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

But an ancient Celtic festival called Samhain (pronounced as "sow-win”) is where the holiday began. In that early tradition, partiers marked the transition from the end of the summer harvest to the beginning of winter with towering bonfires and costume-wearing.

In Ireland and Scotland, revelers wore costumes and carved scary faces into turnips and other root vegetables — in England, they used large beets — with the specific aim of frightening visiting spirits.

November 1 was named All Saints Day in the 9th century and included some traditions from Samhain. The night before, people observed All Hallows Eve, which we now call Halloween.

Irish immigrants brought these and other celebrations and traditions with them during the 1840s Potato Famine.

And are we ever glad they did.

The Library leans into Halloween with a mashup of scary story recommendations, frightful films, spine-tingling board games, and other creepily cool Library resources. And check out this zine written by Library staffers.

Find ghastly good family amusement for all the little goblins at various Library locations this month, such as spooky fun in the Friday Night Family Fun series.

Halloween Happenings at the Library

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 with their annual Fright Fest collection of fearsome horror films and scary TV series, from modern macabre to creepy classics, all month long.

Check out these movies at the Library to feed your hunger for horror:

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

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 Horror
• 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?
• Scary Movies
• Spooked Silly! Not-So-Scary Books for Kids