What the Night Before Halloween Is Called Across America, Mapped

Did you have a name for the night before Halloween when you were growing up? For most Americans, there's no label for it. All Hallows' Eve Eve is just usually just referred to as the plain old night before Halloween—a time to make sure plans are in place for how to get the most candy when trick-or-treating, to go to pre-Halloween parties, or to check on costumes in preparation for the day ahead.

However, a couple of states actually have names for this specific evening. See which states call this night something more than just “the night before Halloween” ahead.

Michigan

Michigan, and particularly southeast Michigan, refers to the night before Halloween as Devil's Night.

This name has its origins in nights of harmless pranks and children’s tricks that started back in Europe and became popular in southeast Michigan, particularly Detroit. The traditional mischief night started there in the early 1900s with small bonfires and soapy windows. From the 1940s to the 1970s, police might have been called in about kids toilet-papering houses and egging homes on this night. One local Detroit newspaper even published a guide called “How to beat the Devil” that included instructions for harmless pranks.

But by the 1980s, Detroit was struggling with economic issues and unemployment, and more serious behaviors led to greater destruction on Devil’s Night. Fires became more prevalent as more abandoned properties in the city were set on fire as part of the night. In 1984, it was estimated that more than 800 fires were set in Detroit on Devil's Night.

By the 1990s, however, initiatives had been put in place to curb the destruction that Devil’s Night had become known for, and volunteers began coming out for neighborhood watches as part of a program called Angels' Night. The city now celebrates Devil's Night in name only; fires and mischief are rare, and the city's mayor declared Devil's Night over in 2017.

New Jersey

The East Coast prefers to call the night before Halloween “Mischief Night,” and nowhere is that more popular than New Jersey. Delaware and areas of Pennsylvania around Philadelphia also use this name to refer to the night before Halloween.

The name is believed to have traveled to the East Coast from the United Kingdom, with immigrants settling in places like New Jersey and bringing the tradition with them. Others trace the origins back to the day after Black Tuesday, October 29, 1929, when pranksters blew off some steam after the huge stock market crash.

By the 1930s, East Coast cities like Boston were reporting broken windows and small fires as Mischief Night grew more popular. Today, in New Jersey in particular, this night often means toilet-papering houses and adding soap bubbles to local fountains.

Depending on where you live in New Jersey, not everyone will call it Mischief Night. In fact, some areas in northeast New Jersey call the night before Halloween Cabbage Night.

Where did Mischief Nights start?

The night's origins may come from European traditions rooted going back as far as the 1790s, when children liked to pull pranks with no serious harm intended.

Parts of England had Mischief Night on April 30, also known as May Eve. But it later shifted to be closer to Guy Fawkes Day in early November as part of the commemorations for a failed explosive attack on the British Parliament.

Mischief Night is still celebrated in some places in the United Kingdom, with kids spending November 4—the night before Bonfire Night—doorbell-ditching neighbors, putting honey on doorknobs, or removing garden gates.