English4All School blog 

Halloween in the U.S.A

Halloween or Hallowe’en (a contraction of Hallows’ Even or Hallows’ Evening),^[5] also known as Allhalloween,^[6] All Hallows’ Eve,^[7] or All Saints’ Eve,^[8] is a celebration observed in several countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Hallows’ Day. It begins the three-day observance of Allhallowtide,^[9] the time in the liturgical year dedicated to remembering the dead, including saints (hallows), martyrs, and all the faithful departed.^[10][11]

It is widely believed that many Halloween traditions originated from ancient Celtic harvest festivals, particularly the Gaelic festival Samhain; that such festivals may have had pagan roots; and that Samhain itself was Christianized as Halloween by the early Church.^{[12][13][14][15][16]} Some believe, however, that Halloween began solely as a Christian holiday, separate from ancient festivals like Samhain.^{[17][18][19][20]}

Halloween activities include trick-or-treating (or the related guising and souling), attending Halloween costume parties, carving pumpkins into jack-o’-lanterns, lighting bonfires, apple bobbing, divination games, playing pranks, visiting haunted attractions, telling scary stories, as well as watching horror films.^[21] In many parts of the world, the Christian religious observances of All Hallows’ Eve, including attending church services and lighting candles on the graves of the dead, remain popular,^[22][23][24] although elsewhere it is a more commercial and secular celebration.^[25][26][27] Some Christians historically abstained from meat on All Hallows’ Eve, a tradition reflected in the eating of certain vegetarian foods on this vigil day, including apples, potato pancakes, and soul cakes.^{[28][29][30][31]}