By: Preston Lee

How did Halloween start? Did it originate from going door to door and getting candy or from celebrating the dead? Halloween started around two thousand years ago during the time of the Celts in Samhain where they honor the dead. But how did it come to kids running around in costumes at night collecting candy?

Two thousand years ago the first Halloween occurred that was nothing like the Halloween that happens in present times today. This happened at a place called Samhain where Halloween was once called So-ween. So-ween means summer’s end. The Celts who lived in Samhain believed that the dead could interact with the living. That all changed when Samhain was Christianized by the church.

Halloween soon started to become a presence in many countries. One of the continents that did not have Halloween was North America. The British started to spread this event which eventually evolved into the Halloween that is done today. Things that also come with Halloween were All Saints Day and All Soul Days, two Christian holidays that celebrate all the saints and all the people that have died.

Finally, Halloween changed forever because of a woman named Mrs. Krebs. Every Halloween the entire town would be vandalized. Mrs. Krebs grew tired of this so she decided to act. She tried to organize a part to tire out the children so they would not vandalize the town which clearly did not work and had the same result as the years before. The next year she brought in a band and a costume contest that worked and they successfully spread and traveled to other towns. That soon evolved to people trick or treating instead of having a party.

The history of Halloween stretched back a very long time and has changed a lot throughout history. Halloween is a big part of history and culture for a lot of places in the world.