What is known as Halloween is a holiday celebrated on October 31 each year in America. It is also celebrated on other dates by different countries, each with its own customs. Although Halloween’s official date is October 31, it is often celebrated a few days prior so activities such as parties, costume contests, and trick-or-treating take place on weekends on days that are usually set by either the city or the organizations hosting the events

1. What is Halloween?
What is known as Halloween is a holiday celebrated on October 31 each year
in America. It is also celebrated on other dates by different countries, each
with its own customs. Although Halloween’s official date is October 31, it is
often celebrated a few days prior so activities such as parties, costume
contests, and trick-or-treating take place on weekends on days that are
usually set by either the city or the organizations hosting the events. When
Halloween is celebrated, children dress up in costumes and some go trick-
or-treating door-to-door. Sometimes, towns and cities have what is called
trunk-or-treat, where a trusted group of people park in a specified area and
hand out treats from the trunks of their cars. This practice is considered
safer than trick-or-treating in some neighborhoods, as are Halloween
parties, which often replace trick-or-treating while still giving away candy,
fruit, and other prizes. Watching scary movies and television shows and
carving pumpkins is also a cultural custom of American Halloween.

2. From its origination in Scotland over 2,000 years ago as Samhain’s Eve, the
celebrations and customs migrated to other countries, eventually to Colonial
New England, and evolved into Halloween. Because of the Puritanical
religious beliefs of New England, Halloween was mostly celebrated in the
southern colonies. Play parties were part of the earliest celebrations; people
gathered in public to predict each other’s futures, danced, sang, and told
ghost stories to celebrate the harvest. Annual Halloween festivities were
common in southern New England by the mid-19th century.
Since the early 1900s, carving jack-o-lanterns has been a Halloween tradition.

3. History of Halloween
Halloween’s background extends back more than 2,000 years ago as a
celebration that takes place the night before Samhain, which is
the Celtic New Year’s Day and also the first day of winter celebrated on
November 1. On Samhain’s Eve, October 31, superstitions abound and
people light bonfires and wear costumes, usually made of animal skins and
heads, to ward off ghosts. The Celts mostly resided in what is now Northern
France, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. Their New Year signified the end
of summer and the harvest and the beginning of winter, a time of year that
was commonly associated with death. They believed that the boundary
between the lands of the living and dead overlapped.
On October 31 at sundown, the Celtic people celebrated Samhain’s Eve, the
night they believed the spirits of the dead roamed the earth. Samhain
(meaning ‘“summer’s end”’ in Irish) is an ancient Celtic pagan festival that
lasts three days. Ghosts from the Otherworld were said to play supernatural
tricks, damage crops, and generally cause trouble. People tried to placate
these spirits by sacrificing either crops or animals in bonfires. People also
often played pranks and tricks on each other but blamed them on fairies and
spirits. Celtic priests, also called Druids, were thought to have the ability to
make predictions about the future, so fortune-telling was also practiced
during the Samhain festival. Because people were so dependent on an
unpredictable world, having their futures predicted was a source of comfort
for them, especially during the dark and cold winters.

4. After the Roman Empire had conquered most of the Celtic lands in 43 A.D.,
they ruled there for 400 years and combined two of their festivals with the
traditional celebration of Samhain. The first festival was called Feralia, a
late October day during which the Romans honored the passing of the dead.
The second festival was in honor of Pomona, the Roman goddess of trees
and fruit. The apple is the symbol of Pomona; this was probably the
origination of bobbing for apples on Halloween. People placed favorite foods
outside for the dead, and many other spirits, some of which had never been
human, could also appear. Sprites, fairies, elves, and wee folk were also
thought to visit that night. Because there was a chance that the ghost of a
person one may have wronged would also appear, people deceived them by
darkening their faces with bonfire ashes, a practice later called ‘“guising,”’
which evolved into people wearing masks. If a living person recognized a
friendly ghost, the mask could be removed without fear.
Halloween began as Samhain Eve, a Celtic festival where people wore
costumes to scare away ghosts.

