Written by Srinwanti Sen
Edited by Advik Mohan
Illustrated by Saranya Bhakuni
Halloween is a very fun and mysterious holiday associated with spooky events, darkness, candies, trick-or-treating and seems to have an overall evil and horrifying aura around it. It is believed that this is the time when the dead travel back to the earth and one can communicate with them. Around Halloween, the connection between the dead and the living is the strongest. Part of what makes this holiday so significant and well-known is the colours associated with it, which are usually black and orange. Over the years more colours have been included, especially neon green and purple. In total, there are about seven vibrant colours which are the official colours of Halloween - Black, Orange, Green, Purple, White, Red and Teal.
Black and Orange are the most common colours which one would find in every household during the holiday.
Black is the colour of the night and often represents death, decay and darkness. It also represents the many evil creatures of the night, both from the animal and folklore world - vampires and witches, bats, spiders and black cats. Overall, black is seen as an inauspicious colour which draws us towards the terrifying Unknown.
Orange, on the other hand, is a very bright colour, associated often with fire, lanterns, pumpkins, the welcoming of Autumn and candles. It represents warmth, protection, energy, and positivity. While black is all gloomy and uninviting, orange uplifts and brightens people’s moods.
Together, they represent the burning of the sacred fire(orange) in the dark night sky(black) and could also represent the presence of evil and the good being together at this time of the year.
As mentioned before, green has become a very popular colour of this holiday. Green is also associated with evil supernatural creatures such as zombies, witches, aliens and Frankenstein. Green luminescent fog, floating mists, flashes of light, and other effects have also been used to symbolise the supernatural. When used in glow sticks and glow in the dark items, green is an overall eerie but spectacular colour.
Similarly, purple is also associated with the supernatural. The colour of the witches and the wizards is often said to be purple. It is a colour associated with both evilness and royalty and power. It is magical yet villainous at the same time.
Both green and purple create a spooky vibe, but also tone down the 'horror' vibes of Halloween when compared with orange and black. It also makes Halloween less scary, especially for the children.
Next up we have the colour white. White is said to be the colour of mummies, skulls and skeletons, clowns and is used to represent spirits who are lonely and keep roaming around because they cannot find peace(ironic, I know).
Red is a very powerful and rich Halloween colour which represents blood, life and the demons. It is associated with the emotions of anger and passion. Red is often used as a symbolism for hell and fire. The colour red can be used to complement Halloween make-up and costumes, but it has also grown in popularity as its own bloody Halloween theme.
Finally, we have Teal. It is a very recent and uncommon colour for Halloween. It became popular because of the Teal Pumpkin Project which was introduced for kids with food allergies. For them, people give them toys and gifts instead of candies so that they can also enjoy trick-or-treating and have an exciting and fun Halloween experience.
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