Growing up, I never questioned why we carved pumpkins every October  or why my grandmother insisted on leaving the porch light on for trick-or-treaters until well past nine. It was just what we did. But have you ever wondered how these Halloween traditions actually began? The story stretches back thousands of years, weaving together ancient Celtic rituals, Roman influences, and Christian adaptations into the spooky celebration we know today. Learn the surprising origins of trick-or-treating, jack-o’-lanterns, and more.

The roots of Halloween customs  trace back to Samhain, an ancient Celtic festival that marked the end of harvest season and the beginning of winter. The Celts, who lived in what we now call Ireland, Britain, and northern France, believed that on October 31st, the boundary between the world of the living and the dead became blurred. Spirits could return to earth, causing trouble and damaging crops. But they also thought these ghostly visits made it easier for Celtic priests, called Druids, to predict the future.

Picture this: Celtic communities gathering around massive sacred bonfires, wearing costumes made of animal heads and skins. They would tell each other’s fortunes and make sacrifices of crops and animals to their deities. When the celebration ended, they would relight their hearth fires from the sacred bonfire to help protect them through the coming winter. I find it fascinating how something that started as a deeply spiritual practice evolved into children asking for candy.

When Christianity spread throughout Celtic lands, the church attempted to replace pagan traditions with Christian holidays. Pope Gregory III designated November 1st as All Saints’ Day, honoring saints and martyrs. The evening before became known as All Hallows’ Eve, eventually shortened to Halloween. November 2nd became All Souls’ Day, dedicated to praying for the dead. These Christian holidays incorporated many Samhain traditions, including bonfires, parades, and dressing up in costumes as saints, angels, and demons.

The practice of trick-or-treating has particularly interesting origins. During All Souls’ Day celebrations in England, poor people would visit wealthy households and receive pastries called soul cakes in exchange for promising to pray for the homeowner’s dead relatives. This practice, called going a souling, was later taken up by children who would visit houses in their neighborhood asking for food, money, and ale.

Irish immigrants brought Halloween traditions to America during the potato famine in the 1840s. Americans began to adopt these customs, but Halloween really took off when communities started organizing neighborhood Halloween festivities. The focus shifted from ghosts and witchcraft to community gatherings and neighborly fun. By the 1920s and 1930s, Halloween had become a primarily secular holiday focused on community activities and trick-or-treating.

The jack-o’-lantern tradition also has Irish roots. Originally, people carved scary faces into turnips and potatoes, placing them in windows or doorways to frighten away evil spirits. The practice was associated with an Irish legend about a man called Stingy Jack, who was condemned to wander the earth with only a hollowed turnip with coal inside for light. When Irish immigrants arrived in America, they discovered that pumpkins, native to North America, were much easier to carve than turnips.

Modern Halloween combines all these historical elements with contemporary creativity. We still dress in costumes, though now they range from traditional ghosts and witches to superheroes and pop culture references. We still carve jack-o’-lanterns, though our designs have become increasingly elaborate. We still go door-to-door asking for treats, though the religious context has disappeared entirely.

What strikes me most about Halloween history is how adaptable these traditions have proven to be. Each culture that encountered these practices added their own twist while preserving the core elements. The ancient Celtic belief that spirits walk among us on Halloween night persists, even if we now think of it more as playful spookiness than genuine supernatural concern.

Understanding the origins of Halloween traditions makes me appreciate how deeply human the desire to mark seasonal changes really is. We still gather together as communities, we still tell stories that give us chills, and we still find ways to acknowledge the mystery of death while celebrating life. Whether you are trick-or-treating with your kids or attending an adult Halloween party, you are participating in customs that stretch back over two millennia.

Next time you see carved pumpkins glowing on neighborhood porches or children in creative costumes knocking on your door, remember that you are witnessing the continuation of humanity’s oldest traditions, adapted for modern times but carrying the same spirit of community, storytelling, and seasonal celebration that has connected people across centuries.

Reference

Library of Congress. (2021, October). The origins of Halloween traditions Blog post. Headlines & Heroes Blog. https://blogs.loc.gov/headlinesandheroes/2021/10/the-origins-of-halloween-traditions/

Library of Congress. (n.d.). Today in history – October 31. Library of Congress. Retrieved September 12, 2025, from https://www.loc.gov/item/today-in-history/october-31/

Walker, M. (2022, October). Halloween puzzles from the Library of Congress’s newspaper collections. Minerva’s Kaleidoscope. https://blogs.loc.gov/families/2022/10/halloween-puzzles-from-the-library-of-congresss-newspaper-collections/