--- description: Here's how Halloween happened. title: See the Creepy Traditions That Spawned Halloween image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6bbbf9c69996118b/698762ea428a9ebb2acc4c13/85032733-1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [History](/section/history/) ## History Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # See the Creepy Traditions That Spawned Halloween by [Salima Koroma](/author/salima-koroma/) ## Salima Koroma Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 27, 2014 3:25 PM CUT  A 'coven of witches' line up for a Halloween portrait dressed in festive witch's hats and improvised costumes, ca.1910, United States. (Photo by Transcendental Graphics/Getty Images) A 'coven of witches' line up for a Halloween portrait dressed in festive witch's hats and improvised costumes, ca.1910, United States. (Photo by Transcendental Graphics/Getty Images)Transcendental Graphics/Getty Images by [Salima Koroma](/author/salima-koroma/) ## Salima Koroma Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 27, 2014 3:25 PM CUT All Hallow’s Eve. The Holy Evening. All Saint’s Eve. No matter what you call it, the holiday’s true origin is still shrouded in mystery. But before you don your velvet wizard’s cap and giant cat paws this Oct. 31, here’s a look at how the Celtic festival Samhain transformed into what we know today as Halloween. _Read next:_ [_Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, Is Halloween’s True Queen_](http://time.com/3537103/elvira-mistress-of-the-dark-is-halloweens-true-queen/?xid=time%5Freadnext "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3541391/halloween-creepy-traditions-history/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3541391/halloween-creepy-traditions-history/"},"headline":"See the Creepy Traditions That Spawned Halloween","datePublished":"2014-10-27T15:25:45.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T11:01:51.805Z","description":"Here's how Halloween happened.","url":"https://time.com/3541391/halloween-creepy-traditions-history/","keywords":["History","Holidays","halloween"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6bbbf9c69996118b/698762ea428a9ebb2acc4c13/85032733-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Salima Koroma","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/salima-koroma/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6bbbf9c69996118b/698762ea428a9ebb2acc4c13/85032733-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Halloween Witches Coven","caption":"Halloween Witches Coven","creditText":"Transcendental Graphics/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3541391/halloween-creepy-traditions-history/","name":"See the Creepy Traditions That Spawned Halloween"}}]}] ```