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Customs and superstitions gathered through the ages go into the celebration of Halloween, or All Hallows Eve, on October 31, the Christian festival of All Saints. It has its origins, however, in the autumn festivals of earlier times. The ancient Druids had a three-day celebration at the beginning of November. They believed that on the last night of October spirits of the dead roamed abroad, and they lighted bonfires to drive them away. In ancient Rome the festival of Pomona, goddess of fruits and gardens, occurred at about this time of year. It was an occasion of rejoicing associated with the harvest; and nuts and apples, as symbols of the winter store of fruit, were roasted before huge bonfires. But these agricultural and pastoral celebrations also had a sinister aspect, with ghosts and witches thought to be on the prowl.

Even after November 1 became a Christian feast day honoring all saints, many people clung to the old pagan beliefs and customs that had grown up about Halloween. Some tried to foretell the future on that night by performing such rites as jumping over lighted candles. In the British Isles great bonfires blazed for the Celtic festival of Samhain. Laughing bands of guisers (young people disguised in grotesque masks) carved lanterns from turnips and carried them through the villages.

In the United States children carved faces on hollowed-out pumpkins and put lighted candles inside to make jack-o?-lanterns. Halloween celebrations today reflect many of these early customs. Stores and homes display orange and black figures of witches, bats, black cats, and pumpkins. People dressed in fanciful outfits go to costume parties, where old-fashioned games like bobbing for apples in tubs of water may be a part of the festivities. Children put on costumes and masks and go from house to house demanding ?trick or treat.? The treat, usually candy, is generally given and the trick rarely played. Some parents feel this custom is dangerous. There have been numerous instances in which sharp objects or poisons have been found in candy bars and apples. To provide an alternative to begging for candy from strangers, many communities schedule special, supervised parties and events at Halloween. The United Nations has used the Halloween observance to collect mone y for its children?s fund.

PUMPKIN. On Halloween night, porches are lit with the orange glow of jack-o?-lanterns?carved pumpkins that grin, grimace, and scowl by the light of a flickering candle within their walls. The pumpkin is a versatile fruit commonly grown in North America, Great Britain, and Continental Europe for human food and livestock feed. In the United States and Canada it is a traditional holiday pie filling. It is also served as a vegetable and used in puddings and soups.

Pumpkins are large, orange, and generally round with a smooth, furrowed rind. The plant has rough, heart-shaped leaves and large yellow flowers. The names pumpkin and squash are applied inconsistently to certain varieties of the genus Cucurbita. The pumpkin comes most commonly from varieties of Cucurbita pepo, C. mixta, C. moschata, and C. maxima.

Frankenstein played by Boris Karloff. One of my favorite movies. Black and white movies are really great. If you like horror movies. You really should get all of the old Universal Studios movies. I thought they were crap. But when I watched them I seen that they were TURE pices of art work NOT TO BE MISSED BY ANY HORROR FAN. Don't wait as long as I did to find out these old horror movies were the best I have ever seen.

Monsters, human and not quite human, have long been popular with fans of horror fiction. Undoubtedly the favorite monster is that created by Victor Frankenstein in Mary Shelley?s novel -Frankenstein? (1818). Hollywood discovered Frankenstein in 1931 with the classic film starring Boris Karloff. The movie version and its sequels are in striking contrast to Shelley?s intent, because she tells a moral tale about rejection and suffering. The monster is inherently good until spurned by the rest of humanity.

A more genuine monster novel is Robert Louis Stevenson?s -Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde? (1886) in which a physician, through drinking a self-concocted potion, becomes a monster. In -The Phantom of the Opera? the monster is entirely human, wearing a mask to hide his deformed features. The first movie version in 1925 starred Lon Chaney, Sr. It was remade in 1943 and 1961, and in 1986 it became a stage production in London, England.

Count Dracula Bela Lugosi is the Vampire many have tried to copy but none have ever came close to matching his acting. He was buryed in his costom and his cape. You have got to see Dracula.

Another variety of monster, the animal-like creature with a human mind, was created primarily for films. -Godzilla? (1956) in Japan and -The Fly? (1958, 1986) in the United States are examples. A science-fiction adaptation of the monster theme appears in -Alien? (1979) and its 1986 sequel.

Many stories do not require monsters of any kind? only depraved human beings. One of the earliest films of this type is -Freaks? (1932). The movie -Night of the Hunter? (1955) is thoroughly frightening without the use of legendary creatures, as is -Halloween? (1978) and its sequels. -Magic? (1978) uses a ventriloquist?s dummy as the killer in a psychological horror story.

Television. The possibilities that are open to the writer of horror stories are limited only by the imagination. Television has presented a number of series in which every facet of horror and mystery were explored. Best known to viewers are Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955?62; changed to The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, 1962?64; and revived in 1985); Rod Serling?s two programs The Twilight Zone (1959?65; revived in 1985) and Night Gallery (1970?73); and Boris Karloff?s Thriller (1960?62). Other popular television series were Ghost Story, hosted by Sebastian Cabot; Lights Out (originally a radio series by Arch Obler); The Invaders; One Step Beyond (later, Next Step Beyond); Outer Limits; and Tales of the Unexpected. British television presented Mystery and Imagination and The Hammer House of Horror.