The history of halloween is a diverse and very interesting one. it was originally an ancient celtic festival known as Samhain, is the celebration of the end of the harvest season and a time to prepare for winter. Also, in addition to being a harvest season festival, it is also believed by the ancient Gaels that on october 31 the boundaries between living and dead crossed and the deceased would come back to life and cause havoc such as sickness or damaged crops. the festival would frequently involve bonfires, because they are believed that they attract insects which would attract bats to the area.
There are also beliefs that there are christian influences to the acceptance of halloween such as the fact that its very close to the All Saints Day and also the fact that Alls Saints day was moved to the same date as Samhain by pope gregory, some believe that this was done to help ease celtics into christianity. Although trick or treating is very familiar to us here, in other countries its just starting to take off and also is facing much opposition from people with in the countries because of the prank-full behavior and demonic attitude of the holiday. Although the holiday go's back centuries, the custom of trick or treating has only been documented in the 1920's and onward, but not before. the first recorded print of the term "trick or treating" was documented in 1927 in Blackie, Alberta, Canada.
Although halloween is very common place now it was met with strong opposition by the puritans of early america. it was not until the mass immigration of Scottish and Irish immigrants that halloween was met with wide spread acceptance.
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