Halloween is a holiday anybody can enjoy celebrating, no matter if you are a kid or an adult. It is the day when if you are a kid you can stay up later than usual and hang out with your friends and eat candy till you get a new cavity. If you’re a teen, you can hang out with friends and family or chill and watch tv, trick or treat, or sleep all night cause you don’t have school or work that day. If you’re an adult, most of them like to bring their kids trick or treating or hand out candy, and maybe throw some parties. 

Most people want to celebrate it but don’t know the full story behind how Halloween was made to be or why it is called Halloween. The name Halloween goes back to medieval Christianity, the word Hallow is from the Middle English word for holy when an event in mas was held, and all Hallow’s Eve then the three worded name got shortened to Halloween.

Costumes first began in Scotland back in 1585. However, the practice was most likely common before then. The tradition of costumes originated with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain when people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off ghosts or spirits. Trick or treating began in Scotland and also Ireland, where the tradition of going house to house on Halloween and putting on a small performance to be rewarded with food or treats, goes back at least as far as the 16th century. As well does the tradition of people wearing costumes on Halloween. 

How carving pumpkins started is because, in Ireland, people carved demonic faces out of turnips to frighten away an Irish myth named Stingy Jack and his wandering spirits. When Irish immigrants moved to the U.S they started carving jack-o’-lanterns from pumpkins, as these were native to the region. 

How me and my family celebrate Halloween is we like to trick or treat around my neighborhood and then take our car to go to farther places like downtown Forest Grove. Days before Halloween, we sometimes like to throw Halloween parties where we invite the whole family and wear costumes and eat candy and food. We usually make posole tamales and candy apples. One of my family members likes to make a candy ball like popcorn that actually tastes pretty good! Last year because of covid instead of trick-or-treating with family for long hours we decided to trick-or-treat for about 25 minutes, and then watch scary movies all night long. 

Some common foods to eat on Halloween night are caramel apples, chocolate cupcakes, chocolate-dipped pretzels, candy corn, pumpkin chocolate cookies, Halloween-themed cake, punch, Rice Krispies, and Halloween bark! Halloween is also the time when cafes, stores, and restaurants like to make pumpkin-flavored EVERYTHING, and people really seem to enjoy it and to be honest, I kinda do too. My favorite thing about Halloween is seeing the wonderful Halloween decorations on houses, especially at night when you are able to see the decorations more clearly. In conclusion, Halloween is better than all the other holidays.