The Origins of Hallow e'en

The ancient Celtic festival called Samhain was the New Year's Day of the Celts and was celebrated on 1 November. It was a joyful harvest festival that marked the death of the old year and the beginning of a new one. It was also a day of the dead, a time when it was believed that the souls of those who had died during the year were allowed access to the land of the dead.

The previous night was the time of the wandering dead. And so the practice of leaving offerings of food and drink to masked and costumed revelers, and the lighting of bonfires, practiced on 31 October, became known as the Eve of All Saints, the Eve of All Hallows, or Hallow Even (Hallow e'en).