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I don’t like candy corn, we don’t get the day off work for it, and I don’t like spending money on costumes, but somehow Halloween always ends up being one of my favorite holidays.

All Hallows Even, I mean All Hallows Even, I mean Halloween, has a storied history, full of name changes, pagan celebrations, and Christian appropriation.

In short; the Celt festival of Samhain blended with Pomona Day, the Roman harvest celebration, and Feralia, a Roman holiday for the passing of the dead. There was food, there was magic, there were costumes, there was...the Catholic Church?

Yes, as with many Christian holidays, including Easter and Christmas, the church proclaimed a holiday around the same time as a pagan festival to appease the Christians who still wanted to party yet also convert the pagans.

I’m sure some of you will scurry to Google to seek out the history of Halloween, here let me help you. You can also just head to Wikipedia for the run down.

But since about 2003 Halloween spending has been on the up-swing. And this multi-billion dollar event is not about kids getting free candy anymore, now grown-ups are getting in on the action.

A good story from Reuters notes Halloween parties are replacing New Year’s Eve and Christmas parties in popularity among adults.

On a personal note, just because I don’t like costumes doesn’t mean I’m willing to miss a great party. Halloween 2006 I went to a local bar for free live music (my friends band), only to discover there was a cover charge for non-costumed revelers. I told the bouncer I was a magician and could turn myself into an angry Black woman with a flick of my wrist, Presto! He let me in for free.