The Grim Reaper, the personification of Death, has existed for centuries, serving as an enduring source of fear. This idea originated in the 14th century during the world’s worst pandemic… the Black Plague.
The Black Plague, also known as Black Death, spread rapidly through Europe, killing somewhere between 25 and 75 million people. Due to so many deaths, the bodies were piled up everywhere. This made people believe that death walked among them.
Its appearance was cultivated from what death looks like at its final stage, a skeleton, and a robe representing the religious robes worn at the time during funeral services. Death carries a scythe because it reaps or cuts down souls with just as much ease as a farmer would do to wheat. It is also said to hold an hourglass and count down the grains of sand waiting for the time to run out on a life.
English speakers often associate the Grim Reaper with a male figure, while French, Spanish, and Italian speakers consider it female, as the word for death is feminine in their languages.
How does it really connect to Halloween? On Halloween, it is said that the line between life and death is blurred. Dressing up for Halloween is considered a way to ward off evil. People would disguise themselves to frighten or blend in with the spirits so they would not be harmed. The Grim Reaper is often considered evil because people are scared of dying; to counteract this fear, they dress up to avoid it.
Over time, the holiday has lost its religious and superstitious connotations, and the Grim Reaper has become a cool and easy thing to dress up as for Halloween.
