It’s that time of year again! People are carving pumpkins, decorations are being put up, and people are dressing up as their favorite fictional character. It’s Halloween! But have you ever wondered why we celebrate it? And how did Halloween became a holiday?

Halloween was originally a Celtic holiday, marking the end of the summer, known as “Samhian.” The Celts believed that the dead would return as ghosts, so they left out food offerings for spirits and celebrated the holiday by wearing animal heads and skins  while reading fortunes and making bonfires.  Samhian is the inspiration behind Halloween costumes and possibly why we go trick-or-treating.

Halloween’s origins also go back to two festivals of the Roman Empire: one to honor the dead and another to honor Ponoma, the goddess of fruits and trees . The second festival was a day to honor Pomona, the goddess of fruits and trees. The symbol of Pomona is an apple.

Years later, American Halloween celebrations would celebrate the apple through the Halloween game, “bobbing for apples.” This is a party game where you tie your hands behind your back and try to get the most apples out of a bucket using your mouth.

At Lewis High School today, not many students or staff have bobbed for apples. However, special education teacher Stephanie Randall played the Halloween game as a kid.  “For me it was very difficult because it is very hard to breathe, and you have to bend down while holding your breath while trying to bite the apples under the water,” Randall said. 

Halloween got its name through a Catholic religious holiday. By the year 1000, the Roman church created “All Souls Day,” which is a holiday to honor the dead. A Christian version of Samhain, All Souls Day was kind of celebrated the same as Samhain, with bonfires and big parades, but instead of dressing up as dead animals, the Romans would dress up as angels and devils.

Over generations, All Souls Day became All-Hallows or All-Hallowmas, eventually to be replaced by the modern day Halloween. 

Halloween was slow to spread in popularity throughout Colonial America and the newly-formed U.S., but it was more popular in the South. Early Halloween celebrations featured scary story sharing, dancers, and singing.

By the 19th century, America saw an increase in Irish immigrants. These immigrants brought back the tradition of “Mischief night” from their home country, and built a foundation for Halloween celebrations. 

One Halloween tradition that came from Irish immigrants was pumpkin carving, which started with demonic faces that were carved to turnips to scare away spirits.

Over time, Halloween basically lost all previous religious associations. Borrowing from  European traditions, American Children began dressing up in costumes to ask for food or money that later turned into the modern trick-or-treating. 

Is trick or treating just for kids? Many believe you should stop in your freshman year or sophomore year because if  you are still saying “trick or treat!” to strangers or neighbors at age 14 or 15, it may be viewed as weird and embarrassing.

Biology teacher Bryce Diehl stopped tricking or treating around that age. “My trick or treating stopped during my sophomore year,” Diehl said.

English teacher Atoya Mercer believes that trick or treating should be only for kids. “You can trick or treat whenever but not above the age 18,” Mercer said.

Psychology teacher, and government Heather Kunicki offers more guidance but appreciates a good costume. “There’s no age limit to trick or treating, but if I had to say when to stop is your junior year. But if you have a costume on, I will still give you candy,” Kunicki said. 

Speaking of candy, the Lewis Library is currently running a “Candy Wars” competition to find out what candy is the favorite among the Lewis community. There are four rounds in this competition, in which candies compete against chocolate. 

Starting with the round of 16, normal Skittles, Watermelon Sour Patch Kids, Nerds Gummy Clusters, gummy bears, milk chocolate M&Ms, Kit Kat, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, and Hershey’s Milk Chocolate all advanced through the first bracket. 

For the quarter finals, Watermelon Sour Patch Kids, gummy bears, Kit Kat, and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup all advanced. Now for the final: Watermelon Sour Patch Kids versus Kit Kat! 

When I informally polled my classmates in advisory, biology, physical education and business classes, their answers were somewhat similar to the Candy Wars results. Student favorites for the trick-or-treat bag included Twix, Reese’s, Snickers, Smarties, gummy bears, and Hershey’s. While I heard some underrated candies like 100 Grand and Gushers, the majority preferred Kit Kats.

So, will Kit Kats win Candy Wars? The winner will be announced on Halloween.

Everyone has a favorite trick or treat but they also have a least favorite. When I hear people say that “Whoppers are my least favorite candy,” I get confused. Why would you hate on Whoppers if they taste so similar to Kit Kats? 

Think about it, if Nestle brand uses milk, sugars, and coca powders to make the inside of a Kit Kat, then Hershey does the same with Whoppers. Whoppers also contain milk and sugars but no cocoa powders. 

I would even argue Whoppers are better than M&Ms. They basically have the same crunchiness, but Whoppers give you more chocolate and more filling than M&Ms. Whoppers should be a top ten candy; they do not deserve to be hated.  

Halloween is a holiday with a notable history and an event that brings people together, forming community. Today, more families are participating in trunk-or-treat which is basically trick-or-treating, but instead of giving out candy in houses, you give out candy in cars. Many families do this alternative because it’s safer but others say that this is ruining Halloween’s legacy.

But what do you think, is it safer to give out candy in cars or going door to door? Should we keep or abandon door-to-door trick-or-treating?