From Satan’s Bridge to the living dead: Europe’s spookiest Halloween adventures

14.10.2024 - 21:39 / euronews.com

Sarah Faith is a content and values writer at activist travel company, Responsible Travel.

Trick or treat, it’s that time of year again. But if tacky decorations and piles of sweets aren’t your thing, why not immerse yourself in some of Europe’s finest storytelling traditions for spooky thrills that get you closer to local culture?

From Romania to Iceland, these are the best places in Europe to explore the myths, legends and local traditions that have inspired the season’s celebrations - and horror stories - throughout time. 

There are few places more synonymous with Halloween than Transylvania. But before Bran Stoker’s Dracula was even a whisper of a story, Romanians in Sighișoara have been easing their departed loved-ones’ journey into the afterlife through the Ritual of the Killing of the Living Dead. 

“Romanians are a superstitious people,” explains Hertha Todea who runs Halloween tours to Sighișoara. “The undead (or strigoi in Romanian) are spirits of the dead, who do not reach the world 'beyond' after the funeral, or refuse to return 'there' after visiting their relatives. They are very dangerous for the living: they take the lives of close relatives, bring diseases and other suffering."

“The Ritual of the Killing of the Living Dead is performed exactly as traditional old burial rites were to ensure the passing of strigoi. We want to introduce visitors to traditional Romanian folklore from before the legends of Dracula, and show them that many of the elements used in the ritual - candles, incense, garlic, holy water and basil - are things we still use today.”

If you take part, expect to gather around a 'strigoi' in a coffin as if you were grieving friends or family. With a priest presiding, you’ll pass round the coffin three times - to symbolise the Father, Son and Holy Spirit - holding candles to guide the captive soul into the light. 

A three-day tour with Transylvania Live, including the Ritual of the Killing of the Living Dead costs from £599pp (€715) and departs 1st November 2024.

Over 2,000 years ago, the ancient Celts wore masks and lit bonfires to ward off evil spirits and demons at Samhain, the harvest festival that marked the beginning of winter. A time, according to Celtic folklore, that the boundaries between this world and the next become blurred and spirits (or Púca) and fairies walk the earth. 

The traditions of Samhain reverberate as today’s Halloween - trick or treating started life as soul cakes baked and given to children and the poor, the carved pumpkins on our doorsteps trace their roots back to the hollowed-out turnips used to carry the burning embers home from Samhain bonfires. 

At County Meath’s Púca Festival you can hear tales of shapeshifting creatures from Irish storytellers,