The chill in the air bites as trick-or-treaters go house to house collecting different types of candy. Scary decorations adorn the yards of practically every home. People go all out with their costumes ranging from cute to terrifying. It is the spookiest time of the year: Halloween.

We celebrate this holiday every year, yet many of us never stop to wonder how it came to be. Where did it come from? When did it emerge? Why do we celebrate it?

It all started with the festival of Samhain. Samhain is an ancient Celtic celebration that marked the end of summer and the beginning of winter. The winter season was often associated with death and the Celts believed that the dead would return to Earth on the night of October 31. With the arrival of these spirits, the Celts believed this would assist Celtic priests (Druids) with predicting the future.

Druids would build bonfires where people would sacrifice things such as crops and animals to the spirits of the dead. The Celts would wear costumes during this sacred practice.

Later, this celebration would blend with two Roman festivals. This would occur around A.D. 43 when the Roman Empire conquered much of the Celt’s lands. One of the Roman festivals, Feralia, honored the dead and the other celebrated the the goddess Pomona.

Christianity began to spread into the Celtic lands and All Soul’s Day emerged. The festival of Samhain would take place the day before, earning the name All-Hallows Eve. This would then become Halloween.

As time passed by, Halloween would arrive in America, although strict religious beliefs weighed heavily on the holiday. Customs from the different groups of people inhabiting the country merged creating their own version of the traditional holiday. Halloween would begin to stray away from the religious and spiritual connections it once had, becoming the holiday we know it as today.