On the last night of October, streets glow with candlelit pumpkins and costumed children eager for sweets. Behind the fun lies a story thousands of years old—one that travels from Celtic bonfires to medieval prayers to today’s neighborhood block parties. Understanding where Halloween comes from makes the traditions you share with your family richer, more meaningful, and easier to celebrate with care.
What Is Halloween?
Halloween is observed each year on October 31. The word comes from “All Hallows’ Eve,” the night before All Saints’ Day (November 1) in the Christian calendar. Over centuries, customs from an earlier Celtic festival called Samhain (pronounced “SOW-in”) blended with Christian observances to create the modern mix of costumes, treats, pranks, and gatherings many families recognize today.
Samhain: Celtic New Year and the “Thin Veil”
For the ancient Celts of Ireland, Scotland, and parts of Britain, Samhain marked summer’s end and the start of the darker half of the year. Communities lit bonfires, wore disguises to confuse mischievous spirits, and gathered harvest foods. Many believed the boundary between the living and the dead thinned at this time, making it a moment to honor ancestors and seek protection for winter.
As Rome expanded into Celtic lands, local customs mingled with Roman festivals like Feralia (honoring the dead) and festivities for Pomona, goddess of fruit and orchards—often linked to apple traditions like bobbing. In the Middle Ages, people took part in “mumming” and “guising,” visiting homes in costume to perform in exchange for food or coins.
By the 8th–9th centuries, the church fixed All Saints’ Day on November 1 and All Souls’ Day on November 2, creating “Allhallowtide,” a period of remembrance for the faithful departed. The evening before, All Hallows’ Eve, absorbed local customs. Some communities baked “soul cakes” and gave them to the poor or children who promised to pray for the giver’s loved ones.
Irish and Scottish immigrants brought Halloween folk customs to North America in the 19th century. Pumpkins—native to the Americas—replaced turnips for lantern carving. By the early 20th century, towns promoted family-friendly parties and neighborhood rounds to curb rowdy pranks. The phrase “trick or treat” appeared in print in the late 1920s, and after World War II sugar rationing ended, the tradition expanded rapidly, helped by candy companies and community groups.
Visiting homes for small gifts is old. Medieval “souling” involved prayers for the dead in exchange for cakes; Scottish and Irish “guisers” performed songs or jokes for fruit, nuts, or coins. In North America, the child-centered “trick-or-treat” format took shape by the 1930s–1950s, with costumes, doorbell rounds, and community guidelines.
Disguises once served to hide from or imitate spirits at liminal times like Samhain. Over time, costumes broadened to include folklore figures, historical characters, and pop-culture heroes. Mass-produced costumes arrived by the 1930s, but many families still prefer homemade, thrifted, or school-friendly dress-up.
Irish folklore tells of “Stingy Jack,” a clever trickster doomed to wander with a coal ember in a carved turnip. People carved faces into root vegetables to ward off trouble; in America, pumpkins were larger and easier to carve and soon became the symbol of the season. Today, families carve or paint pumpkins and light them safely with LEDs.
Older Halloween customs included mischief and telling tales at the boundary of seasons. Communities now channel that energy into supervised haunted houses, themed trails, and storytelling nights that deliver thrills without real risk.
According to popular belief, the tradition of Halloween traces its origins back to the ancient Celtic harvest festival, predominantly the Gaelic festival of “Samhain” which has pagan roots. It is believed that the early Church Christianised Samhain as Halloween. However, others believe that Halloween began exclusively as a Christian tradition distinct from ancient pagan festivals such as Samhain.
Christian origins
Today, customs associated with Halloween are believed to have originated from Christian dogma and practices. As mentioned, Halloween marks the start of the three-day celebrations of Allhallowtide, which includes Christian holy days such as All Saints’ Day which is celebrated on November 1st and All Souls’ Day that is observed on November 2nd. Because of this, the holiday is also called All Hallows’ Eve as it is the evening of the three-day celebrations, before All Hallows' Day. During early Christianity (c. 30-36) and before the establishment of the First Council of Nicaea (325 AD), it was typical for major Christian feasts such as Pentecost, Easter, and Christmas to hold vigils on the night before the main day of celebration, similar with Hallowmas.
