Although much of the ancient folklore behind Halloween was around during the reign of Queen Victoria, the conservative Christian-based standards of that era meant some looked down upon the more supernatural aspects of the holiday. However, Victoria loved Halloween, and for decades, she threw her own Halloween celebrations in Scotland, far from the watchful eye of the English court.

Along with the bonfires, there were processions led by the queen and a piper with as many as 100 local residents, with reels — a type of traditional Scottish dancing — and bagpipes. All told, Queen Victoria's Halloween celebrations at Balmoral sometimes grew out of control — in 1874, the planned dance party in the Balmoral ballroom was called off by the queen because the partygoers were too riled up.

Following the death of her husband, Victoria controversially grew close to a man named John Brown, a Highland ghillie — something like a traditional Scottish nature guide or outdoorsman. No one's quite sure why, but beginning in 1883, around the same time that John Brown himself died, the queen and her family’s travel to Scotland for Halloween became less and less frequent.