How Halloween Became Halloween: Turnips, Ghosts & Candy

Why do we carve pumpkins, wear costumes, and knock on strangers’ doors for candy? The history of Halloween is stranger—and less straightforward—than it looks. From Samhain and All Hallows’ Eve to Irish turnip lanterns, souling, guising, and America’s candy-filled celebrations, discover how different traditions became the Halloween we know today. Along the way: a lantern that looks like a shrivelled head, the legend of Jack, and a Thanksgiving custom that complicates the trick-or-treating story. Which Halloween tradition surprised you most: the turnips, the performances, or the Thanksgiving connection? Subscribe for the stories behind history, art, and culture. Context, Please. You know the story. Or do you? #Halloween #HalloweenHistory #ContextPlease ───── Famous stories. A few inconvenient details. Was Napoleon really that short? How did the Mona Lisa become a global obsession? And why do we keep falling for a convincing story? Context, Please. explores history, art, cinema and pop culture through the details that change the whole picture. From historical myths and famous paintings to modern scandals and the worlds behind your favorite films, we ask what the familiar version leaves out. Expect unexpected connections, a little irony, and plenty of reasons to question the obvious. Subscribe. There’s always more context.