by Max Lopez
Staff Reporter

            Nowadays, most people associate Halloween with little kids running around, tossing toilet paper on top of neighbors’ roofs, and stealing candy from people who waste thirty bucks every year on tackily-decorated lollipops and chocolate bars. “It’s a fun time and a chance to be somebody you’re not,” said English teacher Erica Pease. However, most people do not know the history behind the day of horror.
            Over 2000 years ago in present-day Europe, a group of violent farmers known as the Celts held a festival called Samhain, which translates to “summer’s end.” Samhain was celebrated on the night of October 31, which marks the beginning of a dark, cold winter; a time most associated with human death.
            Before attending Samhain, Celts put on their best animal heads and skins. They believed that the boundary between the living and the dead was blurred, causing ghosts to rise to the earth. While these ghosts were on the earth, Druids, Celtic priests, made predictions about the future of their crops.
            Halloween is still in existence thanks to European immigrants who came to America in the mid 19th century. There was a move in the late 1800s that suggested Halloween to be a more about community and a neighborhood-friendly holiday, instead of pranks, witchcraft, and complete horror.
            Pretty soon, Halloween bashes were in complete swing across the United States. Parties for both adults and children were extremely common. Apple-bobbing, costume contests, and the old grandpa in the corner telling you to stick your hand into the “bucket of brains,” which was really just spaghetti, all became common activities associated with Halloween parties.
Social studies teacher Anne Epperson and freshman Darian Maroon both attend, “a huge costume party with lots and lots of candy!”
            Today, Halloween is America’s second largest commercial holiday. A whopping $6.9 billion is spent by Americans each year on the holiday. America isn’t the only country that still practices Halloween. In Latin America, they celebrate “All Souls’ Day,” which takes place on November 2. Costumes and trick-or-treating are traditions that all countries who celebrate Halloween practice.
            Although Halloween is a misinterpreted holiday, it is a well ingrained part of the American tradition and society.