Halloween! What is it?
by Athena V.

Halloween is one of a kid’s favorite

Holidays.  It is filled with costumes,

candy, toys, scary haunted houses and

so much more!  But let’s take a look at

how it used to and came to be.  Think.

Have you wondered how your favorite

holiday came to be?  Well, let’s find

out.  We need to travel back 2,000 years

to the ancient celtic festival

Samhain in the area that today is

Ireland, the U.K., and Northern France.

They used to celebrate New Years on November 1st.

This day marked the end of summer

and the harvest and the beginning

of the dark, stormy, cold winter; a time

of year that was often associated with death.  

Celts believed that on the night before

the new year, the boundary between

the worlds of the living and the dead

was taken down.  On the night of October 31

they celebrated Samhain, when it was

believed that the spirits of the dead

returned to earth.  So that is the

beginning of Halloween.  Now time for what it was

60 to 70 years ago.  So, back then you

or your parents MADE your costumes

and baked goods were really popular

Treats, for example: caramel apples and

popcorn balls.  Looking back at the simple

stuff, your houses were normally bare

with not many decorations, and the

houses were smaller.  By the way, occasionally,

you would see a Raggedy Ann and a Raggedy Andy.  

Now, what do we do today?  Any old

kid would say that Halloween is a candy massacre.   

Not to say we fight; but really,

Halloween is one night where kids and

parents dress up.  But they don’t really want to.  

The parents hand out candy and toys

while plenty of people’s houses get t.p.-ed and we get

to be scary.   In short, it’s a night when we can all be

ourselves.