Halloween was called Samhain by the Irish. It came to be known as Halloween sometime around the fifth century A.D..
Samhain took place on October 31 through to November 1. During this period， it was believed that the boundaries between our world and the world of the dead were weakened， allowing spirits of the recently dead to cross over and possess the living.
To celebrate the festival， the Irish would dress up in bizarre costumes① and parade through their villages， saying “Trick or Treat”， in order to scare off any recently departed souls， and avoid the evils and disasters.
This yearly festival was later brought to the other regions of the world， including continental Europe and North America. Irish immigrants② brought several customs with them， including one of the symbols most commonly associated with Halloween—the “Jack Lantern”.
According to Irish folklore， there once lived a man named Jack who was known for being a drunk and a prankster. One night Jack tricked the devil into climbing a tree， and quickly carved③ an image of a cross on the trunk， trapping the devil. Jack then made him promise that， in exchange for letting him out of the tree， the Devil would never tempt him to sin again. He reluctantly agreed， but was able to exact his revenge upon Jack’s death. Jack was barred from entering heaven and he was also barred from hell. So he was doomed to wander the earth with only a “Jack Lanterns” to warm him.
Irish children made Jack’s lanterns on October 31st from a large potato or turnip， hollowed④ out with the sides having holes and lit by little candles inside. And Irish children would carry them as they went from house to house begging for food for the village Halloween festival that honored the Druid god Muck Olla. The Irish name for these lanterns was “Jack with the lantern” or “Jack of the lantern”， abbreviated as “Jack-o’-lantern” and now spelled “jack-o-lantern”.
Children would make Halloween decorations， all kinds of orange-paper jack-o-lanterns. And from black paper you’d cut “scary” designs—an evil witch⑤ with a pointed hat riding through the sky on a broomstick， maybe with black bats flying across the moon， and that meant bad luck. And of course black cats for more bad luck. Sometimes a black cat would ride away into the sky on the back of the witch’s broom.
One popular teenagers’ Halloween trick was to unroll a roll of toilet paper and throw it high into a tree again and again until the tree was all wrapped⑥ in the white paper. The paper would often stay in the tree for weeks until a heavy snow or rain washed it off. No real harm done， but it made a big mess of both the tree and the yard under it—one kind of Halloween mischief.
① costumen. 服装，装束
② immigrantn. 移民
③ carvev. 刻，雕刻
④ hollowv. 挖空，挖成
⑤ witchn. 女巫，巫婆
⑥ wrapv. 包裹，缠绕
万圣节
万圣节在爱尔兰被叫做萨温节(Samhain)，公元第五 世纪开始被称为万圣节。
萨温节在10月31 日到11月1 日举行。在这段时间，据说在我们的世界和亡者世界的边界力量减弱，新近去世的鬼会还魂，附在活人的身上。
因此在这个节日里，村民们就自己扮成鬼魂精灵，游走村外，嘴里说着“Trick or Treat”（不给糖，就捣蛋），引导鬼魂离开，避邪免灾。
这一年一度的节日后来传到了世界各地，包括欧洲大陆和北美。爱尔兰移民带来一些他们的习俗，包括与万圣节相关的符号之一——“杰克灯笼”。
传说，爱尔兰曾经有一个名叫杰克的爱恶作剧的酒鬼。一天晚上，他把一个魔鬼骗上树，然后在树干上刻了个十字架，让魔鬼下不来。后来魔鬼不得不保证，以后再也不会引诱杰克去做坏事，杰克这才让它下来。魔鬼极不情愿地答应了，在杰克死后，魔鬼报复了，它让杰克上天不得入地无门，只能在阳间漫无目的地流浪，手里只有一盏灯笼取暖。
在10月31日爱尔兰的孩子们用土豆和罗卜制作“杰克的灯笼”，他们把中间挖掉、表面上打洞并在里边点上蜡烛。为村里庆祝督伊德神的万圣节，孩子们提着这种灯笼挨家挨户乞讨食物。这种灯笼的爱尔兰名字是“拿灯笼的杰克”或者“杰克的灯笼”，缩写为Jack-o’-lantern 现在拼写为jack-o-lantern。
孩子们会制作万圣节的装饰品：各种各样桔黄色的南瓜灯。你可以用黑色的纸做一个可怕的造形——一个骑在扫帚把上戴着尖尖帽子的女巫飞过天空，或者是黑蝙蝠飞过月亮。这些都代表恶运。当然黑猫代表运气更差。有时候会出现黑猫骑在女巫扫帚后面飞向天空的造形。
还有一个典型的万圣节花招是把一卷手纸拉开，不停地往树上扔，直到树全被白纸裹起来。除非下大雪或大雨把纸冲掉，纸会一直呆在树上。这并不造成真正的伤害，只是把树和院子搞乱，一种万圣节的恶作剧。