Ah yes, the Halloween season.

It’s a holiday which, unfortunately, seems to grow dim as one respectively grows older. It becomes weird to dress up in costumes and walk around begging for candy. So, instead of pretending to be someone else, we turn to a new form of entertainment: scaring ourselves.

The frights come in various forms, from horrifying movies seen behind trembling hands, to scream-filled haunted houses. Halloween evolves from a harmless holiday into one packed with terror and intensity. We begin to search for something to startle us, something to capture our attention.

On our search for terror, pop culture has allowed certain urban legends to grow popular. These rituals are practiced by those searching for something terrifying. So, we decided to test some of the most popular Halloween tricks to see if all the hype is accurate.

Charlie Charlie: a trick which originated in numerous Spanish speaking countries. “Charlie Charlie” is supposed to summon spirits to answer certain questions by using pencils to create a square. There are two participants and each one holds two pencils against the other participant’s pencils. In ways similar to an Ouija board, an individual asks the spirits a question. If the trick works as it is supposed to, an outside force is said to be able to move the pencils used in the trick towards a specific answer.
However, it went quite a bit differently for us.
With a square drawn and pencils in place, we were prepared to meet Charlie. Unfortunately, he chose not to respond to our three questions. How rude.

Bloody Mary: a ritual which originally was said to allow women to see their future husbands; modern times has seen this trick take a turn for the creepy. The legend states that if an individual stands in front a dim mirror and says “bloody Mary” three times, they will see the horrifying face of Mary herself (while the Mary in this legend refers to Queen Mary Of Scotts, it hasn’t been confirmed if one will see the past ruler’s face).
With the lights at a low level and the mirror perfectly clean, we were expecting the worst.
Instead, we were met with just our smiling selves in the mirror.

Ouija Board: undeniably one of the most popular legends out there, this trick focuses on using a wooden board to communicate with the spirits. The board itself consists of all of the letters of the alphabet, along with “yes” and “no”. It is rumored that if one focuses enough on the task and asks the spirits a question, the participants will be willed to spell out an answer.

However, we were met with some pretty shy spirits and received no answers to our questions.

While we were met with little success in our ghost hunting endeavors, it’s important to understand that you are never really too old for Halloween. Whether you are jumping from house to house collecting candy, or sitting in a dark basement watching a horrifying movie, there is no age where you have to stop participating in the holiday.