7 Strange Halloween Traditions from Around the World

3. Mischief Night – USA

In certain urban areas of the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, an informal tradition of mischief and vandalism takes place every October 30^th, the day before Halloween. It’s by no means a national holiday, and only exists in a small number of urban and rural communities spread across these countries. Although the tradition has traveled, it seems that once a community has a history of the tradition, it tends to stick around, much to the consternation of local police.

Alternately known as Mischief Night, Devil’s Night, Gate Night, Goosey Night, or Mat Night, this ‘holiday’ gives license to young people to partake in minor acts of vandalism and pranks, such as swapping people’s patio furniture, digging up rotting produce from overwintered gardens and throwing it around, toilet papering trees and houses, setting off fireworks, and stealing jack-o’-lanterns. In response to a brutal rash of vandalism on Devil’s Night in the 1980s in Detroit, a brigade of nearly 40,000 volunteers signed up to patrol their neighborhoods to deter would-be Devil’s Night participants.

Darrin Klimek / Getty Images