Because the end of summer heralds the start of winter, many people depend on the October crop harvest for their survival. That\u2019s one reason why performing rituals to keep evil away during the cold, dark days ahead gave rise to the tradition we now know as Halloween.<\/p>\n
Children and grownups alike enjoy celebrating the biggest costume, ghost story, and candy giveaway holiday of the year \u2013 Halloween or All Hallows Eve. To help you get into the ghostly and witchy spirit of the season, here is some interesting information about this rather curious and peculiar holiday \u2013 along with a few recommendations for fun and educational Halloween e-reading.<\/p>\n
Early Origins of Halloween<\/strong><\/p>\n According to a program on the History Channel, the kind of Halloween that is traditionally observed in the USA was imported from Europe by early American settlers. In particular, the Irish who were fleeing Ireland\u2019s devastating potato famine brought their ways of commemorating the season with trick-or-treating.<\/p>\n Over the decades the treat aspect took priority over the trickery and vandalism, as communities and neighborhoods came together to present a fun and cohesive opportunity for children to dress up and go door-to-door. In exchange for wearing fun costumes to entertain the adults, those kids would receive gifts of candy.<\/p>\n Most historians trace the holiday back even deeper in time, though, to an ancient Pagan ceremony called Samhain (pronounced sah-win) that is still observed by millions of people today. During Samhain witches and their covens gather to honor their ancestors and celebrate the mystical connections between this world and the spirit world. They celebrate the cycles of nature such as the passing seasons, as well as the cycles of birth and death, as a way to express their gratitude and develop their human intuition and spiritual power.<\/p>\n Latin American Traditions<\/strong><\/p>\n In many Spanish-speaking countries like Mexico, Halloween is combined with a celebration of \u201c<\/em>D\u00eda de los Muertos\u201d or the Day of the Dead, which falls on the calendar just a few days after Halloween. People living in lots of Latin American countries observe the Day of the Dead by decorating their faces or wearing masks and then enjoying a festive atmosphere with singing, musical accompaniment, and picnics. But instead of having their picnics in sunlit meadows and green parks, they convene in the cemeteries where their loved ones are buried. They will even stay awake all night having these festive graveyard outings.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, down in Peru, locals observe \u201cD\u00eda de la Canci\u00f3n Criolla,\u201d the Day of Creole Song. That annual event has been celebrated there on the last day of October every year for the past 70 years as a national holiday. The national Ministry of Culture organizes lots of performances of traditional Peruvian Creole music, which is a type of music unique to Peru. While Creole typically refers to a style of music influenced by the Spanish, in Peru it was born out of a mixture of music brought to Peru from lots of different places, including Africa.<\/p>\n Halloween Reading for All Ages and Tastes<\/strong><\/p>\n You can do more reading \u2013 about everything from Pagan rites and Irish history to Halloween decorating and African musical influence \u2013 by browsing through the vast collection of constantly updated e-books and magazines on free-ebooks.net. Or click over to the Spanish language part of the site to find thousands of titles related to Latin American culture.<\/p>\n You\u2019ll find kid\u2019s books like \u201cMy Pumpkin is a Zombie<\/a>,\u201d about a carved pumpkin that will only shine bright if the book gets read by someone . Or immerse yourself in Pumpkin Heaven<\/a>, an e-book that teaches you how to make scrumptious recipes like cream pie or pumpkin crunch from fresh pumpkin. The Big Book of Homemade Candy<\/a>, also found on free-ebooks.net, tells you how to make your own Halloween candy. There are more than 300 recipes including ones for Babe Ruth Bars, Triple Chocolate Fudge, Kit Kat Bars, Chocolate Orange Truffles, Pumpkin Truffles and more.<\/p>\n Classic Ghost Stories<\/strong><\/p>\n Halloween reading also includes literary classics by some of the world\u2019s most acclaimed authors. Read thrilling ghost stories, horror stores, and other books with spooky themes like \u201cThe Canterville Ghost<\/a>,\u201d a parody written in 1887 by Oscar Wilde.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Witch and other Stories<\/a>\u201d by Anton Chekov includes the wonderfully comic and dark tale of a man who thinks his wife is a witch. As it turns out, she really is! Another great Halloween selection is \u201cThe Original Books Collection<\/a>\u201d by Edgar Allan Poe. Best known for his tales of scary mystery. Poe also dabbled in science fiction and is credited as one of the first authors to help create that popular genre of literature.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t forget that you can sign up as a VIP member, too, as thousands of other readers have done, to take advantage of special perks and benefits. Membership includes full access to a huge library of downloadable audio books, including a captivating version of \u201cGhost Story\u201d<\/a> by humorist Mark Twain and the enduring \u201cWizard of Oz<\/a>\u201d series of stories that appeal to readers of all ages.