Halloween is celebrated on October 31st. It was also called "All Hallows Eve" by a Celtic group which existed centuries ago http://uoguelph.ca/~bmeyers/druid.html called the Druids. It was called "All Hallows Eve" because it fell on the eve of Samhain http://theartemis.com/sabbats/Samhain.htm (meaning Summer's End) which was the Druid's New Year. The Druids believed that it was the night when the Lord of Death called back the souls of the dead who had died during the previous year. "All Saints Day" was moved in the eight century from May to November and was done to replace the Druids celebration of Samhain (the Druid New Year). In Europe, France, Spain and Italy there are masses and prayers said at the graves of the dead on this day. The United States and the United Kingdom celebrate a little differently they both have trick-or-treating where the children dress up in costumes and go door to door receiving treats. The celebration of Halloween came to America in the 1840's during the Irish Potato Famine when many Irishmen immigrated to America. Halloween was also observed in Scotland. There are references found in Scottish literature of its existence.
Do you believe in ghosts? Mark Twain wrote "A Ghost Story", which would be more than appropriate to be read on Halloween. http://www.cardiffgiant.com/ghost.html Here is a web site where you can read about how others have had experiences with such paranormal beings. http://www.ghosts.org/stories/stories.ht... (warning not written for children). There are a lot of haunted houses in America probably one in your neighborhood http://216.147.96.192.index.html check out this site for the one nearest you. For the younger crowd here is a site you might like about a haunted house http://www.hauntedhome.com/ which contains a virtual game you can play online
Halloween Tricks or Treats has a lot of fun things to do http://www.night.net/halloween/index.htm... you can listen to spooky music on the jute box while checking out the site. Here are some wonderful recipes for your Halloween parties http://homearts.com/mrfood/articles/a8ke... they include Mini Cup Frights, Peanut Butter Creepy Crawlies, Cheesy Deviled Egg Mice and Pudding Cups. Here is a fun site where you can play trivia or participate in a contest or visit the PLAYGROUND or a spooky haunted house its called Absolutely Halloween. http://geocities.com/Heartland/7134/Hall...
UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund) collects funds that benefit children all over the world. They have been collecting funds in the United States since World War II on Halloween. To find out more about this wonderful organization and what it does http://wwwsupportunicef.org/halloween/ check out their web site.
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