Explores the history of Halloween from the holiday's Celtic origins over 2000 years ago to present-day celebrations, and provides spooky riddles and ideas for pumpkin art. Annotation. Today, Halloween means ghosts and goblins and trick-or-treaters ringing the doorbell. But this holiday began more than 2,000 years ago, and back then Halloween meant something very different. In the beginning, it was a harvest festivalduring which the people of Great Britain, Ireland, and northern France gave thanks for their harvested crops. Over time, Halloween took on new meaning, and people believed that elves, spirits, and scary creatures roamed the earth. Now Halloween is a time for children to dress in costumes and go door to door in search of treats, but some ancient traditions are still part of this festive night. Find out how this spooky celebration became a much anticipated holiday in this charming book by Carol Greene, with illustrations by Linda Bronson.