The word "Halloween" is derived from a few things; All Saints Day (1st November), Eve of All Hallows (All Hallows Eve) or Hallow Even.
The celebration of Halloween was originally the New Years Eve of the Celts, the eve of Samhain or "Winter's Eve". It was generally believed that the dead or disembodied spirits of all those who had died throughout the preceding year would come back in search of living bodies to possess for the next year. It was believed to be their only hope for the afterlife. All who were alive of course didn't want to be possessed by these lost souls so on the night of October 31st, villagers would extinguish the fires in their homes to make them cold and inhospitable then dress up in ghoulish costumes and parade around the neighborhood making as much noise as possible to frighten away the spirits looking for a live body to possess. Food and drink (which I'd say accounted for the crazy actions of the villages, not the fear of being possessed) would be left out for these costume wielding villages.
It is also thought that trick-or-treating came from Britain where it was know as "Mischief Night", it is particularly popular in parts of northern England.
It could also of come from old Irish peasant practice in which they would go from door to door to collect money, bread cake, cheese, eggs, butter, nuts, apples, etc., in preparation for the festival of St. Columb Kill.
JACK-O-LANTERN pumpkin
Jack was Happy to have escaped the Devil and have a whole new lease on life. Jack mended his ways, for a little while at least. He was good to his wife and children and began attending church and giving to charity. But Jack slowly and surely slipped back to his old ways.
The next All Hallows Eve the Devil appeared to Jack again. He demanded that Jack accompany him to his death. Jack thought he could once again outsmart the Devil and somehow managed to con the incredibly stupid Devil into getting an apple out of a nearby apple tree. Jack even went so far as to hoist the Devil up the apple tree. Once the Devil was up the tree Jack took out a knife and carved a cross into the trunk of the tree - therefore trapping the Devil. The Devil went spare and started demanding to be released and yelling and screaming. He promised Jack that if he was let out of the tree he would give him 10 years of peace. Jack decided that wasn't good enough and demanded that he never be bothered by the Devil again. The Devil agreed and was released from his apple tree trap.
Jack went back to his drunken and angry ways and after almost one year his body gave out and Jack died. He tried to enter Heaven but was refused entry because of his evil ways. He then tried to enter Hell - but the Devil would never forgive Jack for the tricks he played on him. The Devil decided to be helpful for once and threw Jack a coal, he said it was to help him find his way in the dark of limbo. Jack put the piece of coal in a turnip and it became known as a Jack-O-Lantern. It is said that on All Hallows Eve if you look hard enough you can still see Jack's flame burning dimly as he searches through the darkness for a home.
The use of Jack-O-Lanterns as festival lights for Halloween is a custom that descended form the Irish who used carved out turnips or beets as lanterns. On Halloween these lights represented the souls of the dead. When the Irish immigrated to America they found that pumpkins were far more easier to come by than turnips. The Jack-O-Lantern then became a hollowed-out pumpkin lit with a candle.
In general the whole custom of Halloween was brought to America in the 1840's by the Irish immigrants who were fleeing the country's potato famine.
The evil side of Halloween was pushed forward mainly by the church. The church maintained that the gods and goddesses and other spiritual beings of traditional religions were diabolical deceptions and manifestations of the devil. Therefore the customs associated with Halloween were always represented by the church as being evil - ghosts, human skeletons, symbols of the dead, Satan and other creatures such as witches.
All i can say is thank god we dont live in them days and now Halloween is a Fun Night bringing Children together and sending Parents Mad with a Group of Kids all going Crazy Having a major Sugar Rush !!! NO Wonder Witches have bad Teeth lol.
