The origins of Halloween, from trick-or-treat to pumpkin carving
Supermarket shelves are buckling under the weight of pumpkins. Witch hats, cat ears and devil horns have been fetched down from the attic. There can only be one reason: Halloween, the spooky celebration observed every year on October 31, is here.
Most commonly known as Halloween or Hallowe’en (a contraction of All Hallows’ Evening), the spooky festival is also referred to as Allhalloween, All Hallows’ Eve, or All Saints’ Eve. It is the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Hallows’ Day, or All Saints’ Day.
Increasingly, there are grumbles that the event has become too “Americanised”, stripped of its core in favour of high street takeovers and elaborately-formed baked goods. But how did it evolve into the costume competition it is today? And where are the best Halloween events in Britain? Here’s everything you need to know.
Why do we celebrate Halloween and when did it start in the UK?
Halloween is thought to have begun in the Celtic fringes of Britain, becoming adapted over the decades by Christian traditions, immigrants’ conventions and an insatiable desire for sweets.
The origin of the festival is disputed, and there are both pagan and Christian practices that have evolved into what Halloween is like today.
Some believe it originates from the Celtic pagan festival of Samhain, meaning “Summer’s End”, which celebrated the end of harvest season.
Gaels – a group native to Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man – thought that it was a time when the walls between our world and the next became thin and porous, allowing spirits to pass through and damage their crops. Places were set at the dinner table to appease and welcome the spirits. Gaels would also offer food and drink, and light bonfires to ward off the evil spirits.
All Hallows, or All Saints’ Day, which falls on November 1, became a Christian festival in the 9th century, initiated in the British Isles. It was later adopted by the Catholic Church as a whole, becoming – as the name suggests – a celebration of all the saints of the church. It began with a feast on the preceding evening, possibly as an adaptation of the earlier pagan rites.
Trick-or-treating appears to have originated in 16th century, in Ireland, Scotland and Wales, where people went door-to-door in costume asking for food in exchange for a poem or song.
Many dressed up as souls of the dead and were understood to be protecting themselves from the spirits through impersonation.
What has Halloween got to do with dressing up?
Celts dressed up in white with blackened faces during the festival of Samhain, to trick the evil spirits that they believed would be roaming the earth.
By the 11th century, this had been adapted by the Church into a tradition called “souling”. Children went door-to-door, asking for soul cakes in exchange for praying for the souls of friends and relatives.
They went dressed up as angels, demons or saints. The soul cakes were sweet, with a cross marked on top and when eaten they represented a soul being freed from purgatory.
Nicholas Rogers, a historian at York University, says that when people prayed for the dead at Hallow Mass, they dressed up. When praying for fertile marriages, “the boy choristers in the churches dressed up as virgins.”.
In the 19th century, souling had given way to guising or mumming, when children would offer songs, poetry and jokes – instead of prayer – in exchange for fruit or money.
By the Victorian period, costumes had become more adventurous. Bats, ghosts and vampires proved popular as Gothic literature developed, while “exotic” characters like Egyptian pharaohs were also common.
The phrase trick-or-treat was first used in Canada in 1917, with the traditions brought over to North America by immigrants. Guising gave way to threatening pranks in exchange for sweets.
After a brief lull during the Second World War, largely due to rationing, Halloween became a widespread holiday that revolved around children, with newly-built suburbs providing a safe place for children to roam free.
The origins of pumpkin carving
The carving of pumpkins also originates from the Samhain festival, when Gaels would carve turnips to ward off spirits and stop fairies from settling in houses.
During the 1940s, an influx of Irish immigrants to North America struggled to find turnips to carve – instead using pumpkins.
By the 1920s pumpkin carving was widespread across America, eventually returning to Britain as the dominant option.
It’s thought that the Americanised name “Jack O’Lantern” originates in a folktale, in which the character “Stingy Jack” fools the devil into buying him a drink. He was not let into heaven or hell – and when he died, the devil threw him a burning ember which he kept in a turnip.
Halloween traditions around the world
Mexico
In Mexico, trick-or-treating forms only a small part of el Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead celebrations, which run on November 1 and 2. The festival is thought to date back some 3,000 years to pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. To honour the dead, families may prepare a feast of the deceased’s favourite foods, or leave gifts at their grave site. Larger celebrations typically include mourners wearing skull-shaped masks.
Japan
While Japan has typically not celebrated Halloween, a culture of dressing up – in increasingly elaborate costumes – has become a tradition. Street parties, and events at theme parks, have become particularly popular places to show off frightening outfits.
Ireland
Barmbrack, a fruitcake, is used as part of a fortune telling game in Ireland. Muslin-wrapped treats are baked inside. If a ring is found, it means that the person will soon be wed; a piece of straw means a prosperous year is on its way; a pea means the person will not marry that year; a stick means an unhappy marriage or dispute; a coin represents good fortune.
Italy
Food plays a significant part in Italy’s Day of the Dead celebrations, too. Fave dei morti, or “beans of the dead”, are bean-shaped sugar cookies consumed during the period. It’s part of an ancient tradition, based in the idea that the souls of the dead resided in fava beans. Eating them allowed for a connection between the living and the dead.
This story was first published in October 2022 and has been revised and updated.
