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The History of Halloween Will Blow Your Ghoul-Loving Mind

For the majority of Americans, the widely-celebrated holiday of Halloween is viewed as so harmless that even young children can celebrate without issue. But the history of Halloween is much darker than today's parents would probably want their children to be aware (not that that's any reason for any parent to deny their costume-loving kids some fun-loving Halloween fun). Everything from why we dress up in Halloween costumes to why we go trick-or-treating to why we carve pumpkins has some creepy (and not to mention, interesting!) roots.

After all, it's not just some random coincidence that Halloween is littered with images of mummies, vampires, ghosts, and zombies, or that common Halloween decorations and costumes regularly feature skulls, tombstones, and spiders. None of these themes or traditions just spontaneously popped up for a Hallmark card or two, though. The history actually goes much deeper, and much further back than you think. Halloween's origins can be traced back to all the way back to the ancient Celtic days. Knowing more about how the Celts celebrated October 31 and other details behind the beloved holiday can go a long way in finding even more creepy, crawly ways of celebrating it.

Why is Halloween celebrated on October 31?

Photo credit: Dave Etheridge-Barnes - Getty Images
Photo credit: Dave Etheridge-Barnes - Getty Images

The Celtic festival Samhain is one of the earliest examples of Halloween-type behavior in history. According to House Beautiful, it functioned as a pagan New Year holiday of sorts, and was also called the Feast of the Dead. Celebrated from October 31 to November 1, Samhain was considered the time of year when the veil between the living and the dead was thinnest, and many believed that due to that thin veil spirits were capable of mingling with the living.

To celebrate, the Celts would eat together, build huge bonfires, and sacrifice animals to honor the dead. They even wore costumes – in those days, animal skins — which is the start of the now-common tradition of dressing up today. Luckily for us, the tradition of dressing up in costumes is a little less spooky now.

After Samhain, came All Hallows' Eve.

Though Samhain is the earliest mention of an October 31 holiday, other iterations of the celebration came later, in the 8th century. The church moved All Saints' Day (a day celebrating all the saints) to November 1, with All Hallows' Eve falling the night before, on October 31. Per the BBC, this was seen by many as an attempt by the powers that be within the Christian faith to replace the pagan holiday of Samhain with a day where people would gather for a vigil, pray, and fast before the feast of All Saints' Day. All Hallows' Eve was eventually shortened to the Halloween moniker that we know today.

What are the origins of trick-or-treating?

Photo credit: Rebecca Nelson - Getty Images
Photo credit: Rebecca Nelson - Getty Images

According to the Catholic blog Get Fed, Catholic churches would display bones and relics of saints on All Hallows' Eve for people to pay tribute to during the evening vigils. This practice gave way to the popular, spooky decorations of the 21st century.

Trick-or-treating also reportedly originated with the Catholics, according to Get Fed. People in England would knock on neighborhood doors to ask for "soul cakes" and, in return, would pray for the homeowners' deceased relatives. English immigrants helped bring that tradition over to America, and Irish immigrants brought the tradition of All Hallows' Eve pranks. Soon, these transplanted traditions morphed into today's modern practice of trick-or-treating, which used to lean much more heavily on the trick part, as Country Living explains.

According to the Washington Post, in the 1930s some childish pranks were escalating to the point of becoming deadly. To keep kids better occupied, neighborhoods started throwing collective Halloween parties where children would go door-to-door and collect random trinkets, like costume pieces and candy. Haunted houses also popped up during this period of time, with adults distracting would-be pranksters with pranks of their own, like making them touch peeled grapes disguised as "eyeballs" and having barking dogs jump out from the darkness.

World War II quelled trick-or-treating, since sugar had to be rationed. But when the war ended, the tradition picked right back up and has remained popular ever since.

There's a dark history behind why we carve pumpkins.

Photo credit: © by Martin Deja - Getty Images
Photo credit: © by Martin Deja - Getty Images

Irish Central reports that modern Jack-O'-Lanterns have a dark history. Per Irish folklore, there was a greedy man named Jack who tried to trick the Devil. When he died, God wouldn't let him into Heaven, and the Devil wouldn't let him into Hell. Jack was doomed to wander the night forever with only a burning coal in a carved-out turnip to light his way. Jack's crude lantern gave way to a turnip carving tradition in Ireland, which morphed into pumpkin carving after immigrants brought the tradition to America.

How is Halloween is celebrated around the world today?

These days, Halloween celebrations around the world tend to have the same traits as American commemorations, due in no small part to the digital age, which has allowed trends like trick-or-treating and dressing up to become popular worldwide. Still, many countries have found a way to put their own spin on things.

In Australia, usually only children dress up, and most costumes are store-bought. And not all houses are into trick-or-treating either, so those who are giving away candy will mark their door with an orange balloon. In Ireland, fireworks are a big part of the celebration, similar to Independence Day celebrations. In the Philippines, people prepare food, candles, and flowers for their camp out in graveyards on November 1 — a way to connect to their deceased loved ones. In Japan, trick-or-treating and traditional pumpkins are rare, but adult women are among those most interested in dressing up for the holiday, whereas people in China hardly celebrate at all.

There are a few myths about the origins of Halloween.

As Country Living explains, though the story of Stingy Jack mentioned above is usually given credit for the popularity of Jack-o'-lanterns today, the story itself is an old wives' tale. There was not really a man named Stingy Jack roaming the hills of Ireland, cursed by the devil.

If you thought that candy has always been part of Halloween, think again. Even though Halloween started becoming popular in the United States in the early mid-1800s (thanks to the influx of Irish immigrants, the wide popularity of candy as a Halloween treat didn't become thing until the 1970s.

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