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Halloween: From Ritual to Spectacle
Halloween has its in the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, a time when it was believed that the boundary between the living and the dead grew thin. On this night, people lit bonfires and wore disguises in an attempt to off wandering spirits. With the spread of Christianity, these pagan customs were gradually absorbed into All Hallows’ Eve, the evening before All Saints’ Day, allowing older traditions to survive under a thin religious .
As the festival travelled to North America, particularly with Irish and Scottish migrants, it underwent a marked transformation. By the twentieth century, Halloween had become a largely secular event, increasingly with community activities such as parties, games and, most famously, trick-or-treating. The practice, once rooted in medieval begging rituals, was reshaped into a child-friendly tradition that placed the on enjoyment rather than fear
In recent decades, Halloween has been further reinvented by popular culture. Hollywood has played a role in this process, producing countless films that trade on themes of horror, suspense and the supernatural. Iconic movie villains and monsters have become cultural reference points, helping to Halloween’s identity as a night devoted to controlled fright. What began as a solemn ritual marking the changing seasons has thus evolved into a highly commercialised celebration, one that now the line between ancient belief and modern entertainment.