Halloween is an annual holiday celebrated, on the night on October 31st.

The holiday originally comes from a people called the Celts.

o 2.000 years ago, the Celts lived in the area which is now Ireland, the United Kingdom and northern France.

o They used to grow their own food and they considered harvest time to be the end of the year.

Every year, they celebrated New Year’s Eve on October 31st with a festival called “Samhain”.

October 31st marked the end of summer and the beginning of winter and the Celts believed that on that night, the spirits of the dead would go back where they lived when they were alive, to search for chances to come back to life on the day of October 31st. So the Celts went on the streets, carrying carrot lights and dressing themselves like devils to scary the spirits away.

Later, carrot lights were replaced by pumpkin lights, also known as Jack lights.

Later, in the 7th century, when Christianity reached the land of the Celts, the Pope made November 1st All Saint’s Day.

This was a time for people to honour saints and martyrs.

Trick-or-treating is a customary celebration for children on Halloween. Children go in costume from house to house, asking for treats such as candy or sometimes money, with the question, "Trick or treat?"

Pumpkin

Ghost

Skeleton

Witches

Halloween costumes are traditionally those of monsters such as ghosts, skeletons, witches, and devils. They are said to be used to scare off demons. Costumes are also based on themes other than traditional horror, such as those of characters from television shows, movies, and other pop culture icons.

There are several games traditionally associated with Halloween parties. One common game is apple bobbing, in which apples float in a a large basin of water and the participants must use their teeth to remove an apple from the basin.

Unmarried women were told that if they sat in a darkened room and gazed into a mirror on Halloween night, the face of their future husband would appear in the mirror. However, if they were destined to die before marriage, a skull would appear.

The telling of ghost stories and viewing of horror films are common fixtures of Halloween parties.