Spooky, kooky，creepy，and fun! Halloween is the time of Ghosts, Goblins, Gravestones and Graveyards, of Spooks and Spirits and silly-fun tricks, of witches and warlocks and scary black cats， of candy corn, jelly apples, pumpkins and bats.

Halloween is one of the oldest holidays with origins going back thousands of years. The holiday we know as Halloween has had many influences from many cultures over the centuries: from the Romani Pomona Day, to the Celtic festival of Saixihain, to the Christian holidays of All Saints and All Souls Days.

The word itself, “Halloween”，actually has its origins in the Catholic Church. It comes from a contracted corruption of All Hallows Eve. November 1，“All Hollows Day”（or "All Saints Day")，is a Catholic day of observance in honor of saints. But, in the 5th century BC，in Celtic Ireland, summer officially ended on October 31. The holiday was called Samhain (sow-en), the Celtic New year.

One story says that, on that day, the disembodied spirits of all those who had died throughout the preceding year would come back in search of living bodies to possess for the next year. It was believed to be their only hope for the afterlife. The Celts believed all laws of space and time were suspended during this time, allowing the spirit world to intermingle with the living.

Naturally, the still-living did not want to be possessed. They would dress up in all manner of ghoulish costumes and noisily paraded around, trying to make themselves look horrible to frighten away those spirits.

Another story is about Jack, an Irishman, who was not allowed into Heaven because he was stingy with his money. So he was sent to hell. But down there he played tricks on the Devil (Satan), so he was kicked out of Hell and made to walk the earth forever carrying a lantern.

Well, Irish children made Jack's lanterns on October 31st from a large potato or turnip, hollowed out with the sides having holes and lit by little candles inside. And Irish children would carry them as they went from house to house begging for food for the village Halloween festival that honored the Druid god Muck Olla. The Irish name for these lanterns was “Jack with the lantern or “Jack of the lantern”, abbreviated as “Jack-o’-lantern” and now spelled “jack-o-lantem”.

The traditional Halloween you can read about in most books was just children’s fun night. Halloween celebrations would start in October in every elementary school. Children would make Halloween decorations，all kinds of orange-paper jack-o-lantems. And from black paper you’d cut “scary” designs ——an evil witch with a pointed hat riding through the sky on a broomstick, maybe with black bats flying across the moon, and that meant bad luck. And of course black cats for more bad luck. Sometimes a black cat would ride away into the sky on the back of the witch’s broom.

And on Halloween night we'd dress up in Mom or Dad’s old shoes and clothes, put on a mask, and be ready to go outside. The little kids (children younger than we were) had to go with their mothers, but we older ones went together to neighbors’ houses, ringing their doorbell and yelling, “Trick or treat!” meaning, “Give us a treat (something to eat) or we’ll play a trick on you!” The people inside were supposed to come to the door and comment on our costumes. Oh! Here’s a ghost. Oh, there’s a witch. Oh, here’s an old lady. Sometimes they would play along with us and pretend to be scared by some ghost or witch. But they would always have some candy and maybe an apple to put in our “trick or treat bags”. But what if no one come to the door, or if someone chased us away? Then we’d play a trick on them, usually taking a piece of soap and making marks on their windows. And afterwards we would go home and count who got the most candy.