween party he attended in Blarney, Co Cork

The roots of how we celebrate Halloween in Ireland

Halloween • 26 Oct 17

The zombies are on the march. Photo: Danilo Urbina https://www.flickr.com/photos/hojas_cayendo/

Could you survive a zombie apocalypse?

Zombies • 29 Oct 19

A scene from The Handmaid, one of the films showing at the Horrorthon at Dublin's IFI

Scream! Just where did our fascination with horror come from?

Horror • 30 Oct 19

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