Fright Night!

Every year on the last day of October, ghosts, witches and vampires come out to play. But why do people in many parts of the world mark the 31 October by dressing up in costumes? To discover the meaning behind this and other spooky traditions, we need to go back to its beginnings – which is earlier than you might think…

The word “Halloween” is a shortened way of saying “All Hallows’ Evening”. This refers to the holy day of All Hallows, or All Saints’ Day – a day of remembrance observed by many denominations of Western Christianity. All Hallows falls on the 1 November, making the 31 October “All Hallows’ Eve”.

However, a lot of Halloween’s traditions date back much further, to pre-Christian celebrations observed by ancient Britons. Some historians suggest that the Celtic festival of Samhain – once held annually in Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man to mark the end of summer – is Halloween’s true foundation. During Samhain, ritual bonfires would be lit to frighten away spirits, and people would go around their village wearing disguises, performing and receiving food in return. This is the origin of present-day trick-or-treating, or guising.

When the Romans invaded Britain in the 1st century AD, they brought their own beliefs and traditions, which over time mixed with the Celts’ customs. For example, the game of trying to retrieve apples from a bucket of water using only your mouth – known as bobbing or ducking for apples – is thought to have developed from tributes to the Roman goddess of fruit trees.

Another Samhain tradition to have become a key part of Halloween is the jack-o-lantern. Nowadays, the most iconic lanterns are made from big orange pumpkins, though the earliest examples would have been carved from turnips or other root vegetables. Their exact origin is debated, but many believe the lanterns were given grotesque faces so as to frighten away evil spirits. When Halloween traditions crossed over from Europe to the Americas, the locally grown pumpkin became the lantern material of choice.

So however you plan to celebrate Halloween, chances are it’s been happening in one form or another for hundreds of years!