5 Creepy New Year’s Eve Superstitions Every Horror Fan Should Know

New Year’s Eve is here. That one day of the year we celebrate our mistakes and make excuses for one more night of poor decision making ahead of a vow to do better, be better. I’m resolving to watch more television starting with Apple TV Plus’s Servant. There are a ton of folklore and legends surrounding the final day of the year. It’s not all resolutions and partying with friends. There are quite a few truly terrifying things every horror fan should know ahead of the ball dropping tonight. If you are a fan of horror, here are all the things you should know before you light those candles, chill that champagne, and fling open those doors.

Let The Right One In At The Stroke Of Midnight.

It’s not just vampires you should be wary of tonight. The first person to enter your home following the stroke of midnight foretells the kind of year you will have. A tall dark and attractive person bearing gifts is great luck, a blond with nothing but her cell phone not so much. Women in general as a first guest are terrible luck. A redhead with alcohol may bring fire and passion, but that’s only if you can survive her dark fate. Additionally, no one should leave until the guest arrives or bad luck will follow everyone in the New Year.

At first blush, this superstition that promises good fortune in the year ahead to those who are careful about who enters their home right after midnight is harmless fun. When you really dive deep into this legend the sinister side of things is revealed. First, you can’t let anyone leave or enter until the “right” person comes calling. Holding hostages seems like a pretty poor life choice for a day that should be dedicated to making amends. If people show up late to the party are you just supposed to keep them waiting in the cold until some tall, dark, strange arrives with a bottle of champagne?

It Comes At Night So Lock Everyone In Whether They Like It Or Not.

As mentioned before, under no uncertain terms should anyone leave until someone enters after midnight. In addition, nothing can be removed from the house until January 2nd. The idea is if you let anyone or anything leave on New Year’s Day it sets the tone for everyone and everything to leave you in the year ahead. This includes food, people, water(don’t flush), garbage, or gifts. In a house full of hungover people and food remnants from the party the night before the idea of a house that can’t flush the toilets or wash the dishes is too much for me. I’m always down for avoiding housework, but I’m drawing the line at this kind of depravity.

Air It Out So The Contagion Doesn’t get You

Just before midnight open all the doors and windows to your home to let the bad juju of the year before out and invite the luck of the new year in. Some cultures take it a step further and try to banish evil spirits at the stroke of midnight. In Ireland, they bang bread against the walls of their house to encourage the spirits to move on. Sweeping is a great idea before that slug of champagne. Sweep out all the negative energy and spirits before the guests arrive so the home is inviting to all the positive energy you want to attract.

The concerns with opening all the doors and windows include the risk of hypothermia and inviting more than just the wrong type of guest in. One Alabama family had a Peeping Tom wearing nothing but a Ronald Regan mask and a precariously balanced sock lurking outside their house in 2015. Who knows what would have happened if they had opened the doors for that dude?

Several New Year’s revelers over the years have reported uninvited ghosts crashing their event. These apparitional party poopers steal things breaking the above-mentioned rules, yelling at guests, and destroying furniture. One woman reported an old woman in white who no one remembered inviting dropping scarves on her front porch. The woman did nothing bad to the guests, but I guess agism is thriving in that household because being old alone was enough to freak them out.

The Kiss Of The Vampire Is The Least Of Your Troubles

be very careful who you kiss at midnight. The right person can seal the deal on your love life, the wrong one means you are stuck with that first-rate clinger. Even worse, if you kiss no one, you will be unloved and alone for the whole next year. Not only is that harsh, but it seems to encourage a whole lot of unwanted touching. There are whole strategies and websites designed to help you get that right sloppy one to set you up for romantic success. That’s just gross.

In this current #METOO climate we should not be trying to sneak a kiss. Consent is a real thing, so make sure you lay the groundwork well before you lean in for that soft and wet one.

Boys Get A Raw Deal

There are some truly bizarre things happening around the world. In some Japanese villages men dressed as demons run through the town warning children to be brave and never lazy. I’m all for discouraging laziness but demons running through town yelling at children to not be cry babies is terrifying for many reasons. In this new world order shouldn’t we teach our children it’s okay to cry?

Perhaps the weirdest is at one time January 1st was called The Feast of Circumcision Day. It is a day of Christain significance considered to be the eighth day of Christ’s life. I have no problem with religious practices, but I don’t want to feast on anything that comes from this kind of party.

Be cautious as you ring the new year in. Make good choices. Only invite people tonight who are stinky and messy. Have everyone use the restroom early in the night and avoid letting in those you wouldn’t want to spend the whole year with. From all of Signal Horizon may the night bring you good fortune.