Michigan’s Devil’s Night: The Dark Story Behind It

Michigan is the only state that refers to the night before Halloween as 'Devil's Night.' Let's find out the origins of this dark Michigan tradition.

I remember there being strict curfews the night before Halloween growing up on the southeast side of Michigan. Every year we would watch the news and there would be fires set all over the city of Detroit. Locally there would be harmless pranks, but if a kid was caught it was big trouble.

Origins and Evolution of the Night Before Halloween

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Devil's Night was originally called Mischief Night and dates as far back as 1583. This was a British tradition that began as May Day Eve where people would do pranks to bring in the month of May.

Over time this tradition moved to November 4th which was the day before Bonfire Night, then shifted to October 30th the night before Halloween where most Americans have done pranks as far back as 1910.

How Michigan Made ‘Devil’s Night’ A Thing

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Pranks remained harmless in Michigan through the 1940s to 1970s with kids toilet-papering trees (TP'd) and egging houses. Every year when I would ride the bus to school when Halloween was on a weekday, we would always go by a house or two that had been 'TP'd" and we would laugh. It was harmless and probably a pain to clean up but didn't do any damage.

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Devil's Night became more violent in the 1970s and 1980s with arson becoming a major problem. Before the rejuvenation of Detroit, there were thousands of abandoned homes and factories that kids would light on fire. Some Devil's Nights in Detroit would have hundreds of fires set in one night.

In 1984, it was the worst year on record for fires in Detroit, on Devil's Night, when a whopping 810 fires were set in one night.

After increased enforcement and volunteer patrols the setting of fires has decreased drastically over time and the tradition of widespread destruction has largely faded.

There still may be a house or two that gets toilet papered, but with the price of eggs these days, I doubt anyone is egging houses anymore.

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Michigan is the only state with Devil’s Night, though a few others call it Mischief Night, but for most all states in the U.S. October 30 is just another day.

👇BELOW: Halloween Pranks of Yesteryear👇