Whether you’re stocking up on chocolate bars, or adding some finishing touches to your spooky costumes, we are all aware that Halloween is right around the corner, an integral festival marked on the British calendar.

Although we love a good excuse to dress up and maybe even treat ourselves to a few drinks, not many of us are inclined to commemorate the origins of how this whimsical evening came to be.

To fully understand this holiday, we must understand it’s history, so let’s venture over 2000 years in time, dating back to the Celtics.

Originally, on the 31st of October, the traditional Celtics celebrated the renewal of the harvest, known as Samhain.

This marked the constitutive period between the end of the harvest and the beginning of winter.

 It was also believed to be the one day a year where the portal between the mortal and the supernatural was at its weakest (this is where we first find these frightening notions).  

Topically, Celtic traditions for this day included lighting bonfires to ward off supernatural beings and wearing masks and disguises to scare any unwanted visitors from the underworld.

We can see these trends persisting in modern cultures through our beloved fancy dress.

Other traditions including pumpkin carving came along in the 15th century, when all-hallows-eve was popularized across Ireland both secularly and in pagan tradition.

 In those times, many would use common produce and vegetables including turnips and potatoes, carving onto them scary ghost faces and lighting candles inside, aiming to repel the undead.

However, as famine struck in Ireland and many migrated to the United States, this ritual was adapted to the pumpkins commonly found across the US, giving us Jack O’ lanterns.

As we reach a peak in globalization, so do Halloween celebrations. Currently in the UK the estimated Halloween spending is projected to reach £776 million in 2024, according to a spider survey.

It is possible to look back at evidence to tell that this large scale commercialization took place after the end of sugar rationing in 1947, brands announcing Halloween campaigns. Just as Halloween costumes began to appear in shops in the 1950s

So as we dance the night away, remember the Celtics and how this spooky season really came to be, and the long tremendous journey that gave us these celebrations.