Trick-or-treating evolved from the ancient Celtic tradition of placing treats and food outside in order to placate the spirits who roamed the streets at Samhain

Halloween celebrates the Christian holiday of All Hallows Eve . But the Christian holiday is likely rooted in the Celtic holiday, Samhein, or a number of other pre-Christian harvest festivals

And so now we have things like Pumpkin carving in bulk, which is a popular Guinness World Record. Halloween enthusiasts in Highwood, Illinois took the record in 2011 with 30,919 simultaneously lit Jack-O-Lanterns

And when children are more than twice as likely to be killed in a pedestrian-car accident on Halloween than on any other night, this phobia may not be entirely crazy

And who can blame them when Halloween is the 2nd most commercially successful holiday in America, with Christmas being the first

In Great Britain, Jack-O-Lanterns are traditionally made from turnips. The Halloween custom came to America through Irish immigrants, and since turnips werent cheap Americans used pumpkins

Black cats get a bad rap on Halloween because they were once believed to be witch's subordinates and protectors of witches powers. However, in England its the opposite. White cats are believed to be bad luck

Aside from black cats, the owl is also a popular Halloween image. In Medieval Europe, owls were thought to be witches, and to hear an owl's call meant someone was about to die

Guinness Book of World Records, the fastest time to carve a face into a pumpkin is 20.1 seconds, achieved by David Finkle of the United Kingdom

Halloween celebration of Samhain, bonfires were lit to ensure the sun would return after the long winters. Often Druid priests would throw the bones of cattle into the flames and, hence, bone fire became bonfire

Halloween traditions have their roots in ancient Celtic traditions as well, For example, the ancient Celts thought that spirits and ghosts roamed the countryside on Halloween night

Harry Houdini 1874-1926 was one of the most famous and mysterious magicians who ever lived. Strangely enough, he died in 1926 on Halloween night of appendicitis brought on by three stomach punches

How successful Well, Halloween is a 6 billion dollar Industry

In many countries, such as France and Australia, Halloween is nothing more than an unwanted, hyper-commercialized American influence

However, Halloween is thought to have originated around 4000 B.C., which means Halloween has been around for over 6,000 years and is one of the oldest celebrations in the world

Kind of random, but did you know that the 1978 movie Halloween was on such a tight budget, that they used the cheapest mask they could find for Michael Meyers Which turned out to be a William Shatner Star Trek mask

Mexico for example, celebrates the Days of the Dead Das de los Muertos on the Christian holidays All Saints Day November 1 and All Souls Day November 2 instead of Halloween

Salem, Massachusetts and New Orleans are the traditional hotspots for celebrating Halloween in the U.S. with New Orleans boasting of the world record for the largest Halloween Party with 17,777 costumed revelers at once

And let's not forget about the Scarecrow which symbolizes the ancient agricultural roots of the holiday.

Souling, a medieval Christian precursor to modern-day trick-or-treating in which the poor would go door-to-door on Hallowmas November 1 offering prayers for the dead in exchange for soul cakes

The Jack-O-Lantern tradition also comes from olden times even though the true origin of the tradition is uncertain

This is great news unless you are diagnosed with Samhainophobia which is the fear of Halloween

trick-or-treating, In 2010, Belleville, Illinois, became the latest American city to ban trick-or-treating for kids over 12. Teens can face fines from 100 to 1,000 for going door-to-door

witch comes from the Old English wicce, meaning wise woman. In fact, wiccan were highly respected people at one time and according to popular belief, witches held meetings, or sabbats, on Halloween night.