Celtic: The ancient Celtic (Irish, Scottish, Welsh) festival called Samhain is considered by many to be a predecessor of our contemporary Halloween. Samhain was the New Year's Day of the Celts, celebrated on 1 November. It was also a day of the dead, a time when it was believed that the souls of those who had died during the year were allowed access to the land of the dead. It was related to the season: by Samhain, the crops should be harvested and animals brought in from the distant fields.

Many traditional beliefs and customs are associated with Samhain, most notable that night was the time of the wandering dead, the practice of leaving offerings of food and drink to masked and costumed revelers, and the lighting of bonfires, continued to be practiced on 31 October, known as the Eve of All Saints, the Eve of All Hallows, or Hallow Even. It is the glossing of the name hallow Even that has given us the name Hallow e'en.

The spirits of Samhain, once thought to be wild and powerful, were now said to be something worse: evil. The church maintained that the gods and goddesses and other spiritual beings of traditional religions were diabolical deceptions, that the spiritual forces that people had experienced were real, but they were manifestations of the Devil, the Prince of Liars, who misled people toward the worship of false idols. Thus, the customs associated with Halloween included representations of ghosts and human skeletons -symbols of the dead- and of the devil and other malevolent, evil creatures, such as witches were said to be.

England: Guy Fawkes Day, 5 November, is celebrated in ways reminiscent of Halloween. Guy Fawkes was accused of attempting to blow up the Houses of Parliament on that day in 1605. He was apprehended, hung, drawn, and quartered. On 5 November 1606, the same Parliament declared the fifth of November a day of public thanksgiving. The act of treason was viewed as part of a 'popish' -that is, Roman Catholic- plot against the Protestant government. Because Halloween was associated with the Catholic church calendar, its importance diminished, but many of its traditions shifted to the annual commemoration of the death of Guy Fawkes.

Today, for weeks in advance of 5 November, English children prepare effigies of Fawkes, dummies known as Guys. They set them out on street corners and beg passers-by for "a penny for the Guy". The eve of the fifth is know as Mischief Night, when children are free to play pranks on adults, just as 30 October, the night before Halloween, is know as Mischief Night in many areas of the U.S. On the night of 5 November, the Guys are burned in bonfires, just as the ancient Celts burned bonfires on 1 November.

Germany: Throughout the Western world, 1 May, like 1 November, is a day of traditional significance. The 30th of April, the eve of May 1, is in areas of Germany, particularly the Harz Mountains, Walpurgisnacht, or the eve of St. Walpurgis Day. Witches are supposed to be especially active this day, as are spirits of the dead and demon creatures from the nether world.

China: The care of the dead through prayers and sacrifices were part of a spring festival of purification and regeneration.

Japan: Bon festival, dedicated to the spirits of ancestors, for whom special foods are prepared, occurs during the middle of the summer (one of the most important festive periods of the year). Three days in length, it is a time when everyone goes home (reminiscent of the American Thanksgiving).

The first week of November is marked in many countries, especially those with a strong Catholic influence, with festivals concerned with death in a playful but serious way. In Catholic countries we often find some cognate of Halloween associated with All Saints' or All Souls' days.

In Mexico and other Latin American countries, the first and second of November are the Days of the Dead -El Dias de los Muertos. In some regions, the evening of 31 October is the beginning of the Day of the Dead Children, which is followed on 1 November by the Day of the Dead Adults. Skeleton figures-candy (sugar skulls), toys, statues and decorations-are seen everywhere. It is a time for great festivity, with traditional plays and food. It is a time to play with death and decorating family graves, which is preceded by religious services and followed by picnics. The human skeleton or skull is the primary symbol of the day. Unlike the American Halloween, in Mexico people build home altars, adorned with religious icons and special breads and other food for the dead. The Day of the Dead incorporates recognition of death as a concept with rituals that remember the deaths of individuals.

Halloween has become one of the most important and widely celebrated festivals on the contemporary American calendar, and it is not even officially a holiday. No day off is given for Halloween, no federal decree is proclaimed establishing it as a national holiday. People simply do it.

Santino, Jack - "Halloween and other Festivals of Death and Life" University of Tennessee Press, Knoxville, 1994