Halloween actually dates back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in). 2,000 years ago. The Celts celebrated their New Year on November 1. It marked the end of summer and the harvest and the start of the dark, cold winter. It was believed by the Celtic’s that on the night before the New Year, the boundaries of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31, they celebrated Samhain, and waited for the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the people would burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities. They would wear the animal head and skins (costumes)