DESPITE being ostensibly a festive film, Tim Burton’s 1993 stop-motion film ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’ largely covers much of the stereotypical views of Hallowe’en and what it compasses.

Zombies, witches, werewolves, vampires, mummies, monsters, goblins, ghouls, ghosts and carved pumpkins – most of these images have become synonymous with October 31.

In the run-up to Hallowe’en, shops and supermarkets are filled with essential products which are available usually only once a year – from the masks and face paints to the horror themed snacks and treats.

Underneath it all, below all the commerciality of October 31 however, lies a holiday which remains at its core as one of the main days of the religious calendar, alongside Easter and Christmas.

It has become somewhat diluted over the centuries, with many people placing the blame at the doorstep of our transatlantic cousins, but what exactly is Hallowe’en?

Incidentally, Wales has a very integral part in the history of the day, the name of which comes from an abbreviation of All Hallows’ Evening.

Origins of the day are set around the belief that on October 31, leading into November 1, this point of the year marked the end of summer, and the start of winter.

In Welsh, the translation of Hallowe’en is Calan Gaeaf –a reference in part to a Celtic ceremony which marks the first day of winter and is observed on November 1.

The night before, what has become Hallowe’en for all intents and purposes, was seen as a spirit night – ysbrydnos – where souls were believed to be more active.

According to folklore, it was common for people to avoid certain places as the legend is that spirits would congregate at graveyards and other places on Nos Calan Gaeaf.

The folklore associated to Nos Calan Gaeaf involves children and women dancing around a fire, with all members of the party writing their names on stones.

Once the fire began to die out, the entire group would run back to their houses in order to possibly avoid a meeting with the spirit Yr Hwch Ddu Gwta, rumoured to be a tailless female pig accompanied with a headless woman.

The men would go from door to door afterwards, holding the skull, sometimes real or artificial, of a horse, linked into the Mari Lwyd which would ward off bad spirits of the ysbrydnos.

After Nos Calan Gaeaf, an elder member of the village would return to the site of the fire, and if any of the stones were missing, that person was allegedly due to die within the next year, which is called the coelcerth.

Another Welsh Hallowe’en custom, which bears a resemblance to the modern celebrations, is apple bobbing.

It is widely believed that the Americans have created much of the blueprints behind Hallowe’en, but authors on the subject apportion the result of mass immigration into North America in the 19th century into creating October 31 in its modern guise.

‘Trick-or-treating’ has roots in British Isles, with ‘guising’ – an early form of the practice – first starting in the medieval linked into Christian practices of the time.

Since then, Hallowe’en practices have evolved somewhat – but a lot of them have their groundings in longstanding Christian beliefs.

Many people still see the day as a religious holiday, and celebrate it accordingly away from the mass commercialisation.

As part of its naming custom, Hallowe’en is followed by All Hallows’ Day – or All Saints’ Day – which honours all the saints on November 1 in some of the Christian belief systems.

Feasts are held, prayers are read and said for those who have died while others observe Hallowe’en as a meat free day or hold fasts in preparation for November 1.

So in the words of ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’ – this is Hallowe’en, this is Hallowe’en – a very Welsh affair at its core.