Monday night will be when the ghosts of the dead walk among us and in recent years it seems that more people have taken an interest in the festival that has its roots in the culture of the ancient Celts.
Two Charlottetown residents, Sterling Ramsay, who lives on Euston Street and Gina MacMillan of Greenfield Avenue, take celebrating the night one step further than just giving treats to kids – they spend hours decorating their homes in an attempt to scare the living daylights out of their costumed visitors.
Ramsay, who has been decorating his house and lawn for a decade, estimates he gets about 150 kids each Halloween. MacMillan says she routinely gets more than 300 trick or treaters. She says many are not area youngsters, but are driven to the Brighton area by their parents. She has been really into the festival for 20 years and like Ramsay her decorations get more elaborate each year.
RELATED - SAFETY TIPS FROM THE RCMP
Halloween has its origins in the ancient Celtic festival known as Samhain, which is a celebration of the end of the harvest season in Gaelic culture.
Samhain was a time used by the ancient pagans to take stock of supplies and prepare for winter and the Gaels believed that on Oct. 31, the boundaries between the worlds of the living and the dead overlapped and the deceased would come back to life and cause havoc.
Havoc is certainly not on the minds of the youngsters who go door-to-door trick or treating – what they are really interested in is the sweet loot they can stuff into their swag bags.
Halloween or some version of it is celebrated in many countries.
Monday night will be when the ghosts of the dead walk among us and in recent years it seems that more people have taken an interest in the festival that has its roots in the culture of the ancient Celts.
Two Charlottetown residents, Sterling Ramsay, who lives on Euston Street and Gina MacMillan of Greenfield Avenue, take celebrating the night one step further than just giving treats to kids – they spend hours decorating their homes in an attempt to scare the living daylights out of their costumed visitors.
Ramsay, who has been decorating his house and lawn for a decade, estimates he gets about 150 kids each Halloween. MacMillan says she routinely gets more than 300 trick or treaters. She says many are not area youngsters, but are driven to the Brighton area by their parents. She has been really into the festival for 20 years and like Ramsay her decorations get more elaborate each year.
RELATED - SAFETY TIPS FROM THE RCMP
Halloween has its origins in the ancient Celtic festival known as Samhain, which is a celebration of the end of the harvest season in Gaelic culture.
Samhain was a time used by the ancient pagans to take stock of supplies and prepare for winter and the Gaels believed that on Oct. 31, the boundaries between the worlds of the living and the dead overlapped and the deceased would come back to life and cause havoc.
Havoc is certainly not on the minds of the youngsters who go door-to-door trick or treating – what they are really interested in is the sweet loot they can stuff into their swag bags.
Halloween or some version of it is celebrated in many countries.
