What is "halloween"

Halloween \Hal`low*een"\ (h[a^]l`l[-o]*[=e]n"), n. The evening preceding Allhallows or All Saints' Day (November 1); also the entire day, October 31. It is often marked by parties or celebrations, and sometimes by pranks played by young people. [Scot.]
--Burns.

Syn: Hallowe'en, Allhallows Eve.

c.1745, Scottish shortening of Allhallow-even "Eve of All Saints, last night of October" (1550s), the last night of the year in the old Celtic calendar, where it was Old Year's Night, a night for witches. A pagan holiday given a cursory baptism and sent on its way. See hallow; also see hallows.

Halloween, or Hallowe'en (a contraction of All Hallows’ Evening), also known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve, is a celebration observed in a number of countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Hallows' Day. It begins the three-day observance of Allhallowtide, the time in the liturgical year dedicated to remembering the dead, including saints (hallows), martyrs, and all the faithful departed.

According to BBC Online, it is "widely believed" that many Halloween traditions originated from the ancient Celtic harvest festival Samhain, and that this Gaelic observance was Christianized by the early Church. Samhain and other such festival had pagan roots. Some, however, support the view that Halloween began independently of Samhain and has solely Christian roots.

Halloween activities include trick-or-treating (or the related guising), attending Halloween costume parties, decorating, carving pumpkins into jack-o'-lanterns, lighting bonfires, apple bobbing and divination games, playing pranks, visiting haunted attractions, telling scary stories and watching horror films. In many parts of the world, the Christian religious observances of All Hallows' Eve, including attending church services and lighting candles on the graves of the dead, remain popular, although elsewhere it is a more commercial and secular celebration. Some Christians historically abstained from meat on All Hallows' Eve, a tradition reflected in the eating of certain foods on this vigil day, including apples, potato pancakes and soul cakes.

"Halloween" is episode six of season two of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It was written by freelance writer Carl Ellsworth and directed by Bruce Seth Green. The narrative follows Ethan Rayne who sells Halloween costumes that transform their wearers into a more real version of that costume.

Halloween is an annual holiday celebrated on October 31.

Halloween may also refer to:

Manuel Ortiz Partida (born May 22, 1971) is a professional wrestler who is currently wrestling the independent circuit in Mexico, particularly in the Tijuana area. He is better known by his stage name Halloween but is also known in the United States as Ciclope, a character he portrayed in World Championship Wrestling.

Halloween is a live album by Frank Zappa, released in DVD-Audio format by Vaulternative Records in 2003. It features recordings compiled from various shows at The Palladium, New York City in late October 1978—including a Halloween show on October 31—along with some video content from the same period. The set includes a performance of "Ancient Armaments", which appears on the album for the first time in digital form, having previously been included as the B-side to "I Don't Wanna Get Drafted" in 1980. The album cover art resembles the cover art of 1969's Hot Rats. This is Official Release #71.

Halloween is the first Halloween album by Mannheim Steamroller. It is a double album.

"Halloween" (B-side "Saturday Night Holocaust") is the seventh and final single by the Dead Kennedys. It was released in December 1982 on Alternative Tentacles. The song is from the band's second album, Plastic Surgery Disasters.

1. Redirect Halloween (franchise)#Literature

"(Every Day Is) Halloween" is a 1984 single by Ministry, re-released in 2010. The song was originally released by Wax Trax! Records and is included on Ministry's Twelve Inch Singles (1981–1984).

Music writer, Dave Thompson described the song as having been "adopted as the anthem of America's disenfranchised Gothic community."

In early 2013, American drag queen Sharon Needles covered the song for her debut studio album "PG-13".

Halloween is the third studio album by the industrial band G.G.F.H.. This album is a CD only compilation of tracks that were earlier available on cassette, also called Halloween, that was limited to 1000 copies. All the tracks have been culled from G.G.F.H.’s first six demo cassettes that were recorded between 1986 and 1989. It was released after fans that had missed the original cassette version demanded to hear it. Night Prowler is an industrialised remix of a song by AC/DC.

"Halloween" is the fifth single by the horror punk band the Misfits. It was released on October 31, 1981 on singer Glenn Danzig's label Plan 9 Records. 5,000 copies of the single were pressed on black 7" vinyl, some of which included a lyrics sheet. This was the first Misfits release to use their Famous Monsters of Filmland-inspired logo, as well as the first to refer to the band as simply "Misfits".

The "Halloween" single was the last Misfits release to include guitarist Bobby Steele. Both songs on the single had been recorded in August 1980 for a planned album. During the sessions bassist Jerry Only was grooming his younger brother Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein to join the band, and Doyle recorded his own guitar tracks and overdubs separately in addition to Steele's. The tracks were mixed in September, but in October Steele was ejected from the band in favor of Doyle and the planned album was scrapped. Three of the songs were released as the 3 Hits from Hell EP, while "Halloween" and "Halloween II" were released as a single. In 2001 Caroline Records announced attempted to release the complete sessions as 12 Hits From Hell, but production was called off after Danzig and Only expressed concerns with the album's layout, packaging, liner notes, mixing, and mastering.

