Detroit's Halloween past

The first mention of Halloween in the Detroit newspapers was in 1860, when Irish and Scottish immigrants, who celebrated All Hallows' Eve overseas, began to arrive in Detroit and elsewhere in the U.S. Here, John Masey Wright's illustration to Robert Burns' poem Halloween from Burns' book of poems "Kilmarnock," published in 1786, shows Scottish country people enjoying the charms of a Halloween night.

Before Halloween was widely celebrated, Detroit had its own homegrown ghosts, goblins and mischief makers, such as the Nain Rouge (Red Dwarf), shown here in Isabella Stewart's original illustration from Marie Caroline Watson Hamlin's book "Legends of Le Detroit," first published in 1880.

An illustration by Isabella Stewart from "Legends of Le Detroit" by Marie Caroline Watson Hamlin. This image shows Le Lutin or the Goblin Horseman who stole horses in Grosse Pointe and rode them all night to exhaustion. Le Lutin haunted the Pointes for many years.

Witches, ghosts and soothsaying played a big part in Halloween in the early days in Detroit.

A costume once popular at Halloween was based on the clown Pierrot, who dressed in white with black touches. The female version was Pierrette.

A postcard of a boy in a Pierrot costume, popular at the turn of the century.

Jack-o'-lanterns were carved but other vegetables were also used, such as turnips, gourds, cucumbers and cabbages. A popular autumn party decoration was to hollow out a cabbage and fill it with roses; party tables were also decorated with nuts, apples and bunches of grapes.

Postcard of apple bobbing, a popular Halloween game in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Children play an apple game in 1928.

A child dressed as a witch rides a broomstick in a pageant or play in 1929. Halloween has become a major retail holiday, second only to Christmas in consumer spending, according to the National Retail Federation. But it didn't start out that way.

A little girl is dressed as a gypsy, probably in the 1920s.

A witch costume for Halloween appears pretty realistic in 1935.

Edmund Aziz, the iron masked man, and Clarence Lyons, the bashful dwarf, give each other a scare in 1939.

Donald and Jimmy Swan give Patricia Vaughan a scare when they hold her up for treats in 1946.

Brother and sister Mary Ellen and Johnny Davis in their Halloween costumes in 1946.

A young girl is caught in the light of a jack-o'-lantern in 1947.

A Halloween parade in 1949.

Adults dress up in costume for a Halloween party in 1948. The trend toward making Halloween a holiday for grownups as well as kids grew as the 20th century progressed.

Edith and Paul Roper get ready for trick-or-treating in 1949. Trick-or-treating can be traced to England and Ireland's practice of "souling," in which children went door to door and said prayers for the dead in exchange for treats and cake.

This lady lost her head in a Halloween costume representing Anne Boleyn, the beheaded wife of Britain's Henry VIII.

This lady lost her head in a Halloween costume representing Anne Boleyn, the beheaded wife of Britain's Henry VIII.

Brothers Steven and Christopher Sudnik get a fright at Halloween in 1954.

Children carry a haul of Halloween candy in 1954, an era when trick-or-treating mushroomed into the huge commercial enterprise it is today.

A man paints Halloween pumpkins in 1956.

Children march in a Halloween benefit for the United Nations Children's Fund in 1962.

Trick or Treat for Unicef is the Halloween mission of these girls from MacDowell School. They are, from left: Masami Ito, second-grader; Mesada Pasmanek and Lisa Grey, first-graders. In school, Detroit children learn about children in other countries who need their help.

Dr. and Mrs. William Westcott attend a Halloween party in Birmingham in 1967.

A couple of kids laugh in a pumpkin patch in 1969.

These kids build a pumpkin tower in 1967.

Nancy Bookey poses with jack o'lanterns in 1971.

A police officer inspects apples and Halloween candy for foreign objects in 1972.

This unidentified couple has their house decked out for Halloween in 1972.

