12 things you might not know about Halloween

Halloween is a bundle of bizarre traditions that are ingrained in us from a young age. But how much do you know about the origins of the celebration?

Here we look at the creation of some of those famous customs, from carving turnips to bobbing for apples.

Samhain

Halloween as we know it today stems from the Celtic festival Samhain (pronounced 'sah-win' or 'sow-in'), which was the Celtic new year. It was the day of the dead, the day when the veils between worlds was at its thinnest and when spirits (hopefully ancestors) could return to the world of the living.

All Hallows' Eve

Later, when the festival was adopted by Christians, they celebrated it as All Hallows’ Eve, followed by All Saints Day, though it still retained elements of remembering and honouring the dead.

Summer’s End

Samhain means 'summer’s end'. This day marked the end of the summer and the harvest, and the beginning of the cold dark winter.

‘Bone-fires’

To celebrate Samhain, druids built huge sacred bonfires - originally called bone-fires, since after feasting, the bones were thrown in the fire as offerings for healthy and plentiful livestock in the New Year.