In Hong Kong Halloween celebrations are known as Yue Lan or “Festival of the Hungry Ghosts”. During the festivities fires are lit and food is offered to angry spirits seeking revenge.Although Halloween today is considered a relatively scary ordeal, in the past this wasn’t the case. The ghosts that were celebrated during Samhain were actually the spirits of loved ones. The main reason fear became such a factor was because people believed that on October 31st the lines between this world and spirit world became blurred and if spirits could come here it meant that people could be transported there.The first incidence of the phrase “trick-or-treating” in print appeared in a Chicago newspaper in 1927.
After Christmas, Halloween is the highest grossing holiday of the yearIn many countries it is seen as an unwelcome, excessively commercialized American influence.Children are over 2 times as likely to be killed in a car/pedestrian accident than any other night.Pumpkin carving comes from a method used by the Celts to ward off evil spirits during Samuin. They would hollow out turnips, carve faces in them, and then put candles inside to keep the spirits at bay.Americans purchase roughly 600 million pounds of candy every Halloween.Although modern day Halloween is typically thought of as a kid’s holiday, adult costume sales account for 62% of total costume sales every year.Americans will spend $310 million to dress up their pets on Halloween this year.1 2
The spelling on this article is atrocious.