IT'S the spookiest time of the year once again - costumes are being dusted off and children (and adults) are bubbling with excitement.
Halloween rolls around once a year and with the volume of chocolate, sweets and fizzy drinks being consumed it's probably a good thing.
The whole world over celebrates Halloween but did you know it began in Ireland?
Here are five of the wackiest Halloween stories from Ireland's past
1. Halloween began as a pagan holiday and though there is no proof, it is widely believed that sacrifices - both animal and human - were made on Oíche Samhain. The only sacrifices these days are the brave apples dipped into hot toffee and chocolate before being devoured by hungry children.
2. The Americans have hijacked this tradition and replaced the original vegetable with a pumpkin but long before this, jack o lanterns were turnips hallowed out. Legend has it that a man named Jack colluded with the devil and was doomed to roam earth forever. People would light a candle and put it inside a hallowed turnip to ward off Jack's wandering soul. Scary stuff.
3. Trick or treating (or going on the púca as my dad calls it) is an excuse for kids to eat far too much rubbish - but it was originally called 'Souling' and it was when children and poor people would go door to door for money for their families. Much less cheerful than playing the tin whistle at your neighbours doors for a few chocolates.
4. Farmers had to make sure their crops were harvested before Oíche Samhain or they would face the rapture of the faeries. Pagans believed that if crops remained in the soil on November 1, the little folks would come along and destroy them, leaving them destitute for the winter. Then again, what farmer would leave their crops in the ground until November anyway?
5. Costumes were designed to scare from day one. But unlike now, when scary means dressing as a crock of gold apparently, the Irish of times gone by draped themselves in elaborate and terrifying capes and masks to disguise themselves as harmful spirits and avoid harm.
