The history of the Halloween Superstitions is veiled in strict allegory. This spooky holiday does indeed have its own unique past. Many scholars believe that the holiday has been used in a modern concept from the old Roman feast of Pomona. Others believe that this spooky day comes from the old Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in). They would prepare themselves by stocking supplies. In addition, they would have a huge bonfire and feast before the coming winter during this festival. The superstition began due to the belief that October 31st was a day when the world of the dead and the living came together and the dead would rise and cause havoc and destruction on the community and its crops. The term itself roots itself in old Irish terminology literally meaning “summer’s end”.

The custom of wearing a Halloween costume, whether it is a home made costume or not, has its roots in medieval history. The poor use to travel house to house asking for food and sustenance in return for prayers being said for the dead on All Soul’s Day. This was called “souling” and was a common practice done around the end of the year on the exact same date that we have Halloween today. In the British Isles, the children dressed up in a kids costume or “guised” themselves and would go door to door asking for food and money. They would carry around a hand-crafted lantern that was made of a scooped out turnip.

The children, who now dress in a Halloween fancy dress, wear a wide range of costumes that were not available back then. The original Halloween costume usually depicted monsters and ghosts that would raid the village and were used to scare off or appease the evil spirits into not bringing about destruction in the village. There are a variety of fancy dress costume that children wear today ranging from popular TV characters to ancient gods and everything in between. The Halloween superstitions that we have today were very real to the common person way back when. The spirit of Halloween is alive today and it shows our connection to the past every October 31st.