Over 2,000 years ago people called 'the Celts' believed 1 the night before the New Year (October 31st) was a time when the living and the dead came together.
More 2 a thousand years ago the Christian church named November 1st All Saints Day (also called All Hallows). This was a special holy day to honour the saints and other people who died for 3 religion. The night before All Hallows was called All Hallows Eve. Later, “Hallows Eve” was joined together to create the name 'Halloween'.
Like the Celts, the Europeans of that time also believed that the spirits of the dead would visit the earth on Halloween. They worried that evil spirits would hurt them, so 4 that night people wore costumes that looked like ghosts or other evil creatures. They thought if they dressed like that, the spirits would think they were also dead and not harm them.
The tradition 5 Halloween was carried to North America by the immigrating Europeans. These days Halloween is not a religious holiday. It is primarily a fun day for children. Children dress 6 in costumes like people did a thousand years ago. They go from house to house, knock on doors and say 'trick or treat'. The owner of each house gives them candy or something special.