Halloween is just around the corner, and it is definitely time to start planning your costumes. The team here at TattooIcon want to say that this is one of our favorite times of the year because temporary tattoos are the perfect way to add the finishing touches to your Halloween costumes and make them come to life. Halloween has also always been a holiday filled with mystery, magic, and superstition, and let's face it-who doesn’t love a bit of that?! 🤩 

Most people wouldn't think of temporary tattoos for Halloween, however they are a quick, easy and cost-effective way to make your consume da bomb! There are a lot of collections on our website that will match your costume, and possibly even give you some ideas of what to dress as; a perfect source of inspiration if you are not sure what to wear.

Make this Halloween extra spooky with our temporary tattoos, which include black cats, skulls, wounds and scars, witchcraft, pentagram, bat tattoos and more.

Check out our Halloween Bloody Cuts and Grisly Wounds Tattoo Sets here! 

Firstly here is a bit more about Halloween and some facts you might not know. We always love sharing some history on topics with our readers.

Halloween's Ancient Origins

As we know, people globally celebrate Halloween (All Hallow’s Eve), which originated from the ancient Celtic Festival of Samhian. This was a celebration of the season's transition, from summer to winter / light to darkness, and was known to happen around November 1st. Halloween is also linked to the Catholic holiday - All Saints' Day.

The ancient Celts thought that the barrier between the living and the dead was thinnest at this time of year. 31st Ocrober was a day to thank the good spirits and ward off the evil ones, so in those days communities lit bonfires, made treats and wore costumes to ward off evil spirits. This would be the reason why the Halloween theme has a spooky vibe to it. 👻 🎃 🌙 

To discourage their converts from participating in pagan celebrations, early Christian authorities organized their own festival. Pope Gregory III established All Saints Day and All Souls Day on November 1st and November 2nd to honor Christian saints and martyrs. After that, 'All Saints Day' became 'All Hallows Day', and 'Halloween' became 'All Hallows Eve'.

Did you know?

During Samhain rituals, druids would sacrifice animals and harvests by throwing them into sacred fires. This is the origin of the word "bonfires." (Bone-fires).

Day of the Dead

From October 31 to November 2, Mexico and a few other Hispanic countries celebrate Dia de los Muertos - Day of the Dead. This day is all about honoring deceased loved ones and coming to terms with the possibility of death by approaching it with familiarity and without fear or dread. It is treated like a brief family reunion, including drink, food, and celebration, except the dead ancestors are the guests of honor. Traveling to burial grounds, cooking food, decorating graves, and holding celebrations are just a few of the various ways people memorialize their loved ones.

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Day of the Innocents Novermber 1st, is a day when family members commemorate children who died. They decorate their graves with baby's breath and white orchids on On November 2nd, Day of the Dead, families memorialize adults who have died by laying orange marigolds at grave sites.

The calavera (Spanish for "skull," but now used to refer to the full skeleton) has become one of the most iconic cultural and aesthetic elements of the Day of the Dead celebrations. The bright calaveras are joyous, celebratory figurines made of wood, paper maché, sugar paste, or carved bone. 💀 

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Grab these awesome Day of the Dead Sugar Skull Temporary Tattoo Sets here!

These vibrant images may be seen in anything from candy to jewelry to tattoos and face paint. Sugar skulls were used to honor the return of a specific spirit and were placed on the home ofrenda or tombstone. The skeleton or skull is regarded as a symbol of resurrection rather than death. Unlike the classic Halloween skull, a Mexican skull is a symbol of recollection, sadness, mourning, and celebration all at the same time.

Did you know?

Calavera is derived from the clay molded sugar from which true sugar skulls are formed before being embellished with feathers, colored beads, foils, and frosting. The skulls are bright and joyful, intended to commemorate the deceased's life.

Main Halloween traditions

The History of Trick-or-Treating

Many people went door to door, singing or delivering poems while costumed as saints. Additionally, kids would knock on doors in quest of "soul cakes," a delicious treat similar to a biscuit. Originally eaten on November 2 as part of All Souls' Day, soul cakes gradually evolved into trick-or-treating and, finally, became a tradition on Halloween night. Giving youngsters candy was intended to make them immune to any holiday pranks.

During Samhain ceremonies, people dressed up in costumes to fend off the ghosts on the night of Samhain since it was thought that phantoms wandered. Souling became popular, and poor children and adults would go door-to-door costumed as spirits, requesting food in exchange for prayers.

Americans adopted European practices in the early to mid-1900s, by dressing up in costumes and going door to door to ask for candy or money. This became the "trick-or-treat" celebration that we know today.

Did you know?

Halloween Historical Facts During World War II, sugar scarcity nearly put an end to trick-or-treating. After rationing ended in 1947, comic strips helped revive the holiday by introducing trick-or-treating cartoons.

Dressing up

As we know, most people dressed in super scary costumes to honor the tradition and to also scare away evil spirits. However, this practice has morphed into something entirely new. 

