Halloween's celebration of mingling with the dead has roots in ancient Celtic celebrations of Samhain

By Tok Thompson, Professor of Anthropology, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

As Halloween approaches, people get ready to celebrate the spooky, the scary and the haunted. Ghosts, zombies, skeletons and witches are prominently displayed in yards, windows, stores and community spaces. Festivities center around the realm of the dead, and some believe that the dead might actually mingle with the living on the night of Halloween.

Scholars have often noted how these modern-day celebrations of Halloween have origins in Samhain, a festival celebrated by ancient Celtic cultures.…

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