During Allhallowtide, saints are celebrated and the recently departed souls, yet to reach heaven, are prayed for. It was common for churches to hold services celebrating martyrs and saints, especially during spring. On May 13, 609 AD, Pope Boniface IV devoted the Pantheon in Rome in celebration of St. Mary and all Christian martyrs which established a day for commemorating all saints. However, this date coincided with the ancient Roman festival of the dead referred to as Lemuria. The celebration of Hallowmas on its current date, November 1st, in Western Christianity is a result of the expansion of the holiday to involve all saints and martyrs by Pope Gregory III (731-741 AD). The official switch of the dates from May 13th to November 1st, which coincided with ancient pagan Roman festivals, took place in 835 AD under the directive of Pope Gregory IV (827-844 AD). According to historians, the coincidence in the two dates is believed to be as a result of Celtic influence while others claim it was a result of Germanic influence. Nonetheless, both these communities celebrated the departed during the start of winter. By the end of the 12th century, Allhallowtide was recognized as holy days of obligation throughout Europe and was marked by traditions such as the ringing of church bells for the souls in Purgatory.
Gaelic and Welsh origins
According to this theory, Halloween traditions are believed to have stemmed from folk customs and dogmas of Celtic-speaking nations, some of which are thought to have pagan roots. According to historian Nicholas Rogers, although numerous folklore indicate that Halloween originated from pagan Roman festivals or feasts such as Pomona (the feast of the goddess of fruits and seeds) or Parentalia (festival of the dead), it is more likely associated with the festival of Samhain which stems from the Old Irish for summer’s end.
In the medieval Gaelic calendar, Samhain was the first and the most significant quarter days and was celebrated on October 31st to November 1st. Additionally, a similar holiday observed at the same time and referred to as the Calan Gaeaf (also called Kalan Goanv), meaning the first day of winter, was observed in Wales. These two traditions are found in some of the initial Welsh and Irish writings, as well as used by historians in reference to Celtic Halloween traditions before the 19th century.
Generally, these traditional festivals celebrated the conclusion of the harvest season and the start of winter. A period which, according to popular legend, represented the thinning boundaries between worlds. It is believed that during this time, spirits or fairies could cross over to the physical world. These spirits or fairies represented degraded forms of ancient gods whose authority remained ingrained in people’s minds despite the shift to Christianity.
During Samhain, it was believed that these spirits required appeasement in exchange for the survival of people and livestock during the harsh winter weather. As a result, food, drinks, or portions of crop offerings would be left outside for the spirits. Similar to many ancient traditional cultures across the world, souls of the dead were also believed to return home on this night seeking appeasement and hospitality.
Halloween in North America
According to Lesley Bannatyne, author of Folklore and Popular Culture, Halloween, Anglican, and Catholic colonizers in the Southern U.S. and Maryland respectively, observed Halloween in their church calendars, unlike colonial New England. However, almanacs in the late 18th and early 19th centuries provided no proof that this holiday was observed in North America, until the mid-19th century following the Irish and Scottish immigration. By the 20th century, All Hallows' Eve became a widely celebrated holiday by people from across the world.
Symbols
Various artefacts and symbols accompany All Hallows' Eve celebrations. Some of these include Jack-o-lanterns, curved turnips, spooks, skeletons, ghosts, bats, black cats, and so on. All these symbols represent the connection that is believed to exist between the physical and spiritual worlds or between the living and dead. Other common symbols include wizards and witches who are believed to be the link between worlds and possess the power to summon the spirit world.
Food
In Western Christianity, people are urged to abstain from meat and instead indulge in vegetarian alternatives during All Hallows' Eve. As such, people in the Northern Hemisphere indulge in apples dipped in sticky sugar syrup and sometimes in nuts as well. In Ireland, a typical traditional food is a fruitcake, also referred to as Barmbrack. Other foods associated with this holiday include caramel apples, soul cakes, caramel corn, candy, candy apples, candy pumpkins, bonfire toffee, and so on.
