IT'S a debate that rages every year.
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Why on earth is Australia celebrating Halloween? It's American, it's Celtic, it's British, it's ... we don't know what it is, but it's not us.
The truth is, we aren't the only ones having the debate.
Halloween has changed traditions, outfits and names as many times as a teenage girl changes her wardrobe.
Despite being most widely celebrated in America today, Charles Sturt University's Dr Michael Gladwin (a history lecturer at St Mark's Theological Centre) said it was the pagans around northern Europe who lay claim to creating the festival.
"November 1 marked the beginning of winter; it was a time when all the pagans were bringing their harvests in and it was also a time when people believed they were in very close proximity to the spiritual realm," he said.
"Being the start of the Celtic new year, people believed it was a time when all the souls who had died started making their way to the underworld.
"They believed there were a lot of supernatural beings around - ghosts, fairies, demons, a lot of spirits ... and that is why they lit fires. To lead them on their journey but also to keep them away from the living."
Dr Gladwin said the pagans would gather to sacrifice fruits, animals and drinks to appease the spirits.
"In England the people would make cakes (soul cakes) to appease the wandering souls. All of these food offerings are what eventually lead to the tradition of trick or treating."
But that's not the end of the story.
Around the 7th century, after the Christians had evangelised Europe, missionaries had a choice of either getting rid of pagan festivals or "sanctifying them" - making them holy.
In keeping with tradition, they also decided to honour the dead. They created "All Hallows Day" to honour all Christians who had died up until that point - not just the Saints but ordinary people as well.
This eventually came to be known as "All Hallows Day", with "hallows" meaning "holy". Even today, many Christians light candles on November 1 to honour those who have died.
"But it is celebrated in a positive context in terms of the hope for eternal life through Christ, rather than the restless spirits wandering through cemeteries unable to find a place to rest," Dr Gladwin said.
To cut a long story short, despite Christians' efforts the original traditions and meaning of the festival lived on and eventually became referred to as "Hallowed Eve", which then became shortened to "Halloween".
The festival was carried to America through immigration and exploded in popularity throughout the 20th century.
Australia - having aligned itself to America after the second World War and consequently being heavily exposed to its culture through music, television and film - is now adopting the festival as one of its own.
"The truth is, most of us celebrate the festival without having any idea what it's all really about," Dr Gladwin said.
"We see it in all the American movies and TV shows that we watch and think it's fun so we jump on board. And supermarkets, fancy dress stores, businesses all see the mass marketing potential so they supply the pumpkins, costumes and merchandise.
It's right in between Easter and Christmas, so it has the potential to be a big seller to fill in that gap in between.
"It's something that, I think, is a concern to a lot of Christians because they believe it glorifies or trivialises sinister forces, which can be a destructive thing.
"Funnily enough, when I was living in Europe (where it all began), I never noticed a real Halloween presence there. Certainly not like you see in the US and not like the way it is growing here (in Australia)."