The origin of Halloween is the Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in). The Celts lived 2000 years ago in Ireland, the UK and Northern France. It was the beginning of the dark, cold winter and they believed that on that night the ghosts of the dead returned to the earth.
Much later - by the 9th century - the influence of Christianity turned this festival of Samhain into the night before All Saints' Day (in medieval English, All Hallowed's Day) and the night before it Halloween (roughly, from hallowed + evening).
There is a link to an in-depth history of Halloween below:
And a two-minute video which tells the history of Halloween:
The Jack O' Lantern
The carved pumpkin comes from the Irish folktale of "Stingy Jack". Jack had a drink with the Devil, but he didn't want to pay. He played some tricks on the devil for years and finally died. God didn't want Jack to enter heaven and the Devil didn't want him in hell, either. The Jack O' Lantern is the representation of Jack wandering the earth ever since.
You can read the full story here:
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