5. Christian Influence and All Hallows’ Eve
On May 13, 609 A.D., Pope Boniface IV dedicated the Pantheon in Rome to
the honor of all Christian martyrs, which ushered in the development of the
All Martyrs’ Day Catholic feast. The Christian influence eventually reached
Halloween when Pope Gregory III expanded All Martyrs’ Day to include all
saints. He established All Saints’ Day and changed the date of observance
from May 13 to November 1. People have speculated that the Popes created
new holidays to replace Samhain because they wanted to steer the focus
away from pagan rituals that the Church thought to be heathenistic.
In England, holy people (saints) were called ‘“hallowed,”’ which is another
reason All Saints’ Day was called All Hallows’ Eve, celebrated on October
31. All Saints’ Day was also called ‘“All-hallows”’ or ‘“Alholomesse,”’ which is
Old English for ‘“All Saints’ Day.”’ The evening before was known as All
Hallows Eve; since evening was also called ‘“e’en,”’ All Hallows’ Eve was
eventually shortened to Halloween.
In 1000 A.D., the church established November 2 as All Souls’ Day, a day to
commemorate the dead. People today believe that the church was trying to
replace Samhain with a church-sanctioned holiday. All Souls’ Day was
celebrated similarly to Samhain, with parades, bonfires, parades, and
dressing up as devils, angels, and saints.

6. 5 spooky Halloween traditions
Making Jack-o’-Lanterns
During the Halloween season, you’ll see Jack-o’-Lanterns on almost every
front porch. Pumpkin carving, or making Jack-o’-Lanterns, is one of the
United States’ absolute favorite Halloween activities. It’s so popular, in fact,
that there’s a town in New York that dedicates an entire exhibit to
pumpkins:For many families, carving pumpkins is quite an ordeal. But how
do you actually make a Jack-o’-Lantern? It often begins with a trip to the
pumpkin patch to select the perfect pumpkin. After picking one out, the real
fun begins. Once you cut a hole in the top of the pumpkin, scoop out all the
seeds on the inside of the until it’s completely hollow. Then, carve a spooky
face, complete with triangle eyes and a scary smile. To top it all off, put a
candle inside to make the face glow!

7. Wearing spooky costumes
One of the best parts of Halloween is getting to dress up! In the days and
weeks leading up to the holiday, don’t be surprised to see people in full-on
costumes out and about. From mummies, ghosts, and zombies, to pop
culture references, cartoon characters, and animals, you will likely see all
kinds of crazy and detailed costumes. In New York City, there is an entire
parade devoted to showing off costume creativity! Many communities have
fun events like this to allow kids and adults alike to don their crazy outfits
and celebrate. So, if you see someone covered in face paint around October
31, don’t be alarmed!
Trick-or-treating
The name of this tradition sounds strange, and the tradition itself is perhaps
even more odd! While there are rarely tricks, there are plenty of treats on
Halloween. Trick-or-treating happens in the evening on October 31. After
the school day ends, children don their silliest and spookiest costumes. Then
they walk around their neighborhood and collect candy at each house by
saying “Trick or treat!” at each door. It’s a fun way for the community to
collectively celebrate the holiday, and a fantastic opportunity for kids to
dress up as their favorite characters or superheroes.
Visiting haunted houses
This sounds absolutely crazy, right? Why would anyone intentionally visit a
haunted house? During the Halloween season in the US, venues all across

8. the country transform themselves into mazes of terror. Haunted houses
typically have especially scary themes (like clowns), but sometimes bring a
variety of horrifying topics together to create the most bone-chilling
experience possible. When walking through the dimly lit rooms, be alert for
actors who will jump out from behind corners! Only the bravest among us
dare enter these hair-raising houses.
Telling scary stories
From the costumes to the haunted houses, Halloween is one time of year
that warrants a little extra creepiness. One popular way to get in the spooky
spirit is to recount tales of terror about ghosts, monsters and creepy
creatures. In Sleepy Hollow, New York, the birthplace of famous writer
Washington Irving, attendees can hear a special dramatic reading of his
story, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. This classic tale of the Headless
Horseman and Ichabod Crane is performed by actors who know how to
really take the creepiness up a notch. If you’re especially brave, you and your
friends can tell scary stories in the dark or around a bonfire in the woods, or
even participate in marathons of scary Halloween movies.
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