Halloween

Halloween is a holiday observed on October 31. It commonly includes activities such as trick-or-treating, attending costume parties, carving jack-o'-lanterns, apple bobbing, visiting haunted houses, telling scary stories, and watching horror films.

The origin of Halloween has been linked to the Celtic festival of Samhain. The medieval Irish festival of Samhain marked the end of the harvest and the end of the "lighter half" of the year and beginning of the "darker half". According to Celtic lore, it is a time when the boundaries between the world of the living and the world of the dead become thinner. This allows spirits and other supernatural entities to pass between the worlds to socialize with humans.

The word Halloween was first seen in the 16th century and is a Scottish variant of All Hallows' Eve - the night before All Hallows. All Hallows is celebrated on the 1st of November in much of western Christianity in honor of all saints, known and unknown. All Hallows is also know as Hallowmas and All Saints' Day.

Trick or Treating

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 with the question, "Trick or treat?" The word "trick" refers to a "threat" to perform mischief on the homeowners or their property if no treat is given. This threat is hardly ever acted upon.

The practice of dressing up in costumes and begging door to door for treats on holidays dates back to the Middle Ages. Trick-or-treating resembles the late medieval practice of "souling", when poor people would go door to door on Hallowmas. They would receive food in return for prayers for the dead on All Souls' Day. It originated in Ireland and Britain, although similar practices were found as far south as Italy. Shakespeare mentions the practice in his comedy The Two Gentlemen of Verona written in 1593, when a character accuses his master of whimpering or whining like a beggar at Hallowmas.

In Scotland and Ireland, children going from door to door wearing a disguise to be rewarded with food or coins became common by the late 19th century. The tradition is called "guising". There is a significant difference from the way the practice has developed in North America. In Scotland and Ireland, the children are only supposed to receive treats if they perform for the households they go to. This normally takes the form of singing a song or reciting a joke or a funny poem which the child has memorized before setting out. Occasionally a more talented child may do card tricks, sing, or play an instrument, but most children will earn plenty of treats even with something very simple. While going door to door in disguise has remained popular among Scots and Irish at Halloween, saying "trick-or-treat" has become common.

The earliest known reference to ritual begging on Halloween in English speaking North America occurs in 1911. A newspaper reported children going "guising" around the neighborhood. Trick-or-treating does not seem to have become a widespread practice in the US until the 1930s. It spread from the western United States eastward, stalled by sugar rationing that began during World War II. In the mid-1930s to the mid-1950s, many adults saw it as a form of extortion, with reactions ranging from bemused indulgence to anger. Children would have to explain what trick-or-treating was to puzzled adults, and not the other way around. Sometimes even the children protested: for Halloween 1948, members of the Madison Square Boys Club in New York City carried a parade banner that read "American Boys Don't Beg."

According to the National Confectioners Association, 93 percent of kids go trick-or-treating and 80 percent of adults give out candy in the United States. Four-in-ten adults admit to eating sweets from their own candy bowl. 90% of parents admit to sneaking goodies from their kids' Halloween trick-or-treat bags. (Snack-size chocolate bars are the most popular booty.) In 2008, Halloween candy, costumes and other related products accounted for $5.7 billion in revenue.

Because the holiday comes in the wake of the annual apple harvest, candy apples are common Halloween treats, made by rolling whole apples in a sticky sugar syrup. Sometimes they are then rolled in nuts. At one time, candy apples were commonly given to children. The practice rapidly waned in the wake of widespread rumors that some individuals were embedding items like pins and razor blades in the apples. While there is evidence of such incidents, they are quite rare and have never resulted in serious injury. Nonetheless, many parents assumed that such heinous practices were rampant because of the mass media. At the peak of the hysteria, some hospitals offered free X-rays of children's Halloween hauls in order to find evidence of tampering. Virtually all of the few known candy poisoning incidents involved parents who poisoned their own children's candy.

Jack-o'-lanterns

A jack-o'-lantern is typically a carved pumpkin. It was named after the phenomenon of strange light flickering over peat bogs; possibly the result of the spontaneous combustion of gases released by the bog. To make a jack-o'-lantern, the top of the pumpkin is cut off and the inside flesh scooped out. Sections are cut out to make holes usually depicting a face. Usually the face has a menacing expression like that of a demon or the devil. After carving, a candle or other light source is placed inside the pumpkin and the top is put back on.

The tradition of carving a lantern started in Ireland. It was traditionally sliced out of a vegetable such as a turnip. They were created on All Hallows' Eve and left on the door step to ward off evil spirits. An offering would also be commonly left to placate roaming sprites and evil spirits — otherwise they might "fiddle" with property or livestock - play a "trick". Once the tradition moved to the United States, it was adapted to the carving of a pumpkin as these vegetables were more readily available, bigger and easier to carve.

Games and other activities

Apple bobbing is a game often played in connection with Halloween. The game is played by filling a tub or a large basin with water and putting apples in the water. Because apples are less dense than water, they will float at the surface. Players - usually children both large and small - then try to catch one with their teeth. The use of hands is not allowed, and they are often tied behind the back to prevent cheating. Girls who place the apple they bobbed under their pillows are said to dream of their future lover.

Some games traditionally played at Halloween are forms of divination. A traditional Scottish form of divining one's future spouse is to carve an apple in one long strip, then toss the peel over one's shoulder. The peel is believed to land in the shape of the first letter of the future spouse's name. 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 custom was widespread enough to be commemorated on greeting cards from the late 19th century and early 20th century.

The telling of ghost stories and viewing of horror films are common fixtures of Halloween parties. Episodes of television series and Halloween-themed specials are commonly aired on or before the holiday. New horror films are often released theatrically before the holiday to take advantage of the atmosphere.