Did you know that Halloween's roots go back two thousand years to the ancient Celtic holiday of Samhain? The Celts celebrated it on October 31st, believing that on this night the boundaries between worlds are erased and spirits return to earth. The tradition of carving Jack-o'-lanterns began not with pumpkins, but with turnips! Irish immigrants brought them to America in the 19th century. There, they discovered that pumpkins were much more suitable for creating sinister faces. The familiar "Trick or Treat" developed from the medieval tradition of "begging for souls" and the English "Guy Fawkes Day." Door-to-door trick-or-treating only became widespread in the United States in the 1930s. Beyond costumes and candy, Halloween is full of symbolism. Black cats, for example, were considered witches' companions, while bats and owls were harbingers of the underworld, protecting the home from evil spirits. Today, Americans spend approximately $10 billion on this holiday annually, purchasing 600 million pounds of candy! From New York to Tokyo, Halloween is a global phenomenon that unites people in joyful fear.