The lyrics to "Halloween II" are in nonstandard Latin, translating to

Ancient formulas of exorcisms and excommunications
That witches and those made wolves believe
I maim now the demon clothed in wolfskin
Having to hide in the hollow of a tree
I say werewolves can change shapes

Halloween is a 2007 American slasher film written, directed, and produced by Rob Zombie. The film is a remake/ reimagining of the 1978 horror film of the same name; the first in the rebooted Halloween film series and the ninth installment of the Halloween franchise. The film stars Tyler Mane as the adult Michael Myers, Malcolm McDowell as Dr. Sam Loomis, and Scout Taylor-Compton as Laurie Strode; Daeg Faerch portrays a ten-year-old Michael Myers. Rob Zombie's "reimagining" follows the premise of John Carpenter's original, with Michael Myers stalking Laurie Strode and her friends on Halloween night. Zombie's film goes deeper into the character's psyche, trying to answer the question of what drove him to kill people, whereas in Carpenter's original film Michael did not have an explicit reason for killing.

Working from Carpenter's advice to "make [the film] his own", Zombie chose to develop the film as both a prequel and a remake, allowing for more original content than simply re-filming the same scenes. Despite mostly negative reviews, the film, which cost $15 million to make, went on to gross $80,208,039 worldwide, making it the highest-grossing film in the Halloween franchise in unadjusted U.S. dollars. Zombie followed the film with a sequel, Halloween II, in 2009.

Halloween is an American horror franchise that consists of ten films, novels, comic books, merchandise, and a video game. The franchise predominately focuses on the fictional character of Michael Myers who was committed to a sanitarium as a child for the murder of his older sister, Judith Myers. Fifteen years later, he escapes to stalk and kill the people of Haddonfield, Illinois while being chased by his former psychiatrist Dr. Sam Loomis. Michael's killings occur on the holiday of Halloween, on which all of the films primarily take place. The films collectively grossed over $366 million at the box-office worldwide.

The original Halloween, released in 1978, was written by John Carpenter and Debra Hill, and directed by Carpenter. The sequels have had various writers and directors attached to them. Michael Myers is the antagonist in all of the films except Halloween III: Season of the Witch, the story of which has no direct connection to any other film in the series. Carpenter, who had a hand in writing the first sequel, has not had any direct involvement with the rest of the films. The film series is ranked fourth at the United States box office—in adjusted 2008 dollars—when compared to other American horror franchises. The first Halloween film is credited with beginning a long line of slasher films inspired by Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. The franchise began when the first novel appeared less than a year after the release of the first film, and seven sequels have since followed. In 2007, director Rob Zombie produced a remake of the 1978 film. A direct sequel to the 2007 remake was released two years later.

Halloween is a single from Matt Pond PA's sixth album Several Arrows Later. It was released in 2005.

Halloween is a heavy metal band from Detroit, Michigan.

"Halloween" is a poem written by the Scottish poet Robert Burns in 1785. First published in 1786, the poem is included in the Kilmarnock volume. It is one of Burns' longer poems, and employs a mixture of Scots and English.

Halloween is the second EP of the band Zombie Girl. It was released in 2009.

Halloween is the third public album by the group Two Steps from Hell, and was released in September 2012. The album contains 48 tracks, written by composers Thomas J. Bergersen and Nick Phoenix. All the tracks, apart from To Die on Halloween, are from their previous promotional releases. This public album is the first to have songs with English vocals, including "To Die on Halloween", "This Is Oh My Dear" (a vocal version of "Monkey Business" from the album The Devil Wears Nada), and "Deck the Halls with Blood (from the album Ashes)".

"Halloween" is the fifth episode of the second season of the American comedy television series The Office, and the show's eleventh episode overall. It was written by executive producer and showrunner Greg Daniels and was directed by Paul Feig. The episode first aired on NBC in the United States on October 18, 2005. Guest stars in this episode included Devon Abner, Hugh Dane, George Gaus, Annabelle Kopack, Ava Nisbet and Alec Zbornak.

The series depicts the everyday lives of office employees in the Scranton, Pennsylvania branch of the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. In this episode, the employees at Dunder Mifflin celebrate Halloween at the office. Michael Scott ( Steve Carell) struggles with making the decision of whom to fire. Meanwhile, Jim Halpert ( John Krasinski) and Pam Beesly ( Jenna Fischer) post Dwight Schrute's ( Rainn Wilson) resume on the internet.

Due to the Halloween concept of the episode, the cast members of The Office were allowed to wear costumes rather than their "usual, realistically plain suits". B.J. Novak, writer for the series as well as actor, called the experience "fun". The episode features the last on-screen appearance of the background character Devon until the series finale. The episode earned a Nielsen rating of 4.1 in the 18–49 demographic and was viewed by 8 million viewers.

"Halloween" is a song by Dave Matthews Band from the 1998 album Before These Crowded Streets. The song was originally released as a live track on their Recently EP in 1994. It debuted live on Halloween of 1992 and was originally titled "The Halloween Song." It opened the show, and included Kristen Asbury on vocals. The debut was different from newer versions of Halloween, and it is also the longest version of the song (12:07) to date. "Halloween" was written by Dave Matthews about an ex-girlfriend, Julia Grey, who turned down his proposals of marriage three times. It is believed that Halloween is the second in a set of three songs written about said ex-girlfriend. The first being "I'll Back You Up," and the third being "Grey Street."

