When is the witching hour?

By Bennett Kleinman

If you’re a fan of TV's How I Met Your Mother, then you’re aware that “nothing good happens after 2 a.m.” The show’s writers may have been onto something, as popular beliefs pin the “witching hour” to one hour later at 3 a.m. (or midnight, depending on which traditions you’re following). Does this phrase evoke images of women flying through the air on broomsticks and turning children into mice using their magical powers? Insert spooky noises here Yes, the origins of the phrase bring us to stories of witchcraft, but parents of young children also use “witching hour” to refer to a stretch of early evening when babies seem more prone to crying. And stock traders will be familiar with the term as the last hour of trading in each month — the market is especially volatile during that time period.But back to the magical witches. Around 1600, William Shakespeare wrote a soliloquy in Hamlet that included the line, “‘Tis now the very witching time of night.” This denoted the first known use of a phrase similar to “witching hour.” Elizabeth Carolina Keene then penned the specific pairing of the words with the line “Tis the baleful witching hour” in the 1762 poem “Nightmare.” The term held onto its literary presence through the end of the 20th century with the publication of Anne Rice’s 1990 supernatural horror novel, The Witching Hour.While it may be used for babies and stock markets, it still primarily refers to an hour of the night/early morning when supernatural events are more likely to occur. But there’s a debate about when exactly the witching hour takes place. Many people think it falls between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m., a belief that’s rooted in religious history. Biblical scholars posit that Jesus Christ died at 3 p.m., and in turn, 3 a.m. became known as the “devil’s hour” — a term that evolved into “witching hour.” Other traditions claim the witching hour begins at midnight, but in essence they all agree on the same thing: The witching hour is when supernatural and mysteriously diabolical events take place while shrouded in darkness.

Bennett Kleinman is a New York City-based staff writer for Optimism. He is also a freelance comedy writer, devoted New York Yankees and New Jersey Devils fan, and thinks plain seltzer is the best drink ever invented.