Most of us think of Halloween as a time of fun when children young and old dress up in costumes and go from door to door at night saying "trick or treat" to their neighbors and getting fists full of goodies. Mothers like to decorate their homes in fall colors of red, yellow, orange and black. And some like to make their homes spooky with ghosts and goblins, spiders and bats. The history of Halloween goes back several thousand years to the time of the Celts, a people who lived in what is now Ireland, the United Kingdom and northern France. At that time they called their festival Samhain (pronounced sow-in) and celebrated it on November 1. This was the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of winter, a cold dark time often associated with death. The Celts also believed that ghosts of the dead returned to earth at that time, got into trouble and caused all kinds of mischief. A festival was celebrated at the time, which included bonfires, wearing costumes and fortune telling. Later, in around A.D. 43, the Romans conquered Celtic lands and in time combined some of their own festivals with Samhain. And then in the seventh century, Christianity came to Celtic lands and more changes took place. Pope Boniface IV designated November 1 as All Saints' Day, a time to honor saints and martyrs. In all liklihood, this was an attempt to replace the ancient festival with one sanctioned by the church. The name All Saints' Day was also called All-hallows or All-hallowmas (from Middle English Alholowmesse meaning All Saints' Day) . The night before All Saints' Day was called All-hallows Eve and, eventually, Halloween. Later on the church designated November 2 as All Souls' Day and celebrated it by dressing up in costumes, building big bonfires and having parades.