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Because the end of summer heralds the start of winter, many people depend on the October crop harvest for their survival. That\u2019s one reason why performing rituals to keep evil away during the cold, dark days ahead gave rise to the tradition we now know as Halloween. Children and grownups alike enjoy celebrating the biggest costume, ghost story, and candy giveaway holiday of the year \u2013 Halloween or All Hallows Eve. To help you get into the ghostly and witchy spirit of the season, here is some interesting information about this rather curious and peculiar holiday \u2013 along with a few recommendations for fun and educational Halloween e-reading. Early Origins of Halloween According to a program on the History Channel, the kind of Halloween that is traditionally observed in the USA was imported from Europe by early American settlers. In particular, the Irish who were fleeing Ireland\u2019s devastating potato famine brought their ways of commemorating the season with trick-or-treating. Over the decades the treat aspect took priority over the trickery and vandalism, as communities and neighborhoods came together to present a fun and cohesive opportunity for children to dress up and go door-to-door. In exchange for wearing fun costumes to entertain the adults, those kids would receive gifts of candy. Most historians trace the holiday back even deeper in time, though, to an ancient Pagan ceremony called Samhain (pronounced sah-win) that is still observed by millions of people today. During Samhain witches and their covens gather to honor their ancestors and celebrate the mystical connections between this world and the spirit world. They celebrate the cycles of nature such as the passing seasons, as well as the cycles of birth and death, as a way to express their gratitude and develop their human intuition and spiritual power. Latin American Traditions In many Spanish-speaking countries like Mexico, Halloween is combined with a celebration of \u201cD\u00eda de los Muertos\u201d or the Day of the Dead, which falls on the calendar just a few days after Halloween. People living in lots of Latin American countries observe the Day of the Dead by decorating their faces or wearing masks and then enjoying a festive atmosphere with singing, musical accompaniment, and picnics. But instead of having their picnics in sunlit meadows and green parks, they convene in the cemeteries where their loved ones are buried. They will even stay awake all night having these festive graveyard outings. Meanwhile, down in Peru, locals observe \u201cD\u00eda de la Canci\u00f3n Criolla,\u201d the Day of Creole Song. That annual event has been celebrated there on the last day of October every year for the past 70 years as a national holiday. The national Ministry of Culture organizes lots of performances of traditional Peruvian Creole music, which is a type of music unique to Peru. While Creole typically refers to a style of music influenced by the Spanish, in Peru it was born out of a mixture of music brought to Peru from lots of different places, including Africa. Halloween Reading for All Ages and Tastes You can do more reading \u2013 about everything from Pagan rites and Irish history to Halloween decorating and African musical influence \u2013 by browsing through the vast collection of constantly updated e-books and magazines on free-ebooks.net. Or click over to the Spanish language part of the site to find thousands of titles related to Latin American culture. You\u2019ll find kid\u2019s books like \u201cMy Pumpkin is a Zombie,\u201d about a carved pumpkin that will only shine bright if the book gets read by someone . Or immerse yourself in Pumpkin Heaven, an e-book that teaches you how to make scrumptious recipes like cream pie or pumpkin crunch from fresh pumpkin. The Big Book of Homemade Candy, also found on free-ebooks.net, tells you how to make your own Halloween candy. There are more than 300 recipes including ones for Babe Ruth Bars, Triple Chocolate Fudge, Kit Kat Bars, Chocolate Orange Truffles, Pumpkin Truffles and more. Classic Ghost Stories Halloween reading also includes literary classics by some of the world\u2019s most acclaimed authors. Read thrilling ghost stories, horror stores, and other books with spooky themes like \u201cThe Canterville Ghost,\u201d a parody written in 1887 by Oscar Wilde. \u201cThe Witch and other Stories\u201d by Anton Chekov includes the wonderfully comic and dark tale of a man who thinks his wife is a witch. As it turns out, she really is! Another great Halloween selection is \u201cThe Original Books Collection\u201d by Edgar Allan Poe. Best known for his tales of scary mystery. Poe also dabbled in science fiction and is credited as one of the first authors to help create that popular genre of literature. Don\u2019t forget that you can sign up as a VIP member, too, as thousands of other readers have done, to take advantage of special perks and benefits. Membership includes full access to a huge library of downloadable audio books, including a captivating version of \u201cGhost Story\u201d by humorist Mark Twain and the enduring \u201cWizard of Oz\u201d series of stories that appeal to readers of all ages.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1868","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"views":3342,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.free-ebooks.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1868","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.free-ebooks.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.free-ebooks.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.free-ebooks.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.free-ebooks.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1868"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.free-ebooks.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1868\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1873,"href":"https:\/\/www.free-ebooks.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1868\/revisions\/1873"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.free-ebooks.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1868"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.free-ebooks.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1868"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.free-ebooks.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1868"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}