Halloween Takes Over

With Halloween right around the corner, people are starting to do many different fall activities to celebrate the season. On Saturday evening, I went to Fright Fest at Six Flags Great America. Fright Fest is a special event that occurs annually in October. The park is open late, and creepy people in intense costumes follow the guests around and try to scare them. After participating in this somewhat strange event, I began to wonder why we celebrate Halloween and where it came from. After some investigation, I found out that Halloween started because the Celts believed that the souls of the dead came to visit Earth on the last day in October. Later on, the Romans conquered the Celts and adopted some of their beliefs (including their thoughts on Halloween). We all know that Roman influence, beliefs and traditions spread across most of the known world, which explains why we still find ourselves celebrating Halloween in modern times.

Since Halloween doesn't really mean anything to us, why do we still celebrate it? Halloween is not a holiday like Christmas or Hanukkah, which celebrates a specific religious event that people actually believe in. According to the National Retail Federation, Halloween celebrants are expected to spend $2.08 billion on candy this year. (To look at more statistics about Halloween in the US click here http://www.nrf.com/modules.php?name=News&op=viewlive&sp_id=1668) This article shows many shocking facts about the outrageous Halloween spending in our country.  Why is Halloween such a big deal? Do we continue our Halloween traditions solely for commercial reasons?

My friend and I posing in the coffins with a zombie woman

The zombie woman scaring
Reilly and Madeleine