When you think of Halloween your mind goes to witches, carved pumpkins, costumes, and trick or treating. But where does Halloween really originate from and was it always like it is now? The answer is no, the origins of Halloween go all the way back to the Celts connecting to a Celtic festival called Samhain. This festival took place on October 31st and ended on November 1st. It was in celebration of the ending of one year and the starting of another. The Celts believed that on this night the barrier between the living and the dead became extremely blurred. So the Samhain festival was celebrated in hopes for the spirits of the dead passing over the barrier and returning back to earth. They also believed that the presence of these spirits allowed the priests to make better predictions of the future, these predictions were heavily relied on by the people giving hope for the upcoming winter. During this celebration they wore costumes; these costumes were most commonly animal skins and heads. Also during this festival the people lit bonfires, had feasts, and honored ancestors. Then came All Saints Day, this was a day celebrating and remembering saints that took place on November 1st. This tradition began as Christianity began to spread into Celtic lands. As all saints day was celebrated on the first, Samhain festival was still being celebrated the night before but now was referred to as All-Hallows Eve then transitioning into Halloween. 

 Halloween began in America in colonial New England, this consisted of people hosting celebrations for the harvest. Where stories of the dead would be shared and once again predictions were told. This then spread even more by the 19th century where people would have yearly autumn celebrations. Following in the  later 19th century when more Irish immigrants moved to America, Halloween became even more widespread and was celebrated nationally. Behind this followed trick or treating this tradition was taken from a European tradition of dressing up and going house to house asking for food or money. Slowly over time with modern influence Halloween began to transition more and more into what we see and celebrate today.