Halloween

Halloween is a holiday celebragted on the night of October 31. The word Halloween is a shortening of All Hallow's Evening or All Hallow's Eve.

Halloween has its origins in the ancient Celtic festival known as Samhain ('sah-win'). The festival of Samhain is a celebration of the end of the harvest season in Gaelic culture. Samhain was a time used by the ancient pagans to take stock of supplies and prepare for winter. The ancient Gaels believed that on October 31, the boundaries between the worlds of the living and the dead overlapped and the deceased would come back to life and cause havoc such as sickness or damaged crops.

The festival would frequently involve bonfires. Mask and costumes were worn in an attempt to mimic the evil spirits or appease them. The history of Halloween has evolved. The activity is popular in the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, and due to increased American cultural influence in many parts of Europe. The most significant resistance is in the United Kingdom, where the police have threatened to prosecute parents who allow their children to carry out the "trick" element.

Trick-or-treating is an activity for children on or around Halloween in which they procced from house to house in costumes, asking for treats such as confectionery with the question, "Trick or treat?". The "trick" part is a threat to play a trick on the homeowner or his property if no treat is given.

One of the things that represents Halloween is Jack o'lantern, A jack o'lantern is a carved pumpkin, or turnip, and was named after the phenomenon of strange light flickering over peat bogs. In a jack o'lantern the top is cut off to form a lid, and the inside flesh then scooped out; an image, usually a monstrous face, is carved out of the pumpkin's rind to expose the hollow interior.

There is a lot of representation of Halloween in the media, from comedy movies like Addam's family or the Scary Movie franchise, horror movies like Jack-O, the Pumpkin Karver, Trick or Treat and the Halloween franchise. Even children's movies like the Halloweentown franchise and Hocus Pocus.