User blog comment:Triskelle3/Too Old To Trick or Treat?/@comment-1251855-20091022202810

In reply to Turtleshroom. Yes, all those things are origins. However, you haven't gone deep enough. November 1st is known as All Saints Day in the Catholic Church, and has always been. We remember the saints on October 31, also known as All Hallows Eve, "Hallow" meaning Saint. However, many pagan customs influenced All Hallows and it is known to many non-Christians as Halloween (shortening of All Hallows Eve).

http://www.jeremiahproject.com/culture/halloween.html

Read the "Trick or Treating" article on this page. It should explain some things.

BTW Trisk, a washing machine would be awesome!