31 days until Halloween 2026

About Halloween

Halloween's name is a shortened form of All Hallows' Eve, the evening before All Saints' Day on November 1. Many of its customs are traced to Samhain, a Celtic festival that marked the end of the harvest and the start of winter. Over the centuries those traditions blended with the Christian observances of All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day, and in Ireland and Scotland people went door to door in disguise, a custom known as guising.

The date is fixed: Halloween is October 31 every year, whatever the day of the week. It is not a federal holiday, so schools and offices stay open, and many towns set their own trick-or-treat hours, usually in the early evening.

Irish and Scottish immigrants brought Halloween customs to the United States in the 1800s. In Ireland, lanterns were carved from turnips; in America, the larger pumpkin took their place, giving us the jack-o'-lantern. Trick-or-treating spread across the country in the mid-20th century and is now the heart of the holiday, as children in costumes go door to door for candy. Adults join in with costume parties, haunted houses, scary movies and decorations, and many families visit pumpkin patches and corn mazes in the weeks before.

How we check dates and facts: see our sources.

Halloween by year