Send us a text Before the costumes, the candy, and the porch lights, there was a fire burning on the hills of ancient Ireland. It was called Samhain — the night when the veil between the living and the dead grew thin. In this Halloween special, we travel back through time to uncover how a pagan festival of harvest and remembrance became the night we now know as Halloween — from the fires of the Celts to the prayers of medieval England, the tricks of Stingy Jack, and the playful magic of the ...