HALLOWEEN has its origins in the pagan, pre-Christian traditions of many European cultures, which thought of this time as an occasion to scare off evil spirits and honor the spirits of their dead ancestors. Years later, these types of practices were enveloped into the Christian tradition by church leaders who, after trying to get new converts to drop their old ways and failing, decided to incorporate these customs into the Christian experience. Thus, the custom of All Saints Day was created, a time to honor the saints of the church. The day before that was named All Hallows Eve. The name morphed into Halloween after some time.
The whole idea of wearing costumes, witches, goblins, spiders, skeletons-all that developed here in early America as folks tried to make this day a more kid- and family-friendly thing. Previously, Halloween was considered a grown-up occasion. Bobbing for apples, costume parades, and trick-or-treating grew out of this push to make Halloween less adult, spirit, pagan-driven and more palatable to rural, conservative, Puritan-type Americans.
For some, the pagan practices surrounding the day never stopped, and I believe the Wiccan religion considers this time period sacred, as the earth is changing from one season to the next (same principle behind the celebration of Easter, with the bunnies, lilies, etc.-newness of the earth. It's just that the Christian church incorporated these things as symbols of Christ, like the lilies). Others try to call up spirits of ancestors while others try to ward off bad ones. In the Mexican culture, Halloween is celebrated as El Dia de Muertes (Day of the Dead), a time to gather with family to honor their deceased relatives by visiting their graves, baking special treats and so on (someone with more depth and breadth in this, please correct me if I've mispoken).
Personally, while I don't think the holiday is demonic, I don't celebrate it either. I think it's a very potent time, with folks calling on spirits, and choose to leave that alone.
I've gone on long enough, but I'm sure there are resources online that can give you a more detailed historical view on this holiday.
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