Ah, Halloween. Children and cult classic movie fans alike love this holiday. There’s fun costumes, sweets and treats, spoopy movies, “haunted houses”, legit haunts, and it’s quite the good ol’ spooky time. Like all Holidays, it has an origin story. So, grab some candy corn and get ready. Do people actually like candy corn?

It all started as a Celtic bonfire and costume festival, called Samhain, to ward away the ghosties and bring in their new year, which was on November 1. The celts believed that this day, then simultaneous end of summer and beginning of the harvest, was the day when our world and the realm of spooks could cross to each other. They believed that the ghosts helped their priests predict the future better. If you need an image for a summary, imagine a bunch of celts running about in animals masks around a giant fire and trying to tell each other’s fortunes. Then Pope III decided to make it all saint’s day, so we moved it to October 31, “All Hallow’s Eve”, which morphed into “Halloween.”  

Many many years later in the southern colonies, they celebrated halloween by telling ghost stories and causing mischief. Now, we all know the American South is full of phantoms and specters, so I can imagine that night was terrifying.

Nowadays, we like to gather up and party, take our kids trick or treating in cute lil’ costumes, and eat way too much candy. Of course, some people enjoy the spooky nature of this day, but it’s really up to you! Now matter how you choose to celebrate, I hope your halloween is enjoyable and full of chocolate!

Spooky Sears Signing off!