History of Halloween

Spooky nights, starlit bonfires, creepy tales, and endless traditions all contribute to the holiday we know today as Halloween. A celebration that originated with the Ancient Celtic Festival of Samhain when people would light bonfires and dress up to scare off ghosts,  over time Halloween has evolved into day activities like trick-or-treating, carving pumpkins, festive gatherings, eating sweet treats, and dressing up in costumes. Dressing up in costumes has been passed down for many generations. It’s crazy to see how certain customs have been evolved over the years. Every year Halloween brings great cheer to kids across the U.S.

It wasn’t until 1950 when adults started handing out treats to kids. Households first started off handing out homemade bake goods and treats to the children. However, they quickly learned that it was more efficient and less time consuming to hand out store bought candies. Candy wasn’t the only thing being distributed in 1950.

Box costumes became more affordable for people to buy. More kids began to use them to dress up as princesses, mummies, clowns or more specific characters like Batman and Frankenstein’s monster. Costume preparation use to start as early as the beginning of August. Nowadays, you can purchase costumes day of if really needed. Another reason of how Halloween came to be was because of folk customs and beliefs from Celtic speaking countries.

Halloween has always been a a holiday filled with mystery, magic, and superstations. Many shows and movies have originated from this “holiday”. One in particular is the mystery of Michael Myers. This movie is about a murderer escaping from the mental hospital on Halloween night. Another Halloween classic is Hocus Pocus, an absolute must watch when it comes to Halloween films, along with its sequel. There’s also not just Halloween movies but television channels with themed programs.

Many people have different perspective on Halloween. Certain parents think Halloween is unsafe. They think since it’s a nighttime event many dangerous things can happen. There have been many unsafe scenarios from past Halloweens that have occurred. Many worry that kids can be kidnapped on this night. Another unsafe thing about Halloween is unsealed candies or treats. On the news, there have been incidents where people drug these unsealed Halloween treats. It has become extreme over the years and it’s a very serious matter.

Halloween for teenagers has evolved into partying. Teenagers go out for Halloween for a weekend straight before Halloween. This is called Hallo weekend. Teenagers go to parties every day of the week and weekend leading up to Halloween day. at universities and colleges this holiday is not taken very lightly. Teens and young adults look forward to this weekend for months and tend to plan out all their costumes beforehand. Lots of violence and so-called scary actions happen on this weekend, as many drunk kids overdose and things of that matter.

However, if taken safely, this weekend can be lots of fun. Adults try and promote to teens and young adults to be safe and act wisely. They encourage kids to not drive and get an uber for their safety.