# Halloween: Best Time for A Seance? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 7, 2004, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halloween-best-time-for-a-seance/268085 "2004-10-07T20:06:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2004, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halloween-best-time-for-a-seance/268085/1 "2004-10-07T20:06:49Z")
If one wished to contact the spirit world, are there any special times of the year when contact is more assured? Take Halloween…is it an especially good time to contact the spirits? Or will any other time do just as well? ---
**Author:** ![Yakkette](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/bbce88/32.png) [@Yakkette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yakkette)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2004, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halloween-best-time-for-a-seance/268085/2 "2004-10-07T20:24:00Z")
The best time to do things like that is at midnight on the 30th–technically the first hours of Halloween. Feel free to email me if you need more info…for the record, I’ve always had success in this timeframe. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2004, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halloween-best-time-for-a-seance/268085/3 "2004-10-07T20:44:38Z")
Hallowe’en comes from All Hallow Evening, the eve of All Hallow Day (All Saints Day, November 1), and a time when a new day began at sundown, as it still does in Judaism. All Souls day comes on November 2, and it was thought that having the intercession of the saints would help in praying for the souls of the dearly departed. Thus the most propicious time to contact the dead would be after sundown on October 31, not October 30. All dead people know this is true. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2004, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halloween-best-time-for-a-seance/268085/4 "2004-10-07T20:48:17Z")
Do people in the spirit world really have calendars? How do they know the date? ---
**Author:** ![Indygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@Indygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indygrrl)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2004, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halloween-best-time-for-a-seance/268085/5 "2004-10-07T20:50:38Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > Do people in the spirit world really have calendars? How do they know the date? Haha, don’t expect logic on this topic. ---
**Author:** ![Chastain86](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Chastain86](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chastain86)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2004, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halloween-best-time-for-a-seance/268085/6 "2004-10-07T20:51:44Z")
Or, it could be like they said in “Buffy.” That the undead actually hide on Halloween, because they consider it “tacky.” ---
**Author:** ![Chance\_the\_Gardener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@Chance\_the\_Gardener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chance_the_Gardener)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2004, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halloween-best-time-for-a-seance/268085/7 "2004-10-07T20:52:54Z")
I’d say December 24. You can summon the Christmas Spirit most easily then, and you’re surrounded by unknown presents. By December 25, everyone’s already opened their presents, so the anticipation’s gone. My tarot cards say that I’m likely to encounter a living, dancing snowman this winter. I can’t wait! ---
**Author:** ![Yakkette](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/bbce88/32.png) [@Yakkette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yakkette)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2004, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halloween-best-time-for-a-seance/268085/8 "2004-10-07T20:57:15Z")
> [@Chance the Gardener](#): > > My tarot cards say that I’m likely to encounter a living, dancing snowman this winter. I can’t wait! Only if you have possession of the Old Silk Hat. ---
**Author:** ![neofishboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/neofishboy/32/444_2.png) [@neofishboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neofishboy)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2004, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halloween-best-time-for-a-seance/268085/9 "2004-10-07T21:15:44Z")
_shrug_ Hey, man…so long as you got the proper ratio of virgin’s blood to cat noses in your seance bucket you’re good to go… ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2004, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halloween-best-time-for-a-seance/268085/10 "2004-10-07T21:26:26Z")
Actually, there is an old tradition of telling ghost stories at Christmas, the most famous being Charles Dickens’ _A Christmas Carol_, with its ghosts of Christmases Past, Present, and Future. Washington Irving, in his _Sketch-Book_ (1820), with its three-part account of English Christmas traditions, writes of the entertainment after [Christmas dinner](http://www.online-literature.com/view.php/geoffrey_crayon/23?term=ghost), > [@](#): > > When I returned to the drawing-room I found the company seated round the fire listening to the parson, who was deeply ensconced in a high-backed oaken chair, the work of some cunning artificer of yore, which had been brought from the library for his particular accommodation. From this venerable piece of furniture, with which his shadowy figure and dark weazen face so admirably accorded, he was dealing out strange accounts of the popular superstitions and legends of the surrounding country, with which he had become acquainted in the course of his antiquarian researches. The lyrics to the Christmas song _The Most Wonderful Time of the Year_ promise, > [@](#): > > There’ll be parties for hosting > Marshmallows for roasting > And caroling out in the snow > There’ll be scary ghost stories > And tales of the glories > Of Christmases long, long ago ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2004, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halloween-best-time-for-a-seance/268085/11 "2004-10-07T21:31:49Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > Do people in the spirit world really have calendars? How do they know the date? They refer to [this](http://www.paranormaldatabase.com/calendar/Pages/calendar.htm). ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2004, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halloween-best-time-for-a-seance/268085/12 "2004-10-07T21:48:42Z")
If you’re in Chicagoland I can suggest a haunted restaurant where a group of us had an unexpected encounter a couple of Halloweens ago. I don’t think they’d let you hold a seance there, but their food’s pretty good. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2004, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halloween-best-time-for-a-seance/268085/13 "2004-10-07T21:52:32Z")
Any time is a good time to waste time. Have your seance whenever you feel like it. ---
**Author:** ![Sycorax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a4c791/32.png) [@Sycorax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sycorax)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2004, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halloween-best-time-for-a-seance/268085/14 "2004-10-07T22:01:41Z")
Any time is a good time. The spirits are around us all the time, and if they want to communicate with you, the date won’t matter. ---
**Author:** ![Greywolf73](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d9b06d/32.png) [@Greywolf73](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greywolf73)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2004, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halloween-best-time-for-a-seance/268085/15 "2004-10-07T22:47:00Z")
I agree with **Sycorax**. I don’t think there really is a “good” time to make contact. I have no experiences with seances, but I’ve had good luck with capturing EVP (electronic voice phenomenon) at various times, day or night. If and when they want to make contact, you’ll hear from them. And yes, I’m completely serious. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2004, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halloween-best-time-for-a-seance/268085/16 "2004-10-07T23:12:51Z")
> [@neofishboy](#): > > Hey, man…so long as you got the proper ratio of virgin’s blood to cat noses in your seance bucket you’re good to go… :smack: Damn it! I’ve been using **virgin noses** and **cat’s blood**! No wonder it wasn’t working. ---
**Author:** ![emekthian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecae2f/32.png) [@emekthian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emekthian)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2004, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halloween-best-time-for-a-seance/268085/17 "2004-10-07T23:47:24Z")
It’s actually the worst time for a seance. Think about it- almost everyone thinks that Halloween is a good time to contact the spirit world, so they all try it. The spirits don’t want to have a bunch of annoying mortals bugging them all at once, so on Halloween they all go to the beach and have a huge orgy (orgys produce supernatural energy that drowns out the cries of mortals; also, they’re fun!) ---
**Author:** ![Meatros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Meatros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meatros)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2004, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halloween-best-time-for-a-seance/268085/18 "2004-10-07T23:53:22Z")
I’ve always wondered, why would the ‘spirits’-if they exist-want to bother with the living? If I were dead and could do so, I wouldn’t be attending any seances… ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2004, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halloween-best-time-for-a-seance/268085/19 "2004-10-08T01:25:35Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > Thus the most propicious time to contact the dead would be after sundown on October 31, not October 30. All dead people know this is true. I agree. The Day of the Dead has got to be your best bet. If you are really lucky you may just get in touch with Manny Calavera.