Walking the streets on this night, everything seems extra gruesome. The trees are bending eerily; the weather is colder and chills travel down your spine. You carefully tip-toe to the front door and knock twice. After ten seconds, the door swings slightly open. You peeked through the crack and suddenly a man wearing the creepiest mask you’ve ever seen screamed right in your ears. Your heart skips a beat, and you turn and ran as fast as humanly possible, but after a while you wanted to go do it again because it was so thrilling and you haven’t gotten your candy yet.
According to www.history.com, originally for trick or treating, it was known as souling. Poor people would visit the houses of wealthier families and receive pastries called soul cakes in exchange for a promise to pray for the souls of the homeowners’ dead relatives. This practice was later taken up by children, who would go from door to door asking for gifts such as food, money and ale. In Scotland and Ireland, young people took part in a tradition called guising, dressing up in costume and accepting offerings from various households. Rather than pledging to pray for the dead, they would sing a song, recite a poem, tell a joke or perform another sort of “trick” before collecting their treat, which typically consisted of fruit, nuts or coins.
So why do people wear costumes and masks to trick or treat? Long, dark winter nights used to be very frightening, especially on Halloween. Townspeople believed that ghosts wandered the Earth on this unholy night, so they wore masks when they left the house. Therefore, a passing spirit would think they were a ghost, too, and leave them alone.
According to the Huffington Post, Americans purchase nearly 600 million pounds of candy a year for Halloween, but have you ever wondered which candy is trick or treaters’ favorite? According to USA Today, the top five America’s favorite Halloween candies are Reese’s, M&M’s, Snickers, Hershey’s, and Kit Kat. However, instead of stocking up on heavy bags of individually wrapped candy, have you ever thought of making your own treats this Halloween? By melting down your favorite chocolate, sprinkle it with crushed candy, cookies, mini marshmallows and pretzels galore, and then let it harden up in the freezer and simply break it into individual pieces, you will have your very own Spooky Chocolate Bar. (The picture above) Not only is this treat very easy to make, but it is also a fun family and friends activity in the Halloween. You can hand it out to trick or treaters, or bring it to a Halloween party. Either way, it is extremely mouth watering and festive.
So don’t be ashamed if you want to go trick or treat this year. There is not an age limit. Afterall, life is about doing things that make you happy, not the things that please other people.