| The contemporary celebration of Halloween | | | | men, aliens, demons, devils, mummies, reptiles, |
| comes from the ancient Celtic festival of | | | | skulls, swamp witches, vampires, werewolves, |
| `Samhain. It is an annual celebration observed on | | | | zombies and other scary monsters. |
| October 31. It is a tapered version of All Hallows | | | | The ancient Celts believed that all those who had |
| Eve. Halloween came to America through the | | | | died throughout the preceding year would come |
| Irish, who are believed to be modern descendents | | | | back in search of living bodies to possess for the |
| of the Celts. When the potato crop failed in | | | | next year. This was unacceptable for living people, |
| Ireland, they migrated to America and brought | | | | so on the night of October 31 villagers would put |
| their cultural practices with them. | | | | out fires in their homes to make the spirits feel |
| Halloween was also observed as a harvest | | | | discarded. They would then dress up in all manner |
| festival and New Year by the Celts. It also served | | | | of macabre costumes and parade around the |
| as a vent for high morale before the onset of | | | | neighborhood in order to scare away spirits |
| winter. In fact, in the 5th Century B.C. in Celtic | | | | looking for live bodies to possess. There is also a |
| Ireland summer officially ended on October 31 and | | | | record of Celts flaming up people thought to be |
| the Samhain was observed on this occasion. | | | | haunted, as a stern warning to the spirits. |
| Masks are now used as part of Halloween | | | | However, modern historians dismiss these as fairy |
| celebrations. There are foam latex faces of ape | | | | tales. |