By: HISTORY.com Editors

Halloween Around the World

Rio Celebrates Dia De MuertosRIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL - NOVEMBER 01: Revelers dance during a Day of the Dead party on November 1, 2015 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Brazilians often mark the traditional Mexican holiday by visiting loved ones' graves and sometimes leaving offerings of food or drink. The day officially falls tomorrow in Brazil and is a national holiday. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
Mario Tama/Getty Images
Published: October 27, 2009Last Updated: May 28, 2025

Halloween, celebrated annually on October 31, is one of the world’s oldest holidays. Although it's derived from ancient festivals and religious rituals,  Halloween is still widely celebrated today in a number of countries around the globe. In countries such as Ireland, Canada and the United States, traditions include costume parties, trick-or-treating, pranks and games. Versions of the holiday are celebrated elsewhere, too. In Mexico and other Latin American countries, Día de los Muertos—the Day of the Dead—honors deceased loved ones and ancestors. In England, Guy Fawkes Day, which falls on November 5, is commemorated with bonfires and fireworks.

How Día de los Muertos Is Celebrated in Latin America

Haunted History of Halloween

Halloween was originally called Samhain and marked the end of the harvest season for Celtic farmers.

In Mexico, Latin America and Spain, All Souls’ Day, which takes place on November 2, is commemorated with a three-day celebration that begins on the evening of October 31. The celebration is designed to honor the dead who, it is believed, return to their earthly homes on Halloween. Many families construct an altar to the dead in their homes to honor deceased relatives and decorate it with candy, flowers, photographs, samples of the deceased’s favorite foods and drinks, and fresh water. Often, a wash basin and towel are left out so that the spirit can wash before indulging in the feast.

Did you know?

Día de los Muertos festivities often feature breads, candies and other foods in the shape of skulls and skeletons.

Candles and incense are burned to help the deceased find the way home. Relatives also tidy the gravesites of their departed family members. This can include snipping weeds, making repairs, and painting. The grave is then decorated with flowers, wreaths, or paper streamers. On November 2, relatives gather at the gravesite to picnic and reminisce. Some gatherings even include tequila and a mariachi band.

How Guy Fawkes Day Is Celebrated in England

On the evening of November 5, bonfires are lit throughout England. Effigies are burned and fireworks are set off. Although it falls around the same time and has some similar traditions, this celebration has little to do with Halloween or the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain. The English, for the most part, stopped celebrating Halloween as Martin Luther’s Protestant Reformation began to spread. As followers of the new religion did not believe in saints, they had no reason to celebrate the eve of All Saints’ Day. However, a new autumn ritual did emerge. Guy Fawkes Day festivities were designed to commemorate the execution of a notorious English traitor, Guy Fawkes.

On November 5, 1606, Fawkes was executed after being convicted of attempting to blow up England’s parliament building. Fawkes was a member of a Catholic group who wanted to remove the Protestant King James from power. The original Guy Fawkes Day was celebrated right after his execution. The first bonfires, which were called “bone fires,” were set up to burn effigies and symbolic “bones” of the Catholic pope. It was not until two centuries later that effigies of the pope were replaced with those of Guy Fawkes.

In addition to making effigies to be burned in the fires, children in some parts of England also walk the streets carrying an effigy or “guy” and ask for “a penny for the guy,” although they keep the money for themselves. This is as close to the American practice of “trick-or-treating” as can be found in England today. Guy Fawkes Day was even celebrated by the pilgrims at the first settlement at Plymouth. However, as the young nation began to develop its own history, Guy Fawkes was celebrated less frequently and eventually died out.

How Halloween Is Celebrated in Ireland

In Ireland, where Halloween originated, the day is still celebrated much as it is in the United States. In rural areas, bonfires are lit as they were in the days of the Celts, and all over the country, children get dressed up in costumes and spend the evening “trick-or-treating” in their neighborhoods.

After trick-or-treating, most people attend parties with neighbors and friends. At the parties, many games are played, including “snap-apple,” a game in which an apple on a string is tied to a doorframe or tree and players attempt to bite the hanging apple. In addition to bobbing for apples, parents often arrange treasure hunts, with candy or pastries as the “treasure.” The Irish also play a card game where cards are laid face down on a table with candy or coins underneath them. When a child chooses a card, he receives whatever prize is found below it.

A traditional food eaten on Halloween in Ireland is barnbrack, a kind of fruitcake that can be bought in stores or baked at home. A muslin-wrapped treat is baked inside the cake that, it is said, can foretell the eater’s future. If a ring is found, it means that the person will soon be wed; a piece of straw means that a prosperous year is on its way. Children are also known to play tricks on their neighbors, such as “knock-a-dolly,” a prank in which children knock on the doors of their neighbors, but run away before the door is opened.

Witches

Images of witches have appeared in various forms throughout history. However, the real history of witches is dark and dates back to approximately 900 B.C.

Chronicle/Alamy
Vampire

Vampires are mythological beings that roam the night seeking blood. Their origins trace back to Ancient Greek myths and medieval superstitions.

Matt Jeacock/Getty Images
Werewolf

Werewolves, rooted in Greek mythology and Nordic folklore, are legendary humans who transform into wolves or human-wolf hybrids.

AVCO Embassy Pictures/Sunset Boulevard/Corbis/Getty Images
Zombie

Zombies—undead, flesh-eating corpses—gained modern fame through TV and music, but their roots run deeper. Haitian voodoo folklore has told of the undead for centuries.

Bettmann Archive/Getty Images
Mummies

A mummy is a preserved human or animal, most famously from Ancient Egypt as early as 3700 B.C. Unlike Hollywood’s walking corpses, real mummies hold a fascinating, very real history.

Patrick Landmann/Cairo Museum/Getty Images
Ghost

American history is rich with ghost tales—from dead shipmen and haunted portraits to the lingering spirits of figures said to roam the White House.

London Stereoscopic Company/Getty Images
The Devil

The Devil, or Satan, appears across many religions but is famous in Christianity as the embodiment of evil. His image has shifted over time but endures as the antithesis of all that is good.

Culture Club/Getty Images
Clowns

Clowns blur the line between humor and menace. In the 1970s–80s, their image darkened in America with the infamy of serial killer John Wayne Gacy, who performed as “Pogo the Clown.”

Warner Bros/Atlaspix/Alamy

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Citation Information

Article title
Halloween Around the World
Website Name
History
Date Accessed
September 26, 2025
Publisher
A&E Television Networks
Last Updated
May 28, 2025
Original Published Date
October 27, 2009

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