Today, Halloween has become a holiday focused on community and children’s activities such as trick-or-treating, carving pumpkins, festive parties, and dressing up in costumes. The holiday evolved over centuries, incorporating Christian traditions, the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, and later modern practices from Irish and Scottish immigrants.

The ancient Celtic festival of Samhain was celebrated on Nov. 1 and marked the end of summer and the harvest. The Celts believed that on Oct. 31, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred, allowing ghosts of the dead to return. To ward off the evil spirits, Celts lit bonfires and wore costumes, often made of animal skins. 

The tradition of trick-or-treating evolved from a medieval European custom called “souling,” where the poor would beg for soul cakes in exchange for prayers. It also grew out of the Irish custom of “guising,” where a person would perform a trick in exchange for a treat. 

Amber Banfield, is a sophomore at IHS and is planning to go trick-or-treating this Halloween. When asked if she was excited to dress up she replied, “I am very excited for trick-or-treating because I get candy, and I am dressing up as a bear!”

The practice of carving faces into vegetables like turnips became associated with Halloween, stemming from an Irish myth about “Stingy Jack.” This tradition, brought to America by immigrants, evolved to use native pumpkins, giving us the familiar jack-o’-lanterns seen today.

The “true meaning” of a jack-o’-lantern is a symbolic guardian against evil spirits, originating from the Irish legend of Stingy Jack who was cursed to walk the earth as a wandering spirit with only a hollowed turnip lantern. To ward off Jack and other malevolent spirits during Samhain, people carved monstrous faces into turnips and other root vegetables, lighting them to deter spirits.

Watching horror movies has also become a Halloween tradition due to its psychological appeal, social bonding, and connection to the holiday’s ancient roots of confronting the supernatural and death. The tradition evolved from ancient festivals to ward off spirits, to modern day horror films that capitalize on the cultural atmosphere of fear of the supernatural that Halloween creates. 

Sophomore, Alivia McKelvey shares one of her favorite scary movies, “Terrifier is my favorite scary movie and I would definitely recommend it to other high schoolers.” If you like scary movies then you should definitely check this one out. 

Halloween is more than just a night of candy and costumes–for many at IHS, Halloween is a season filled with traditions, creativity, and community spirit. Whether you’re a fan of spooky thrills, fall aesthetics, or simply need an excuse to eat bags full of candy without judgment, there is a magic that comes with Halloween and that’s hard to resist.