Trick-or-treat
Borrowed from Irish and English customs, trick-or-treat is also a popular tradition especially among children during Halloween. Generally, children wear costumes and go door to door requesting for treats and candies, sometimes even money. This tradition stems from the medieval period where a tradition of baking and sharing soul cakes was commonly practiced in the Christian Church. For instance, in medieval England up to the 1930’s, it was common for Christians (Catholics and Protestants) to go from one parish to another asking rich people for soul cakes in exchange for prayers. This tradition was popular in Germany, England, and Austria as early as the 15th century.
Costumes
Costumes associated with Halloween are usually inspired by supernatural beings such as vampires, ghosts, monsters, witches, skeletons, and so on. However, with the increase in popularity of this holiday, costume varieties expanded to include popular characters such as celebrities. This tradition was common during the late 19th century in Ireland and Scotland and is referred to as guising in reference to the costumes or disguises worn.
Games
Games and activities associated with this holiday began as prophetic rituals about marriage, death, children, and so on. In the middle ages, these rituals were considered severely dangerous practices and hence, were reserved for the daring few. Today, these games and activities have become very common during this holiday’s festivities, especially in Ireland and Britain. These activities usually involve the use of apples, which were considered to be strongly associated with immortality and the spiritual world, and hazelnuts, which were believed to be linked to divine wisdom. An example of such games includes apple bobbing or dunking, which involves submerging apples in a tub of water and participants only using their teeth to retrieve the apples from the water. A variation of this game consists of attempting to drive a fork through an apple using your teeth while kneeling on a chair.
Haunted charms
Haunted charms or attractions include haunted houses, hayrides, and corn mazes. This custom dates back to 1915 when the first haunted attraction was built in Liphook, England. Later during the 1930’s, Halloween themed haunted houses started emerging all over, and by the 1950’s, this tradition had become very popular.
Christianity
In Christianity, Halloween marks the start of the celebration of all hallows, that is All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day. Since the time of the early church observing vigils in preparation of feasting of the following day’s celebrations were common. In this case, All Hallows’ Eve is a vigil for the feast of All Saints’ Day which is celebrated through prayer and fasting. Although this tradition dates back to early Christianity, attitudes concerning Halloween are varied. For instance, in the Anglican Church, the emphasis is put on Christian traditions, which include praying, fasting, and going for worship services.
However, according to some Christians, today's traditions of Halloween skews more towards celebrating paganism, among other traditions and cultures that are deemed unnatural in Christianity. Nonetheless, many claims hold that because the traditions associated with Halloween are just for fun and games, then there is no problem in observing and practising them during this one time of the year.
On the other hand, some protestant denominations observe Halloween as Reformation Day, sometimes together with Halloween and other times independent from it. This is a result of Martin Luther, a prominent figure during the Protestant Reformation, who wrote Disputation on the Power of Indulgences. Generally, in Britain, traditions associated with All Hallows' Eve came under criticism during the Reformation. This is because the idea of purgatory was considered popery and discordant with their belief of predestination or destiny.
According to reformist Protestants, there was no way souls could be travelling from purgatory on their way to heaven, which is a popular Catholic belief. Instead, these ghosts are in the real sense, evil spirits. However, other Protestants believed in the existence of an interim state referred to as Hades and went on observing the original traditions such as the ringing of church bells in remembrance of the dead, candlelight processions and souling.
Judaism
In Judaism, this holiday is considered a violation of Leviticus 18:3 due to its gentile associations. Instead, Jews celebrate Yizkor four times a year, and which to some degree resembles the celebration of Allhallowtide in Christianity in terms of praying for martyrs and all those who’ve passed away.
