October is here, and with it comes the eerie chill of Halloween , the one night when ghosts, goblins, and ghouls get a free pass to roam the streets.
Whether you’re in it for the costumes, the candy, or the creepy movies, Halloween has a fascinating history and a few surprising facts you probably didn’t know.
So, before you put on that witch hat or carve your pumpkin, here are four things to know about Halloween that’ll make you the smartest ghoul at the party.
1. Halloween Began as an Ancient Celtic Festival
Long before it became a candy-filled celebration, Halloween started as Samhain (pronounced sow-in), an ancient Celtic festival marking the end of the harvest season.
The Celts believed that on October 31, the boundary between the living and the dead blurred,
It allows spirits to cross over.
To ward off these wandering ghosts, they lit bonfires and wore costumes and just like that, spooky season was born!
2. Trick-or-Treating Has a Medieval Origin
That adorable door-to-door candy hunt? It actually dates back to the Middle Ages, when people practiced “souling.”
Children and the poor would go house to house offering prayers for the dead in exchange for food.
Also, this tradition evolved into “guising” in Scotland and Ireland, where kids performed songs or tricks for treats, which is how we got today’s modern trick-or-treating.
3. The Jack-o’-Lantern Wasn’t Always a Pumpkin
Believe it or not, the original Jack-o’-lanterns weren’t made from pumpkins
In Ireland, people carved turnips and potatoes to scare away evil spirits.
When Irish immigrants brought the tradition to America, they discovered that pumpkins, native to North America, were much easier to carve
The pumpkin-faced lantern became the glowing symbol of Halloween we know today.
4. Halloween Is Big Business
What started as a pagan ritual is now a multi-billion-dollar industry.
From costumes and décor to candy and horror movies, Halloween spending continues to soar each year.
In the United States alone, consumers spend over $12 billion annually on the spooky holiday.
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That’s a lot of fake blood and chocolate bars
