A Host Of Historical Horrors For Halloween (NAPSA)—For manypeople, v 7 the trick to making Halloween a treat is to have a spook-tacular time getting into the Halloween spirit of things. The present-day celebration of Halloween actually began more than 2,000 years ago with the Celtic festival of Samhain. The Celts’ year started on what is now November1, so the evening before was used to mark the beginning of -~ ~ the season of cold, darkness and decay. This “festival” honored Samhain, the Celtic god of death. In England and Ireland, where the Celts lived, people would carve out beets, potatoes and turnips, using the shells as lanterns to find their way on Halloween night. Once the custom reached America, pumpkins were used. From this point the pumpkins are referred to as jack-o’-lanterns—named after a legendary figure Jack who, unable to enter heaven or hell, was doomed to walk the Earth with his lantern. unique collection of scary pumpkins with varied frightening faces, complete with glowing red or green eyes. Black cats became associated with Halloween because of their reputation as “familiars,” the supernatural spirit agents of a witch or sorcerer. Interestingly, despite the fact that Americans consider black cats bad luck, much of the rest of the world views the creatures as bringers of good fortune. Now people can find a feline to seare the good and bad alike with Fraidy Cat from Spencer Gifts. With every Halloween passerby, this motion-activated kitty roars to life as it arches its back, Today, jack-o-lanterns are used mainly as decorations and come in all shapes and sizes. Spencer Gifts, for example, has a swivels its head and stares out with gleaming eyes. The World’s Headquarters for Halloween also offers a unique selection of costumes, masks and makeup to help prepare for the ultimate fright night. To learn more, visit www.spencergifts.com or call 1866-469-2259.