Halloween, also referred to as Hallowe’en (a contraction of Hallows’ Even) or Allhalloween, is celebrated on October 31st, the day before the feast of All Saints’ Day, throughout the world. However, the customs and significance of Halloween differ from region to region. For instance, in Scotland and Ireland, popular traditions include dressing up in costumes, guising, holding parties, lighting bonfires, firework displays, and so on.
Additionally, following the transatlantic immigration, which took place in the 19th century, Halloween celebrations have gained popularity in North America. As a result, customs of this holiday, especially those practiced in Canada and the United States, have had significant impact in other countries such as Chile, Australia, Ecuador, New Zealand, Japan, continental Europe, and others. For instance, in the Philippines, people go to their hometowns to buy flowers and candles in preparation of All Saints’ Day (November 1st) and All Souls’ Day (November 2nd). In Mexico and Latin America, this holiday is referred to as Dia de Muertos (Day of the Dead), and during this day, Latin Americans build altars and decorate them in their homes in honour of their dead relatives. In France, on the night of Halloween, Christians would gather beside the graves of their departed family members, pray, and set down dishes. In Italy, families would leave delicacies behind to appease the souls of their departed relatives as they went to church. In Spain, on this night pastries referred to as “bones of the holy” are prepared and placed on the graveyard in the churchyard.
Other traditions and variations observed during Halloween in various parts of the world include:
China
In China, the Hungry Ghost Festival is celebrated in mid-July where the dead are honoured with floating lanterns.
Hong Kong
In Hong Kong, due to the sheer number of high rise buildings, trick or treating is not a common tradition except in exclusive gated housing communities. In international schools, students are allowed to wear masks and costumes during this holiday.
Singapore
In Singapore, a variant of Halloween is observed in mid-July and is referred to as “Zhong Yuan Jie / Yu Lan Jie" (Hungry Ghosts Festivals). During this time, it is alleged that the spirits of departed relatives come to visit their families.
Although Halloween has no relevant importance in Australian culture primarily because of the seasonal differences, this holiday has gained popularity as a consequence of American pop-culture influence.
Bosnia and Herzegovina
In Bosnia and Herzegovina, although Halloween is a workday, children are allowed to wear masks and costumes to school on this day.
Germany
Before the 1990’s, Halloween was not celebrated in Germany. However, due to the influence of U.S. pop culture, the holiday has gained popularity.
Ireland
In Ireland, adults and children wear ghosts, zombies, witches, or goblin costumes, light bonfires and enjoy firework displays. Games, including apple bobbing, are also played.
Romania
In Romania, on November 30th, the Feast of St. Andrew, who is the patron saint of Romania, is observed. On the eve of this day, it is believed that ghosts lurk around. However, both Catholic and Orthodox denominations in the country discourage the celebration of this holiday and encourage their congregants to focus on November 1st, which marks the Day of the Dead instead.
Russia
In Russia, because most Christians are Orthodox, Halloween is observed 4-5 months before the conventional date the holiday is celebrated in the western world. In Russia, Halloween is celebrated on the Saturday after Pentecost.
Poland
Celebration of Halloween is popular among the young generation of Poland. Common traditions include attending costume parties, usually house parties. Trick or treating is highly unpopular, although pumpkin carving is gaining popularity.
A requiem mass is annually observed at the Uppsala Cathedral during All Hallows'Eve. Throughout the three-day celebration of Allhallowtide, Swedish people visit graves and decorate those of departed relatives with candles and wreaths created from pine branches.
Scotland
In Scotland, the first mention of Halloween dates back to the 16th century. Although in 1780, John Mayne’s poem highlights the famous pranks carried out on Halloween. Traditional games practised on this day include apple dooking or dunking, similar to apple bobbing, and trying to consume a jam coated scone hung on a string while blindfolded.
Dubai
The Wild Wadi Waterpark, located in Dubai, holds an annual Spooktacular Halloween event while various clubs hold annual Halloween masquerade parties.
Dominican Republic
In the Dominican Republic, especially in the city of Santiago, this holiday has gained popularity following the transference of cultures by relatives who have lived abroad. However, in smaller towns and villages, this holiday is barely present.
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