1. Halloween's origins began 2000 years ago when Celts celebrated their New Year on November 1st at a festival called Samhain (pronounced sow-in). On the evening of October 31st, they built huge bonfires to burn sacrifices to the Celtic deities and wore costumes consisiting of animal heads and skins. They then took some of the fire from the sacred bonfire home to relight their own hearths. They felt this would help protect them during the impending winter.

2. The first city to have an official Halloween celebration was Anoka, Minnesota back in 1921.

3. Jack O'Lanterns are said to have come from an Irish myth about a man called "stingy Jack." Stingy Jack invited Satan to have a drink with him, but he did not want to pay for his drink. He talked the Devil into becoming a coin Jack could use to pay for the drinks. Once the Devil became the coin, Jack decided to keep it and put it in his pocket next to a silver cross. The cross kept the Devil from returning to his original form. Jack eventually released the Devil, but he made the Devil agree not to bother him for one year. The following year, Jack again tricked Satan. This time he had the Devil climb a tree to pick some fruit. While up there, Jack carved the sign of the cross into the tree's bark so the Devil could not climb down. He only allowed him down after Satan agreed not to bother Jack for 10 years. Shortly after, Jack passed away. Unfortunately, God would not allow him to enter the heavenly gates. The Devil was still unhappy after the tricks Jack had played on him as well, so he would not allow him into hell. Satan sent Jack off into the night with only a small candle to light his way. Jack then put the coal into a turnip he carved out, and he has been roaming the Earth every since. The Irish called Jack's ghost "Jack of the Latern" which was later shortened to "Jack O'Lantern." People then started to use turnips or rutabaga to carve scary faces into, in an attempt to keep Stingy Jack and other evil spirits away from their homes. While many fruits and veggies were used over the years by the people of Ireland and Scotland, the use of pumpkins did not come about until the immigrants came to the United States where they found the native fruit to be perfect for carving.

4. Some so-called vampire bats do drink blood, but they're not from Transylvania. They live in Central and South America and feed on cattle, horses and birds.

5. The custom of trick-or-treating is thought to have originated not with the Irish Celts, but with a ninth-century European custom called souling. On November 2, All Souls Day, early Christians would walk from village to village begging for "soul cakes," made out of square pieces of bread with currants. The more soul cakes the beggars would receive, the more prayers they would promise to say on behalf of the dead relatives of the donors. At the time, it was believed the dead remained in limbo for a time after death, and that prayer, even by strangers, could expedite a soul's passage to heaven.

6. Boston, Massachusetts holds the record for the most Jack O'Lanterns lit up at the same time with 30,128!

7. A common symbol of Halloween is the witch. The name comes from the Saxon word Wicca, meaning wise one. Witches would rub a sacred ointment on their skin when heading out for a Sabbath. The ointment would give them the sensation of flying, even more so if they had been fasting. While most witches rode horses, some traveled on foot and carried a broom or pole to help them jump over streams. When new witches were initiated in England, they were often smeared with the ointment, blindfolded and placed on a broomstick. When the ointment began to trick their minds, the new witches were told, "You are flying over land and sea," and many of them believed it to be true.

8. Halloween is second only to Christmas in spending. Consumers today typically spend over $2.5 Billion during Halloween. That's a whole lot of candy and costumes!

9. More than 35 million pounds of candy corn will be produced for the Halloween season. That is nearly 9 billion pieces - enough to circle the moon nearly 4 times if laid end-to-end.

10. One of the stories regarding dunking for apples arose from a practice of divining the future. It was believed that if you could hold an apple between your teeth you would have a fulfilling romance with whomever you choose. Another involves the story of the Roman goddess of Pomona, represented by an apple, and the Roman holiday Feralia.

11. Since 1995, trick or treating in the town of Sandusky, Ohio, has been against the law for anyone older than 14.

12. Black cats are often associated with witchcraft. In the 16th century, witches’ familiars (animals who embodied a supernatural spirit) were often cats - black in color so they could move freely and unseen in the night. Black cats became a Halloween symbol because it was believed spirits returned to the world in the body of them - and everyone knows a witch’s favorite holiday is Halloween.

13. Federico Fellini, Indira Ghandi and Harry Houdini all died on Halloween.