Why do people still celebrate Halloween?

Answer 1

I don't think that Halloween is considered religious or non-religious anymore. For the most part it's just a fun pretend holiday for the kids. Most people don't really pull religion into it anymore. Those that do are a bit obsesive about it being sooooo evil. My kid is dressing up as Thomas the train. Where's the evil in that? Its just fun now.....not religious

Answer 2

Originally, Gaelic pagans celebrated Samhain (the festival Halloween gets most of it's aspects from) to give thanks for a good harvest and to mourn the dead that passed in the previous year. Bonfires played a huge role; flame was thought of as cleansing.

Answer 3

Halloween (also spelled Hallowe'en) is an annual holiday celebrated on October 31. It has roots in the Celtic festival of Samhain and the Christian holy day of All Saints, but is today largely a secular celebration.

Halloween activities include trick-or-treating, wearing costumes and attending costume parties, carving jack-o'-lanterns, ghost tours, bonfires, apple bobbing, visiting haunted attractions, pranks, telling scary stories, and watching Horror films.The festival of Samhain celebrates the end of the "lighter half" of the year and beginning of the "darker half", and is sometimes regarded as the "Celtic New Year"

The name 'Halloween' and many of its present-day traditions derive from the Old English era.Trick-or-treating is a customary celebration for children on Halloween. Children go in costume from house to house, asking for treats such as candy or sometimes money, with the question, "Trick or treat?" The word "trick" refers to a (mostly idle) "threat" to perform mischief on the homeowners or their property if no treat is given. In some parts of Scotland children still go guising. In this custom the child performs some sort of trick, i.e. sings a song or tells a ghost story, to earn their treats.

Haunted attractions Haunted attractions are entertainment venues designed to thrill and scare patrons. Most attractions are seasonal Halloween businesses. Origins of these paid scare venues are difficult to pinpoint, but it is generally accepted that they were first commonly used by the Junior Chamber International(Jaycees) for fundraising. They include haunted houses, corn mazes, and hayrides, and the level of sophistication of the effects has risen as the industry has grown. Haunted attractions in the United States bring in an estimate $300--500 million each year, and draw some 400,000 customers, although trends suggest a peak in 2005. This increase in interest has led to more highly technical special effects and costuming that is comparable with that in Hollywood films.

Answer 4

To give thanks for a plentiful harvest and to mourn the dead that have passed in the previous year.

Answer 5

For fun.