The season of Hallow’s Eve is upon us, and the Barstow community is in the midst of gearing up for the terminating date of October. Many of the traditions Barstow students and their families have on this spookiest of occasions date back hundreds of years.
Modern-day’s ideas of Halloween come from a diverse background. The earliest roots of the holiday come from the Celtic celebration of Samhain, a pagan tradition from October 31st – November 1st that celebrates the harvest season and the New Year. During these celebrations, they believed to be more connected to their deceased ancestors. Thus, they lit bonfires and performed sacrifices to their gods. The first Halloween costumes can be traced to Samhain as well because they often wore dead animal heads and hides for these worships.
Romans brought some aspects of their Feralia festivities to Samhain when they conquered Celtic territory. The severely competitive event, bobbing for apples, comes from another Roman holiday called Pomona, too. Pomona was very akin to Samhain as it was a way Romans celebrated their harvest around November 1st.
We get the name “Halloween” from the Christian celebration of All Saints’ (All Hallows’) Day on November 1st, dubbing the 31st of October Hallow’s Eve.
A favorite Halloween tradition is, of course, carving pumpkins. The origins of said tradition come from the 19th-century Irish legend of “Stingy Jack.” After a deal with the Devil went wrong, Stingy Jack was cursed to wander the world forever with a single coal to light his way at night. Jack put his coal inside a carved turnip and has wandered the nights ever since. His haunted figure was initially known as “Jack of the Lanturn” and over time was shortened to just “Jack O’Lanturn,” which is where we get the modern terminology for our squash engravings.
Many people’s favorite part of Halloween, trick-or-treating, comes from the old European practice of mummering, a type of street performing in costume in exchange for goods. Colonists brought these practices to the East Coast, originally in the Southern colonies, to celebrate the harvest on plantations. Ever since, Halloween has remained a cornerstone of fall culture in America.
Though Halloween has become a little “too commercialized,” in some respects according to Rachel Jacobs ‘26, I think we can agree that Batman, rainbow unicorns, and skeleton costumes are much more agreeable than bloody carcasses (for kids, at least). However, Ms. Scott, the Debate Assistant Coach and B-Line Advisor, says that Spooky Season has become “too short. I was at Target the other day and Christmas decorations were already up.” So, if anything, the big corporations could help us out and give us a little breathing room between setups to prevent holiday whiplash.
One of the best parts about Halloween and Spooky Season in general is that “people are always happy, and they get to use their creativity in a number of ways,” says Rachel. Ms. Scott agrees with this idea, saying “Everyone gets to be cringe, and that’s fine. Spooky Season is a very special time where we judge people a little less for their nonsense.”
Barstow’s favorite parts of Spooky Season are the weather, the candy, scaring people without repercussions, the festivities, watching scary movies, costume making, celebrating with friends, eating candy, and handing it out to everyone. Izah Bhuyian ‘26
Overall, Barstow community members give out treats to children on Halloween. Unless you’re like Haddie Schedler ‘25, who gives them tricks because, no matter how good they are, “kids need it” sometimes, or like Chloe Golladay ‘24 and just steal candy from the bowl while your parents hand it out to the other kids.
Several of us share special relationships with the supernatural as well. In Rachel’s case, “there’s a ghost that hangs out in the walls of my house. I think we’re pretty good friends.” Or, like Schedler are “personally just a ghost because [she’s] omnipresent.”
Some even have Halloween traditions, like doing all the Halloween events at Worlds of Fun, “even if it’s not actually scary,” says Izah.
Rachel even has a spooky mantra that I think we all should remember to live by during this haunted season, “When nothing is certain, turn into a weasel.”
Regardless of whether or not this Spooky Season involves communication with the dead or engorging on fun-sized candy, the B-Line staff hopes yours is filled with as many treats (or tricks) as possible.
