The Background Of Halloween

Written by: Emily Koehler (‘29)

Halloween is celebrated in many parts of the world as it surrounds themes such as  fear, mystery, spookiness and dressing up. Many people think that it is just a holiday about candy and spending time with friends, but do you know the real meaning behind Halloween? Halloween dates back to an ancient Celtic festival called “Samhaim,” where people would light bonfires and wear costumes to wear off ghosts. Pope Gregory the lll designated November 1st as a time to honor all saints. The people that participated in the “Samhaim” believed that spirits could cross into the human world as autumn turned into winter. Over time, Halloween has evolved into a day of trick-or-treating, eating candy, watching horror movies, and eating treats. 

Throughout the years, Halloween has evolved from Christian influence and European myths. During the Middle Ages in Ireland and England, impoverished people would visit the houses of wealthy families and receive pastries called Soul Cakes in exchange for a promise to pray for the souls of the homeowners’ dead relatives. This tradition was then taken by children, who would go door-to-door asking for gifts, money, and food. Around the 1800’s, the practice of carving faces into pumpkins became a tradition. Although Halloween has always been associated with mischief, things began to get  out of hand when most people started to celebrate on October 30th. This is now called Devil’s Night, and pranks continue to get more and more extreme as the years go on. 

Scary Halloween movies have had a long history of doing great in theaters. One of the most popular movies is Hocus Pocus, which is based on three witches. Some other Halloween inspired movies include  “Scream, The Nightmare Before Christmas” and “Friday the 13th.” These movies have a lot of different themes, but most of them surround a murderous figure or some spooky things happening. Halloween was brought to the United States when the Irish immigrated due to The Potato Famine. Americans took notice of this holiday and began celebrating it themselves. Today, Halloween is considered the second largest commercial holiday in the United States right behind Christmas and consumers  spend about six billion dollars annually. To all who go trick-or-treating this year, have a sugary sweet and spookily scary night!