Halloween Through Twenty Centuries
by Ralph and Adelin Linton, 1950.

"Among all the festivals which we celebrate today, few have histories stranger than that of Halloween. It is the eve of Allhallows - or Hallowmas or All Saints' Day - and as such it is one of the most solemn festivals of the church. At the same time, it commemorates beings and rites with which the church has always been at war. It is the night when ghosts walk and fairies and goblins are abroad. The witch, with her broomstick and black cat, is seen in every shopwindow. Children double for goblins in practical jokes, and old and young alike try to learn the future by means once forbidden to good Christians. We cannot understand this curious mixture unless we go back into history and unravel the threads from which the present holiday pattern has been woven."

1.  The Eve of Allhallows
2.  All Souls' Day
3.  "To Burn Their Nits and Pou Their Stocks"
4.  Halloween in Ireland
5.  The Witch in Europe
6.  The Witch Cat
7.  "Witch Finder General"
8.  Witchcraft in New England
9.  "Trick or Treat"