Trick-or-treating in costume has quickly become a Halloween tradition. From then on, Halloween costumes evolved from a source of protection for those attempting to terrify people to everyone being terrified themselves. And just like that, Halloween costumes became terrifying, eerie, amusing, and inventive all at the same time. However, costumes have evolved away from their frightening origins.

The modern-day Halloween costume is no longer about protection. Costumes are now about fear, but also dreams, goals, creativity and imagination. By the mid-twentieth century, costumes had become normal tradition for Halloween, not only for children but also for adults. And so, Halloween costume parties have become a fall tradition. Many of us love dressing up as our favorite celebrity idol or movie, book, cartoon or game character.

Carving pumpkins

The Halloween lantern is said to have started when a drunk Irish blacksmith named Jack O'Lantern who played tricks on people. According to legend, Jack made a deal with the Devil; outwitting the Devil and making him promise that he would never take his soul.

God refused to let Jack into heaven, due to his crude and drunken behavior. Staying true to his word, the Devil also refused to let him go to hell. Therefore, Jack was condemned to an eternity of wandering the dark Irish highlands. The Devil had given him a carved turnip and burning coal (jack-o-lantern) as his sole possessions to light his path through the hills where he still roams to this day. To prevent Jack from knocking on their door, townpeople started to place jack-o-lanterns around their homes.

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To prevent undesirable guests from entering their homes on Samhain, the Celts carved scary faces out of turnips and potatoes, adding a candle that provided an even creepier edge. The ritual made its way to the United States-and today, as we know, pumpkins serve a similar purpose and have grown in popularity for carving on Halloween; mainly due to their size, which allows people to carve spooky faces into them with ease.

Main imagery linked to Halloween

Bats

Many of us associate bats with Halloween, and this association has a long history. Bugs were attracted to the Druids' Samhain bonfires, which in turn attracted bats who came to eat. Bats were later portrayed as omens or harbingers of death in other traditions. A bat settling in a house in Nova Scotian mythology signifies the death of a family member. A member of the family will perish if it turns around and tries to run away. Because bats are nocturnal and devour insects, they were closely associated with the festival.

The Halloween bat is also connected with vampires. When you see a Halloween bat, you never know if it will morph into a vampire.

Did you know?

Another element that gives bats an advantage as a Halloween symbol is that there are three species of real-life vampire bats that only feed on blood. The vampire bat may discreetly sip the blood of animals or even humans for up to half an hour at a time.

Black Cats and Witches

Today's Halloween ghosts are typically portrayed as more ominous and evil, and so our traditions and superstitions are also more terrifying. We stay away from black cats because we think they'll bring us bad luck. This belief goes back to the Middle Ages, when many people thought witches might hide by changing into black cats. Black cat symbolism caused cats to be burnt alive starting with Samhain. As a result, being a Halloween cat during the Samhain celebration was not enjoyable since people would lock the cats in cages and throw them into the sacred fires. It's interesting to notice that black cats have an entirely distinct meaning in many other cultures where they are associated with prosperity.

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For this Witchcraft Tattoo Set - click here!

Witch emblems are still some of the most common Halloween images. One of the most popular witch images for Halloween is the iconic silhouette of a witch riding across a full moon. In Celtic society, witches were supernatural female healers. This is why the term "witch" is derived from Wicca, which means "wise one." Witchcraft was regarded as "detestable to the Lord" by Christians. So, witches became mythical icons of sorcery and evil.

Spiders

Spiders are viewed as fate weavers and oracles of death in folklore and mythology. This will concentrate on Halloween spider symbolism because spiders and their webs may be found intertwined throughout this frightful holiday.

Historically, spider iconography took a nasty turn during the Witch Hunts. Spiders, like other nocturnal creatures, were thought to be evil companions of witches and hence became a terrible omen.

Another reason spiders are seen as creepy, crawly animals is where they prefer to congregate. Spiders are frequently seen in dark abandoned areas such as haunted houses, graveyards, frightening tunnels, and gloomy dungeons. As a result, spiders are often associated with abandoned and haunted locations.

Add the fact that certain spiders are so lethal that they may kill people, and it's no surprise that spiders are regarded as terrifying monsters of the night.

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Grab this realistic Spider Tat here!

Did you know?!

Orange and black are traditional Halloween colors. The color black, which is frequently linked with death and gloom, serves as a reminder that Halloween used to honor the bond between the living and the dead.

In the night, orange symbolizes fire. It denotes warmth, the passage of time, and the harvest in the fall. Visit this website to view our symbology for Halloween.

The majority of the Halloween symbols mentioned above have a direct connection to traditional Halloween traditions.

Thanks for reading 

We hope our selection of Halloween Temporary Tattoos help form your eeriest dreams, or should we say nightmares! 😈 Prepare for a terrific season filled with rocking costume parties, scary movie marathons, and frightening, spine-chilling Halloween tattoos! 😁 🎃 👻 

So, guys and gals - check out our temporary tattoos so you can dress up to make your costume shine brighter and to make others jump higher! 😉