By LYDIA EARHART

Staff Writer

Boo!

Some people think Halloween is all about trick-or-treating and bobbing for apples, but others think the holiday is a satanic day for scaring people and sacrificing virgins.

According to the History and Customs of Halloween at http://wilstar.com/holidays/hallown.htm, the holiday originated in the Catholic church.

The Web site said on the day of Halloween in the 5th century in Celtic Ireland, "disembodied spirits of all those who had died throughout the preceding year would come back in search of living bodies to possess for the next year. It was believed to be their only hope for the afterlife."

The Web site also said "the Celts believed all laws of space and time were suspended during this time, allowing the spirit world to intermingle with the living."

Halloween is a derivative of All Hallows Eve, Nov.1, also known as All Saints Day.

"The holiday is pagan, in which they remembered the deceased," Dr. Abraham Attrep, a professor of history, said.

"Christians sort of take this day as the hallowed eve of all the saints of christendom of all that is known and unknown. It's a beautiful holiday in the church's calendar."

All Saints Day is a day that members of the Catholic church celebrate to observe the honor of the saints.

"[Members of the Catholic church] were always taught that it was a celebration of All Saints Day," Stephen Zenter, a junior industrial engineering major, said.

Zenter said he was taught the holiday was not satanic.

"When I was little I celebrated Halloween by trick-or-treating and putting up pumpkin decorations," Zenter said.

Zenter said he believes it is not a religious holiday but a fun celebration.

"I can see how people may think that it is satanic by looking over the line and looking deep into the whole death aspect," Zenter said.

Halloween is seen in different ways for Tech students.

"Halloween is satanic per se," Rachel Hulett, a sophomore electrical engineering major, said.

"Little kids don't know the holiday is satanic," she said.

Hulett said that when she was little she dressed up as a Bible character instead of dressing up as something scary.

John Aaron Matthew, Baptist Collegiate Ministry president and a senior family and child studies major, said he thinks the holiday is no longer a holiday representing satanic things.

"A holiday's meaning is defined by the people who celebrate it," Matthew said.

"Today in the United States, we do not see Halloween as a satanic holiday, but as a traditional demonstration of family and community fun," he said.

"I now celebrate the family fun customs of Halloween and do not see anything wrong with it. But if the majority of those who celebrate Halloween sacrifice animals and small children to the devil, then I would have a problem with that."