How many days until Halloween?

Where Halloween comes from

Halloween's roots reach back more than 2,000 years to Samhain, a Celtic festival in Ireland, Scotland and other parts of the British Isles that marked the end of the harvest and the start of winter around November 1. It was believed that the boundary between the living and the dead grew thin at that time, so people lit bonfires and wore disguises. When the Christian church established All Saints' Day (All Hallows) on November 1, the evening before became All Hallows' Eve, later shortened to Halloween.

How Halloween reached America

Irish and Scottish immigrants brought Halloween customs to North America in the 19th century. In Ireland, lanterns were carved from turnips; in America, the larger and easier-to-carve pumpkin took over, giving us the jack-o'-lantern. Older customs such as "souling" and "guising", in which people went door to door offering prayers, songs or jokes in exchange for food, evolved into trick-or-treating, which became widespread in the United States in the late 1940s and 1950s.

Halloween today

Halloween is now one of the biggest celebrations of the year in the United States, Canada, Ireland and the UK, and is spreading worldwide. Popular traditions include:

• trick-or-treating and handing out candy;
• costume parties, with costumes ranging from classic ghosts and witches to film and pop-culture characters;
• carving jack-o'-lanterns and decorating homes;
• haunted houses, hayrides, corn mazes and scary movie nights.

Americans spend billions of dollars each year on candy, costumes and decorations, making Halloween one of the largest consumer holidays after the winter holidays.

Halloween and other days of remembrance

Halloween is closely followed by Día de los Muertos, the Mexican Day of the Dead on November 1–2, a joyful celebration honoring loved ones who have died, and by All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day in the Christian calendar. Although they share a season and some imagery, they are distinct traditions.

Planning for October 31

Halloween is always October 31. When it falls on a weekday, many communities hold parties and events on the weekend before. Costumes and popular decorations often sell out in mid-October, and pumpkins for carving last best when bought within about a week of Halloween.