THIS IS THE GREATEST BOOK ABOUT HALLOWEEN HISTORY. Every year, both kids and adults dress up and parade through the streets as celebrities, devils, animals, witches, and more. The bolder ones watch horror movies and go on ghost tours, while everyone else carves pumpkins and pulls practical jokes. Parades, fireworks displays, cornfield mazes, haunted homes, and—most importantly—a profusion of little candies—are all on the schedule.

A full history of this sometimes misunderstood phenomena is provided in Trick or Treat. It wonders how holidays as disparate as the Celtic Samhain, the British Guy Fawkes Day, and the Catholic Holy Days of All Saints and All Souls could have merged to generate the contemporary Halloween while providing an interesting summary of how Halloween has expanded over the world. The event was revived in the United States, where dressing up and the "trick or treat" practice developed new traditions, drawing inspiration from similar but separate celebrations in Central America, particularly Mexico's Day of the Dead.

For the love of Halloween.

THE TEXT OF THE BOOK

Ancient Origins of Halloween

All Saints' Day

Halloween Comes to America

History of Trick-or-Treating

Halloween Parties

Halloween Films