In much of my research into Halloween folklore one of the most bizarre and truly fascinating has to be the Legend of Shoney. Almost like something conceived by the legendary writer of horror fiction, HP Lovecraft, this is a legend of offerings made on Halloween night to a very ancient deity of the sea. I just loved it and felt it just perfect for this, the spookiest of holidays.

In ancient Scotland it was believed that there is a god who haunts the seas especially off the Isle of Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides. Known as Shoney, this being was thought by some to be connected to the fairy race known as Kelpies. The Kelpie often appear in the form of a water horse, and some hold that the beastie in Loch Ness as being a Kelpie. The name Shoney may be related to the Norse Goddess Sjofn.

In the old days the people of the Isle of Lewis were so devout in their belief in Shoney that in the weeks before Halloween they would carry handfuls of malt into the Church of St. Mulray. The malt would be processed into ale. On the night of All Hallows Eve, a man would travel out into the sea with a cup of ale and offer it to the sea. In ancient Gaelic he would chant "Shoney, I give you this cup of ale hoping that you will be so kind as to give us plenty of sea-ware for enriching our ground the ensuing year." The sea-ware in question was sea-weed which was used as we use manure in our gardens.

Usually the church was alight with candles and after the offering, the    candles were extinguished and the people at this strange Halloween gathering would get drunk and dance to honor the old sea-beast/god known as Shoney.

Neither Lovecraft nor Poe could have come up with anything this groovy. This is one of my favorite Halloween legends. Another great Halloween story is Washington Irving's The German Student. We all know about Irving's wonderful legend of Sleepy Hollow, the great quintessential Halloween tale, but here's a good one as well. I can't say too much or it will give away the story. Honest. Have a really great Halloween.

Since articles on vampires are the easiest for me, I decided to do my usual one on the undead. As most of us know, garlic is a popular herb to ward off vampires and the evil eye in general. The belief seems to have its origins in ancient China, but the Egyptians were the first to notice gar­lic’s healing properties. It is more likely that people wore garlic when dis­interring the grave of a suspected vampire to ward off the nasty stench of decay. In China and Malaysia garlic is rubbed on top of the heads of chil­dren to ward off the attack of vampires, in the Philippines garlic is rubbed on armpits to discourage vampire assault. In Slavic countries where belief is still strong in the undead, garlic is hung in doorways and windows to keep the evil dead out. In Rumania on the Eve of St. Andrew's feast (No­vember 30th) when vampires were believed to be most active, garlic was rubbed on door frames and windowsills. Garlic was even rubbed on cattle to ward off vampire attack even to keep vampires, witches, and fairies from draining the cattle dry. Sometimes the corpse of a suspected vam­pire had garlic stuffed in their mouths. This happens to Dracula's victim Lucy in Bram Stoker's horror classic. The vampire seems to be unable to cross any threshold that is smeared with garlic. I have heard of the prac­tice of burning garlic, used in Cuba by followers of the Afro Cuban faith of Santeria.

One of the more bizarre folklores concerning vampires can attributed to the gypsies. It was said that to steal the sock or stocking from a vampire will trigger the obsessive-compulsive nature of the undead. The vampire will rise and find its sock missing and be forced to search everywhere for it. So driven to find it that the vampire might travel out into running water which is dangerous for the undead. If the undead dares to go out into the running water, such as a river, it will drown. As with most superstitions there are some contradictory beliefs in which vampires may lurk in water, notably lore, on the Greek Island of Santorini suspected vampires were often buried there to keep them from preying on the living. There is even a saying "taking vampires to Santorini". The island seems to have such preservative soil that any suspected vampire buried there will often be very well preserved to the local superstition. Needless to say, the inhabitants of the island are experts on vampire folklore. And so it goes.