This scary pumpkin did not make Shaun Patrick Christian too happy in 1974.

Nancy Crawford models a Vampira mask with Michael Zakoor, who wears a Dracula headpiece, in 1979.

Before the 1930s, Halloween was basically Devil's Night. There was no placating with a treat for no trick, it was all trick. Many people, especially police and fire departments, dreaded the night. In the 1980s, Devil's Night made an unwelcome return to Detroit, as arsonists torched the abandoned buildings that spread across the city. This house burned in 1985.

According to the New York Times, more than 200 arson fires burned on Devil's Night in Detroit in 1986, when this photo was taken.

Detroit Mayor Coleman Young and Bethany Jones promote an anti-Devil's Night event in 1987.

Devil's Night volunteers Alberta Blackburn and Flora Wilson patrol on Detroit's west side in 1990. In recent years, Detroit's Devil's Night arson fires started to abate, but the damage to the city remains.

This little girl falls asleep in her stroller after trick-or-treating with other kids at Wayne County Community College in 1988.

Paul Nerswick in his front yard, all decorated for Halloween in 1995. Today Halloween has become a big commercial enterprise, but its sinister roots remain visible.

Actor Shelton Martin at the Erebus haunted attraction in Pontiac, Michigan on October 27, 2014.

Scare actor Malik Burch comes through the wall during a preview of the Eloise Asylum in Westland, Michigan on September 23, 2021.

Native Detroiter and horror aficionado Alice Cooper, with wife Sheryl Goddard, does a short tour during a preview of Eloise Asylumon, haunted attraction, in Westland, Michigan on September 23, 2021.

Darkness is peeled away by a photographers flash to reveal a frozen, screaming Amy Kern by a demented clown, actor Otto Ghee, during her journey though Erebus. Erebus haunted attraction in Pontiac, Michigan on October 27, 2014.

Owner Ed Terebus in the jaws of a monster at Erebus in Pontiac in 2016.

A walk-through a graveyard is one of the creepy attractions at Emma Barbieri's Halloween display in Clinton Township, which fills the lawn, the driveway and the garage. Homemade Haunts in Michigan on October 24, 2019.

"Terror on Tillson Street" annual block of Halloween decorated houses in Romeo, Michigan, on October 28, 2020.

"Terror on Tillson Street" annual block of Halloween decorated houses in Romeo, Michigan  on October 28, 2020.

A family of skeletons make their way by Martha-Mary Chapel in Greenfield Village at a Hallowe'en night.

A ghastly figure welcomes visitors to Halloween in Greenfield Village. Halloween in Greenfield Village, presented by Meijer, including more than 1,000 hand-carved jack-o-lanterns and 50-plus costumed characters from classic stories such as The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Alice in Wonderland and the Wizard of Oz, alongside newly-created storybook experiences as well as a brand-new train adventure aboard the Hallowe’en Express in Dearborn, Michigan  on October 29, 2020.

Costumed visitors to Greenfield Village make their way through a foggy tunnel of terror crossing the Ackley Covered Bridge. Halloween in Greenfield Village, presented by Meijer, including more than 1,000 hand-carved jack-o-lanterns and 50-plus costumed characters from classic stories such as The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Alice in Wonderland and the Wizard of Oz, alongside newly-created storybook experiences as well as a brand-new train adventure aboard the Hallowe’en Express in Dearborn, Michigan  on October 29, 2020.

Halloween in Greenfield Village, presented by Meijer, including more than 1,000 hand-carved jack-o-lanterns and 50-plus costumed characters from classic stories such as The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Alice in Wonderland and the Wizard of Oz, alongside newly-created storybook experiences as well as a brand-new train adventure aboard the Halloween Express in Dearborn, Michigan, on October 29, 2020.

Spooky decorations cover the front lawn of a participant in the St. Clair Shores Halloween Tour on Friday, Oct. 20, 2023 in St. Clair Shores.