History of Halloween History of Halloween, like any other festival's history is inspired through traditions that have transpired through ages from one generation to another. Halloween

Trick or Treating on Halloween Trick or Treating on Halloween night is SO FUN!!! You get candy, toys, you can scare people, etc. The only set back is that it is a one night only thing because it all ends at 12:00 P.M. midnight.

Trick or Treat ( Costumes )

Witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts In 1692, in the town of Salem, Massachusetts, 24 people were killed after being tried as witches. Hundreds others were accused of being witches and wizards, but managed to escape the gallows. Why did this travesty of justice occur? Why did it occur in Salem? Salem was a prime spot for this event, and it the witchcraft trials were a culmination of many factors. The unfortunate combination of economic conditions, congregational strife, teenage boredom, and personal jealousies account for the spiraling accusations, trials, and executions that occurred in the spring and summer of 1692.

Bridget Bishop The first accused witch to be brought to trial was Bridget Bishop. Almost sixty years old, owner of a house of ill repute, critical of her neighbors, and reluctant to pay her her bills, Bishop was a likely candidate for an accusation of witchcraft. The fact that Thomas Newton, special prosecutor, selected Bishop for his first prosecution suggests that he believed the stronger case could be made against her than any of the other suspect witches. At Bishop's trial on June 2, 1692, a field hand testified that he saw Bishop's image stealing eggs and then saw her transform herself into a cat. Deliverance Hobbs, by then clearly insane, and Mary Warren, both confessed witches, testified that Bishop was one of them. A villager named Samuel Grey told the court that Bishop visited his bed at night and tormented him. A jury of matrons assigned to examine Bishop's body reported that they found an "excrescence of flesh." Several of the afflicted girls testified that Bishop's specter afflicted them. Numerous other villagers described why they thought Bishop was responsible for various bits of bad luck that had befallen them. There was even testimony that while being transported under guard past the Salem meeting house, she looked at the building and caused a part of it to fall to the ground. Bishop's jury returned a verdict of guilty. One of the judges, Nathaniel Saltonstall, aghast at the conduct of the trial, resigned from the court. Chief Justice Stoughton signed Bishop's death warrant, and on June 10, 1692, Bishop was carted to Gallows Hill and hanged. One of the many accused and killed because of witchcraft!

GHOSTS Ghost History Whether we choose to believe or not in ghosts and spirits, there is no denying that we only have to look through history to find a wide range of spooky encounters. In the 1st century AD, a ghost was reported to haunt a house in Athens belonging to Pliny the Younger. According to Pliny the ghost would rattle chains and take the form of an old man with a beard. The first poltergeist was recorded in 856AD at a farmhouse on the banks of the River Rhine in Germany. The spirit tormented the family by throwing stones, banging on walls and making fires. Even when several priests armed with holy relics came to visit, it sent them packing with a hale of stones. Sightings of spectral armies after key English Civil War battles were reported in contemporary sources, similar accounts also came from Gettysburg, The Somme and Gallipoli. The last two hundred years has seen a huge increase of interest in science but also in the spirit world. It seems that no matter how much we progress, we have a natural interest in ghosts.

Halloween (what it really is about ) Halloween is not just about killing and everything that people think it is Halloween is about having fun on a night in October you know: candy, costumes, and more candy

THE END!!!! And Happy Halloween