When one hears the word “Halloween”, what do they think of? Trick or treating? Costumes? Witches, ghosts, and goblins? According to dictionary.com, “Halloween” means “the eve of October 31^st; the eve of All Saints’ Day; observed especially by children in costumes who solicit treats, often by threatening minor pranks.” But what really is Halloween? Where did it come from? Who created it?
To answer these questions, one must first find out where this holiday originated from. History.com states that Halloween was thought to have originated with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, which was when the people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off roaming ghosts’ spirits. In the eighth century,

 Pope Gregory III designated November 1^st as a time to honor all saints and martyrs. This holiday, known as All Saints’ Day, incorporated some of the traditions of Samhain. All Saints’ Day used to be known as All Hallow’s Eve. This later evolved into Halloween. Over time, Halloween became what it is today:  a night when children-and even some adults-go around knocking on doors and saying, “Trick or treat,” hoping to be blessed with oodles of candy. 

But Halloween is not just about trick-or-treating and costumes. It is also a night of ghost stories and superstitions. Ghost stories have been around since ancient times. The concept of a ghost is based on the idea that when a person dies a mysterious, early, or violent death, their spirit may stay around to haunt those still living. Traditional signs of hauntings are strange noises, odors, lights, breezes, displacement of objects, bells that ring spontaneously, or musical instruments that seem to play on their own. In the first century A.D., the great Roman author and statesman, Pliny the Younger, recorded on of the earliest and most notable ghost stories in his letters, which became famous because of the vivid account of life during the prime of the Roman Empire. Pliny’s letter reported the specter, or ghost, of an old man with a long beard and rattling chains, was haunting his home in Athens. The Greek writer Lucien and the Roman Platus also wrote memorable ghost stories, though how true these stories are remain a mystery. Other famous ghost stories include Anne Boleyn, Abraham Lincoln, The Legend of Sleepy Hallow, and the story of a poltergeist in a farmhouse in Germany.

Even Benjamin Franklin reported seeing a ghost.  During the holiday of Halloween, people usually put carved pumpkins called jack o’ lanterns on their porch. These are named after an Irish folktale about a man named Stingy Jack, who was doomed to roam the earth between the planes of good and evil, with only an ember inside a hollowed turnip to guide his way. On Halloween, what does one do? Go Trick-or-Treating? Wear a costume? Tell ghost stories? Whatever one does, one should always do it with the best intentions and remember the true meaning of Halloween:  have fun.