Halloween began about 4000 years ago with the Celtic tradition known as the Feast of the Dead, or the Feast of Samhain, who may or may not, depending on which source you believe, have been their god of the dead. The figure remains a favorite of modern witches and neo-pagans. The Celts lived in what is now northern France, England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales. The first of November marked the end of the Celts’ harvest season and the beginning of the new year, which also meant enduring the long, cold, dark winter, which they associated with death, and when it was “the light that loses, the night that wins.”

Some people say the holiday began with the Romans’ celebration of two holidays in late October, Feralia and Pomona. Feralia was a day set aside to honor the dead, and the celebration of Pomona paid homage to the goddess of orchards and the harvest. The symbol of Pomona is the apple, and the holiday is the likely source for the tradition of bobbing for apples.

At the end of the harvest season, as the Celts began to bring in their cattle from the pastures for the winter, the souls of the dead were thought to be on the move. Druidic priests were thought to be able to communicate with the dead and gather information regarding future events. The Celts depended on this information, since their survival was chained to volatile weather patterns.

Halloween was not a night of fun, but rather a night of terror. The Celts believed that the devil was among them and witches could be seen flying on brooms or galloping down roads on black cats that they had turned into horses. Some say the scary faced jack-o-lantern was meant to scare these evil spirits away. However, others think the scary face is a modern development and the original purpose of the jack-o-lantern was to guide the spirits to the food left out for them. The “jack,” in jack-l-lantern, was originally a night watchman who carried a light, but later became known as a spirit that floated through the air like a ball of light and tried to lure travelers off the road and to their doom.

In the seventh century Pope Boniface IV designated November 1 as “All Saints Day” (or in England All-Hollows or All-Hallowmas Day). He did this for two reasons: one, he needed to cut down on the number of days devoted to saints as the year before there were 365. Secondly, the Pope realized that pagan traditions were too igrained in Celtic society to overcome, so he decided it would be best to Christianize the holiday.

As Europeans immigrated to the American colonies, they brought with them their varied Halloween customs. European interpretations were combined with Native Americans’ autumnal celebrations, eventually evolving into a distinctly American holiday. By the middle of the nineteenth century, harvest season festivities were common, but Halloween was not yet celebrated everywhere in America.

The second half of the nineteenth century saw many new immigrants pour into America, particularly from Ireland, where millions of people were fleeing the potato famine. These new immigrants helped to popularize Halloween on the national level. The form of Halloween we celebrate today is closely related to that of the Irish and English immigrants of the second half of the nineteenth century.

By the 1920s Halloween had evolved into a largely secular, downright good, wholesome, kinda fun holiday for everyone. However, over the next twenty years, the holiday was plagued by vandalism of increasing proportions. Perhaps not coincidentally, it was also when the masked marauders of the Ku Klux Klan reached their apex. In an attempt to placate the neighborhood vandals, the children, people began giving kids candy, a relatively inexpensive way to protect one’s house and other personal belongings. “Trick or Treat” was born: give me a treat and I won’t play a trick on you.

By the time of the baby boom, the nation’s parents had too much to do just getting the kids ready, come Halloween time, to party it up themselves. So, Halloween became a kid-centric holiday. With the rise in Halloween related consumer products, adults found that there was less and less reason to grow out of the holiday.

Today’s Americans spend about 6 billion dollars on Halloween, according to Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine, making it second only to Christmas for biggest commercial holiday. Households spend on average between $80 and $100 on costumes, candy and decorations, according to surveys done by American Express.

Today, there are modern reasons to let fear haunt Halloween celebrations; beyond vandalism, some fear needles and razors in candy. Everyone should know this is an urban legend, no one has ever been injured by a razor hidden in Halloween candy. People should be wary of Halloween drivers, as children are four times more likely to be hit by a car on that night than any other, according to Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Oct. 24, 1997.

Modern Physician magazine says that it’s wise to remind people of safety precautions. However, they also question Americans’ common sense in reference to a warning posted on a Batman costume: “Caution: Cape does not enable user to fly.”