Creepy Costumes and Ghoulish Tales Make for a Gruesome Halloween

Although Halloween was a traditionally Celtic celebration involving bonfires and ancient ceremonies, it has been strongly embraced by popular culture and is now widely celebrated in the form of fancy dress parties.

Halloween has grown to become one of the most popular days of the year. Indeed, as October 31st approaches, people are off busily preparing themselves for a night filled with ghoulish stories, frightening films and spooky fancy dress parties. The costumes are key and each year people try to outdo their friends and family by embracing the most gruesome characters around.

Vampires, ghosts and witches are the popular favourites, although people draw inspiration from just about anything dealing with the horrible and gruesome. However, Halloween was not always celebrated in this way. In fact, its roots can be traced back to both the Christian holy day of All Saints'' Day, and the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain.

Literally translated, Samhain means Summers End, and was designed to celebrate the end of the Gaelic and Brythonic harvest season. These ancient cultures believed that on October 31st the boundary between the living and the dead disappeared, leaving the evil spirits to roam the earth, causing havoc in the form of ruined crops and disease. The tradition of wearing costumes and masks was the Celts'' attempts to either copy the deceased or to appease them.

The custom of carving jack-o''-lanterns also originated at this time. In order to ward off the wicked spirits, the Celts would carve a turnip in the shape of a skeleton''s head and leave in on their window sills. Nowadays, most people use pumpkins instead of turnips - this practice began in North America - and as opposed to frightening off the dead, they are used as decorative items.

Although the Samhain festival is an ancient one, the notion of Halloween has been widely adopted by popular culture and is now seen as a major calendar event. But, in place of throwing the bones of slaughtered animals onto bonfires as the Celts chose to do, people usually celebrate by going trick or treating, or by holding Halloween fancy dress parties.

In addition to the creepy costumes, there are also a number of games that people play on Halloween. Apple dunking or bobbing is particularly popular and involves people having to duck for apples that are floating in a bucket of water, without using their hands. Toffee apples are also a common treat and it is usual for them to be tied up in a line: again people have to try and eat them whilst their hands are tied behind their backs.

There are so many ways in which to celebrate this popular night, from holding Halloween fancy dress parties to thinking up gruesome tales to recount. And, with the range of frightening characters to choose from, there is no excuse to be stuck for ideas on how to scare your friends silly!

Adam Singleton writes for a digital marketing agency. This article has been commissioned by a client of said agency. This article is not designed to promote, but should be considered professional content.