Googling on Halloween: What was Hot on the Holiday?

A lot more than Halloween was on people's minds on October 31, though variations on the holiday theme filled Google's top search items. It was Happy Halloween! Or Samhain, for some, Reformation day for others, and just plain October 31 some folks. These are all search items on the top of Google's list on Halloween morning. Along with those is samhainophobia, the fear (dread, more like) of Halloween, not to be confused with a scary Halloween, which for many is the best part! Here's a review of what was hot on Google search as the day passed.

Along with samhainophobia, an article on about.com lists "cats (ailurophobia), witches (wiccaphobia), ghosts (phasmophobia), spiders (arachnophobia), the dark (nyctophobia) and cemeteries (coimetrophobia)." From what I see walking around my neighborhood, some people will finally be stepping outside in the next few days, as the decorations disappear.

Many of the search items Halloween morning are related to Halloween, but not all. Of the Halloween terms, last night's "quick and easy Halloween costumes" has dropped off the list, along with "fear of clowns," which doesn't seem like a typical Halloween fear. Everything from poems and crosswords with Halloween as the subject, to "Halloween multiplication" are on the list today. Clip art, of course, and scary music, Halloween Mad Libs, and the words to the ever-popular "Monster Mash" are popular today, and "dia de los muertos" makes the list as well, in Spanish. At the top of this morning's list, a Myspace treat - "myspace Halloween comments," where Myspace members can send each other spooky (and apparently sexy as well) Halloween greetings. Oh yes, and "Halloween sex" is a top search item. But on to some other hot topics!

Nicole Kidman wore a "little black dress" which was a little too sheer for the bright sunlight at a reception in Sydney, Australia, and as one article said, thankfully she's not Britney, and all we saw was some sexy black underthings. Speaking of her, Britney's new CD wasn't on the list. San Jose had a 5.6 shaker yesterday, and "earthquake" is a top research item today. For some reason the architect of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is being researched, and the answer is I. M. Pei, a Chinese architect credited with many of America's finest examples of modern architecture. Perhaps that was a question on a scavenger hunt, because about.com's education site has one going on, with question #1 "What kind of worms are in wormy apples?" That question is also search item #28 on Google's hot list right now, resourceful kids at work!

"The other Winfrey" is an intriguing item, and there are several, including a gay male blogger. But there is a "The Other Winfrey Show," also out of Chicago, which might be it. It looks like that's related to Shakeeta Winfrey, who has a book out with the same title. A relative of Oprah's, according to the entry on Amazon.com, she took the hard route through life, was led out by her faith in God, and is a motivational speaker. Some people seem to find her a bit more "real," but she's got a different message and a different audience, apparently. There's a Myspace page for the TV show, too. Amazon.com's blurb suggests that her book might be good for looking at your own life and what you value. Controversy ensues in the comments, though.

After all the candy, it's not surprising that one of the items, a little lower on the search list now but sure to rise tomorrow, is "calculate bmi." That's Body Mass Index, one way of saying "am I fat?" hopefully after searching on "Halloween games," "Halloween music," and dancing the "Monster Mash," that won't be a problem!

As Halloween ends, another check of Google's hot list shows scifi.com's Ghost Hunters is still hot, but Myspace comments for halloween are giving way to Thanksgiving Myspace layouts, and Vincent "Don Vito" Margera's conviction for groping young girls at an event in Colorado is the latest celebrity news being researched. The "westboro baptist church," is "on fire" according to Google, because they lost a court case brought after they picketed a Marine's funeral. According to the Boston Globe, they target and taunt victims from the Iraq War to Hurricane Katrina and even the Utah miners recently trapped underground, claiming that Americans deserve what they get, because of American tolerance of homosexuality.

Hopefully you had a good Halloween, on- and offline. And to quote misscellania.com, one of the results of searching for "dirty halloween jokes": "So - what'd you get in the sack?"

"Samhain", http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samhain

"The Other Winfrey (paperback)", http://www.amazon.com/Other-Winfrey-Shakeeta/dp/1424329418

"October 31: On this day", http://www.news24.com/News24/On_this_day/On_this_day/0,,2-1602-1492_2212299,00.html (Reformation Day)

"San Jose Earthquake Registers as a Magnitude 5.6", http://www.transworldnews.com/NewsStory.aspx?id=26684&cat=11

"Nicole Kidman Shows Goodies Thanks to Her Transparent Black Dress", http://www.music-juice.com/celebrity-news/nicole-kidman-shows-goodies-thanks-to-her-transparent-black-d.html

"Pei Cobb Freed & Partners", http://www.pcfandp.com/a/p/8704/s.html

"Halloween Scavenger Hunt", Melissa Kelly, http://712educators.about.com/cs/halloween/a/halloweenhunt.htm

"Scared of Halloween - Samhainophobia and Other Fears - Afraid of Halloween", Cathleen Henning Fenton, http://panicdisorder.about.com/cs/specificbasics/a/samhainophobia.htm

"What Can We Learn from a 'Church' of Hate?", Jeff Jacoby, http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2007/10/31/what_can_we_learn_from_a_church_of_hate?p1=MEWell_Pos4

"Halloween - Miss Cellania", http://www.misscellania.com/miss-cellania/2007/10/31/halloween.html