Halloween is celebrated on Oct 31st every year. I love all the fun and festivities attached to this particular day. Starting in September, you can see Halloween decorations all around the town. The beautifully carved pumpkins add a touch of beauty to the spectacular fall colors. Some people convert their frontyard or backyard into a haunted area with spooky hands coming out from the ground, coffins holding scary looking bodies, huge spider webs, draculas and tombstones. It is especially delightful to see children trick-or-treating wearing imaginative and colorful costumes. And best of all are the Halloween candies.

Halloween is celebrated worldwide. The history of Halloween traces a path from ancient Druidic times to the present. Originally a Celtic festival of the dead (called Samhain), Halloween owes much of its character to the Roman harvest celebration of the goddess Pomona and even more to the customs of the early Catholic church. It is the blending of these three traditions that produced this spooky holiday.

The early Catholic church gave the pagan practices a religious twist. Nov. 1 was celebrated as 'All Saints Day', a day of observance in honor of saints. The night before that was 'All Hallows Eve' popularly known as 'Halloween'.

The custom of Halloween was brought to America in the mid-eighteenth century by the Irish immigrants fleeing from the potato famine in their country.

I love to carve the pumpkin for Halloween. So, I was very amused when I heard the story which began it all. If u would like to read about it, click on the 'Jack-O'-Lantern' link. There is also information about how the custom of 'trick-or-treat' started. Check out the various Halloween adoptions for your site. And don't forget to click on the candy guy. Visit 'Casper's Corner' where u can meet Casper, Wendy and Hot-Stuff.

Have a safe

If you have a Halloween site, feel free to save these awards on your computer and display them on your site. The only rule is that, your site should be a kid-friendly site. Please link the award back to www.gourismitha.com. Thank you.