Folklore includes a traditional trickster figure, the subject of many stories in a cycle. Trickster tales are in the animal tales genre, with the trickster himself — he seems always to be male — identified with a particular animal. These include the fox in Japan, mouse deer in Southeast Asia, the coyote and the spider among the Native Americans, the tortoise and spider in West Africa, and the mantis in Southern Africa.

Tricksters are usually small in size next to the large, strong animals that appear in the same folktales. Tricksters survive by their wits, but they do more than just survive. They constantly play tricks on the animals around them, outwitting and mistreating their powerful neighbours even when these larger animals haven’t done anything to deserve it. Occasionally he overreaches himself and finds that he’s been too clever for his own good. It’s the Trickster who points out the flaws in our carefully managed societies. He rebels against authority, pokes fun at the overly serious, creates complex schemes and generally plays with the Laws of the Universe. He constantly questions the rules, and causes us to question these same rules. The Trickster appears when a way of thinking becomes outmoded, when old ways need to be changed.

The Trickster is a creator, a joker, a truth teller, a story teller, a transformer. We are most accessible to the gifts of the Trickster when we ourselves are at, or near, boundaries – when we are experiencing transition states. As an archetype, the Trickster, the boundary dweller, finds expression through human imagination and experience. Trickster tales are great favourites in many cultures. They represent the underdog who uses skill and cunning to outwit a superior. West African trickster animals have a significant presence in the New World, when they travelled as part of the folklore of enslaved Africans. The rabbit is best known as Br’er Rabbit in the folktales documented by Joel Chandler Harris in the USA. We also find him in his modern avatar, Bugs Bunny !

The spider is best known as Anansi, and you find him throughout the former English and French colonies of the West Indies. The role of the slave trickster tales was an important one giving a sense of pride and hope for the future. They showed that the weak could conquer the strong. The tales were devices that taught helplessness can triumph over virtue and mischievousness is better than malice. For the slaves, trickster folklore was also a weapon by which they were able to take subtle revenge on their masters.

The mere mention of the word Vampire brings up an image of a pale white man with sharp teeth drinking blood. Or it may also remind you of a beautiful woman who in an instant would turn into a blood-sucking ghost. As far as history of vampires is concerned there is no exact date known to anyone; however a few people are of the opinion that it started with a novel published in 1897 by Bram Stocker. No matter who started and when, but we all are so intrigued by their existence that we often believe that they exist.

But there are many sources that also claim that vampires were mentioned in various forms, such as pottery, scriptures in ancient Babylon era. For example, demon Lilitu was mentioned in the history as early as 4000 BC in Babylon pottery. She was portrayed as a woman who loved to suck blood of young men with sexual intentions. Many men said to have seen vampires in their erotic dreams and thoughts. Most of these vampires intended to seduce young men by coming into their dreams and henceforth made them their preys or victims. These vampires were known to be very beautiful by looks and seductive by nature so that they could have found their victims too easily.

Let’s see some brief introduction about the history of Halloween. Halloween, as we all know is a holiday celebrated on October 31 every year. As far as roots of Halloween are concerned they can be found in Celtic festival of Samhain and Christianity. But in the modern world almost every country in Western world celebrates this day. Needless to say this day is very special day to children and youngsters who dress up like ghosts and wear other unusual things to portray themselves like ghost and skeletons. They usually go from door to door and their near and dear ones to show their tricks and in return they get candies, chocolates and sometimes a few coins for their efforts.

Pumpkin lanterns and other ghostly images are being used on this day to make people laugh and sometimes frightened. Apart from just frightening and entertaining people, Halloween has very rich and vast history along with a special message on this last day of summers. Centuries ago, people especially Celtic people from Western Europe strongly believed that on the last day of summer all living beings join together including human beings and kingdom of dead.