Halloween

Origins of Halloween

The word "Halloween" comes from the Catholic Church. It is derived from "All Hallows Eve". All Hallows Eve is the day of observance in honor of saints. One story says that on October 31, the disembodied spirits of people who had died the preceding year would come back to search for living bodies to possess for the next year. The people obviously did not want to be possessed so they would put out the lights in their house to make it undesirable and dress up in ghoulish costumes and parade around noisily to scare away the spirits. As time went by the practice became more ceremonial because people stopped believing that the spirits would possess them. The custom was brought to America in the 1840's by Irish immigrants.

Modern Halloween Traditions

Costumes
Trick or Treating
Jack-o-lanterns
Decorating houses

Common Halloween Costumes

Devil
Vampire
Alien
Super Hero

Halloween Fact Pages

Halloween Facts: Learn what started pumpkin carving, trick-or-treating, and why owls and bats became part of Halloween.
Family Internet: Halloween: Traditions of Halloween, history, and opinion of it compared to other holidays.
Extreme Halloween: How Halloween started, history of Jack-o-Lanterns, and world records of Jack-o-Lanterns.
History of Halloween: Good info. but lots of pop-ups. History of Halloween, links to stories, crafts, music, and more.
History and Customs of Halloween: Some pop-ups here also. An interesting exercise between the three or four sites listed here. Does the history stay the same? Do the customs follow suit? Check them all out! History and Customs of Halloween, links to other Holiday Pages.