Trick-or-treating, scary costumes, and pumpkin carving round out some of the traditions of Halloween these days.

But the roots of the holiday can be traced back to an ancient Celtic festival called Samhain (pronounced as "sow-win”), which marked the transition from the end of the summer harvest to the beginning of winter with towering bonfires and costume-wearing.

Disguises were thought to confuse the spirits who, they thought, walked among the living during the festival. In Ireland and Scotland, scary faces were carved into turnips and other root vegetables (in England, they used large beets) to frighten the spirits.

November 1 was designated All Saints Day in the ninth century and incorporated some Samhain traditions. All Hallows Eve was observed the night before – and it later became known as Halloween.

Celebrations made their way to the United States in the 1840s as Irish immigrants brought their traditions here.

The Library leans into the Halloween season with a mashup of scary story recommendations, frightful films, and other creepily cool Library resources.

Some highlights in Missouri Valley Special Collections include an 1895 photograph of young people on bikes and a 1908 Halloween postcard of children bobbing for apples.

There's also some ghastly good family amusement for all the little goblins at various Library locations this month, such as spooky activities in the Friday Night Family Fun series.

Even daddies and mummies can enjoy the offerings, including Young Friends of the Kansas City Public Library's Camp FrankenWines, a spooky evening of campfire stories for ages 21 and up in Union Cemetery on October 3 and 4.

Don’t Fear the Reader: Scary Book Suggestions

Our librarians use their literary magic to conjure a cauldron of terror-inducing titles and quirky, spooktacular reads to get you into a fearsome mood for Halloween.

• Are You Afraid of the Dark?
• BIPOC Horror & Thrillers
• Dark and Twisted Fairy Tales
• Halloween Titles for Kids
• Horror for Kids
• Instead of Checking On That Creepy Groaning Noise You Heard, How About One More Chapter Instead?
• Ready for Halloween?
• Short Scary Stories
• Spooked Silly! Not-So-Scary Books for Kids

Movies: Screaming and Streaming

Browse our catalog for devilishly delightful titles you can sink your teeth into. Find both horror and thriller suspense movies, as well as Halloween favorites. Our streaming video service Kanopy provides instant access to cinematic catacombs – films ranging from horror like Possession and When Evil Lurks to classics like Dial M for Murder and Nosferatu.

Check out these lists of movies that feed your hunger for horror:

• Schlockbusters! A Collection of B-Movies for Halloween
• Nostalgia and Horror Through the Decades

Halloween Happenings at the Library