"Halloween" is the only track on Before These Crowded Streets not to have lyrics included in the CD cover. Additionally, live versions of the song feature Matthews singing different and sometimes nonsensical lyrics that do not correspond with the studio version. Matthews claimed that he chose not to include the lyrics in the cover because he did not want his mother reading the offensive words.

The track on Before These Crowded Streets features orchestral arrangements by John D'earth, with D'earth on the trumpet and The Kronos Quartet on strings, and segues directly into the following track, " The Stone."

Halloween is a 1978 American independent slasher film directed and scored by John Carpenter, co-written with producer Debra Hill, and starring Donald Pleasence and Jamie Lee Curtis in her film debut. The film was the first installment in what has become the Halloween franchise. The plot is set in the fictional Midwestern town of Haddonfield, Illinois. On Halloween night in 1963, a six-year-old Michael Myers dressed in a clown costume murders his teenage sister by stabbing her with a kitchen knife. Fifteen years later, Michael Myers, age 21, escapes from a psychiatric hospital, returns home, and stalks Laurie Strode and her friends. Michael's psychiatrist Dr. Sam Loomis suspects Michael's intentions, and follows him to Haddonfield to try to prevent him from killing.

Halloween was produced on a budget of $300,000 and grossed $47 million at the box office in the United States, and $70 million worldwide, equivalent to roughly $267 million as of 2016, becoming one of the most profitable independent films. Many critics credit the film as the first in a long line of slasher films inspired by Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960). Halloween had many imitators and originated several clichés found in low-budget horror films of the 1980s and 1990s. Unlike many of its imitators, Halloween contains little graphic violence and gore. It was one of the first horror films to introduce the concept of the killer dying and coming back to life again within the same film. In 2006, it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Some critics have suggested that Halloween may encourage sadism and misogyny by audiences identifying with its villain. Other critics have suggested the film is a social critique of the immorality of youth and teenagers in 1970s America, with many of Myers' victims being sexually promiscuous substance abusers, while the lone heroine is depicted as innocent and pure, hence her survival. Nevertheless, Carpenter dismisses such analyses. Several of Halloweens techniques and plot elements, although not founded in this film, have nonetheless become standard slasher movie tropes. Halloween spawned seven sequels and was rebooted by Rob Zombie in 2007. The first sequel to the original movie, Halloween II, was released in 1981, three years after its predecessor.

Halloween (foaled 1945) was a British National Hunt horse best known for being the first horse to win two King George VI Chases and for being placed four times in the Cheltenham Gold Cup without winning the race. Racing during the 1950s, he and another British chaser, Galloway Braes, had a competitive rivalry and were extremely popular with racing fans.

Illustrated by James Bennett.

It is a humorous description of an American Halloween from a child's point of view, from bad trick-or-treat candy to pajama-like costumes, based on the author's childhood experiences.

"Halloween" is the sixth episode of Modern Family's second season and 30th episode overall. It was originally broadcast on October 27, 2010, on the ABC network in the United States. The episode was written by Jeffrey Richman and directed by Michael Spiller and was based on an idea by cast member Eric Stonestreet.

The episode follows Claire's love for Halloween, which leads her to transform the Dunphy residence into a haunted house for trick-or-treaters. Cameron cannot shake a childhood trauma related to the holiday and Mitchell has a terrible day at work. Gloria acts weird after Jay and Manny tease her about her accent.

"Halloween" received mostly positive reviews from critics. According to Nielsen Media Research, "Halloween" became the most viewed episode of the series and tied for the series' highest rated episode among adults between ages 18 and 49. It later became the second highest rated show for the week as well as the week's highest rated scripted program.

This episode received multiple Primetime Emmy Award nominations at the 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards, and won for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series for Michael Spiller. Jesse Tyler Ferguson was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for his performance in this episode.

"Halloween" is a two-part episode, consisting of the fourth and fifth episodes of the first season of the television series American Horror Story. The first part aired on October 26, 2011, and the second on November 2, 2011. Part 1 was written by James Wong and Part 2 was written by Tim Minear; both were directed by David Semel. Part 1 is rated TV-MA (LSV) and Part 2 is rated TV-MA (LV).

Part 1 was nominated for a Primetime Emmy award for Outstanding Costumes for a Miniseries, Movie or Special.

In this two-part episode, the Harmons are visited by the former owners of the house and are given advice on Halloween decorating while Tate ( Evan Peters) is harassed by bloody teens while on a date with Violet ( Taissa Farmiga). Kate Mara and Zachary Quinto are credited as special guest stars for their roles as Hayden McClaine, the student Ben was having an affair with; and Chad Warwick, one of the former homosexual owners of the house.

Halloween is a short animated film distributed by RKO Radio Pictures, and starring Toby the Pup. Though not the last cartoon in the series, it is the last one that is known to exist today.