Would you walk under or around a ladder?

Would you pick up a tails-up penny?

If you spill salt, would you throw salt over your left shoulder?

If you break a mirror, does that lead to seven years of bad luck?

If you are superstitious, then the following will spice up your Halloween!

Ouija Board (Contributed by Breanna Willeford): According to Linda Rodriguez McRobbie of The Smithsonian, toy stores in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania started advertising the Ouija Board as “Ouija, the Wonderful Talking Board” in 1891.The Ouija Board is a “supernatural” board game used to ask spirits in the afterlife questions. The board has markings of the alphabet, a yes and no, and numbers. There is a myth about the board that if you use the board and you don’t say goodbye after the game, you are welcoming spirits from the afterlife into your home and you will have supernatural problems.  

Source:
McRobbie, Linda Rodriguez. “The Strange and Mysterious History of the Ouija Board: Tool of the Devil, Harmless Family Game—or Fascinating Glimpse Into the Non-Conscious Mind?”smithsonianmag.com. 27 Oct. 2013.  Assessed 23 October 2017.

Charlie Charlie Challenge (Contributed by Torrie Johnson): The Charlie Charlie Challenge is an old Mexican game, a traditional spiritual performed to contact a ghost by the name of Charlie.

According to David Emery, here is how to play:

Take a sheet of paper and draw two lines, one horizontal and one vertical, to form a simple cross.
Write the word “YES” in two of the diagonally opposing quadrants thus formed, and the word “NO” in the remaining two.
Place one ordinary pencil over the horizontal line, and balance another vertically on top of it, again forming a simple cross.
Ask a yes-or-no question. “Charlie, Charlie, are you there?” for example. Or, “Charlie, Charlie, can you come out to play?”
Wait for it. If Charlie is present, the top pencil will rotate to reveal his answer.

Source:

Emery, David. “What’s the Charlie Charlie Challenge, and Why Is It Freaking People Out?” thoughtco.com. 23 May 2017. Assessed 22 Oct. 2017.

Black Cats (Contributed by Elizabeth Leko): Most of Europe considers the black cat a symbol of bad luck, particularly if one walks across the path in front of a person; this is believed to be an omen of misfortune and death. The negative association in America came from the Salem witch hunts, believing witches transformed into black cats. In Germany, some believe that black cats crossing a person’s path from right to left is a bad omen. In some places like Egypt they believe that the black cat is a sign of luck, but it wasn’t until the superstition came to Europe that is started to become an omen. 

Source:

“Why Black Cats are Considered Bad Luck.” Daven Hisky, Ed. todayifoundout.com. 10 Sep. 2010. Assessed 24 Oct. 2017.

 Light as a feather, Stiff as a board (Contributed by Brookelynn Leeper): A classic “sleepover” activity everyone has to do at least once is “Light as a feather, Stiff as a board.” The point of the game is to get the person lying down to levitate, thus being as “light as a feather.” First, a person lays down on the floor with their arms crossed over their chest. With eyes tightly held shut, the other people (usually four or five) surround her and place two fingers from each hand underneath the person laying down. Once everyone is in position they start the chant, repeating the phrase “light as a feather, stiff as a board,” again and again until the person laying down levitates (rises off the floor). Once the person is levitating the group stops chanting. Seeing this game in action will for sure create excitement and giggles throughout the room! Soon after everyone has stopped chanting the person levitating will regain normal body weight and fall back to the floor. How is this done? Will we ever know? Find out yourself this Halloween.

Sources:

McKendry, Rebekah. “Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board: How to Play and How It Really Does Work!” blumhouse.com. 20 Jan. 2016. Assessed 18 Oct. 2017.

Ronca, Debra. “Has ‘Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board’ Ever Worked?” science.howstuffworks.com. 2017. Assessed 18 Oct. 2017.