Monsters and goblins and ghosts. Oh, my!
Are you wondering why pint-sized ghouls and goblins are wandering the streets and ringing strangers' doorbells; why your significant other is pestering you to dress up as Sonny to her Cher at a masquerade ball;
   why goose bumps and shivers are in the air; and why chocolates seem to come only in miniature sizes this time of year?
 
Well, when digging for the roots of the modern Halloween, there are three words to keep in mind:

Samhain. The Celts of modern-day Ireland and the UK two and a half millennia ago braced themselves for winter with this festival, which is pronounced "sowen," literally means "summer's end" and falls on

November 1. It heralds the beginning of the dark, cold half of the year. (Its counterpart was Beltane, which kicked off the warm, light half of the year on May 1.) The harvest was gathered in to protect against the wintry blast of the faeries' breath, and Samhain was an occasion for thanksgiving, sacrifices, divination and prayers. In each home the hearth-fire was extinguished the night before and relit on Samhain from the central bonfires of the priestly Druids.
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