America's Darkest Holiday: A brief history of Halloween - Paperback

by Debra C. Silva (Author)

A full history of this frequently misunderstood phenomenon is provided in Trick or Treat. It wonders how holidays as disparate as the Celtic Samhain, the British Guy Fawkes Day, and the Catholic Holy Days of All Saints and All Souls could have merged to generate contemporary Halloween while providing an interesting summary of how Halloween has expanded over the world. The holiday was revived in the United States, where dressing up and the "trick or treat" practice developed new traditions, drawing inspiration from similar but separate celebrations in Central America, particularly Mexico's Day of the Dead. We learn about the current surge in the popularity of haunted attractions and see how Halloween is becoming more and more popular in nations like Russia, Japan, and China.