Samhain, the Halloween Lord, is essentially the Spirit of Halloween and has even been said by some to be a personification of the holiday itself. It is also the name of an ancient pagan Celtic festival which was named after him.
Description[]
Samhain's appearance is unknown, however, he is depicted as an armored being, with a pumpkin-like head emitting green flames, and riding a ghostly horse who emits the same flames. He resembles the Headless Horseman as a result. He can also assume the form of a fae-like humanoid with a body that is made up of the roots of the pumpkin itself. Although the roots themselves appear to be coated with a metallic shell that resemble demonic armor.
Overview[]
Originally believed to be a demon, he was later revealed to be a Pagan god that first appeared by the summoning of Witches. When he reigned on Earth on Halloween night, people kept their children in that night, they wore masks to hide from him, carved pumpkins to worship him, and left sweets at their doors to appease him. The same applied to the spirits that accompanied Samhain whenever he would step out of the Otherworld.
Samhain, the festival, was usually held on the date that the cattle were brought down from their fields and slaughtered for the winter. Bonfires were lit in every town as they were thought to be cleansing and warded off any evil spirits. People believed that it was easier to cross between the boundary into the 'Otherworld' on this day, and therefore spirits (also known as Aos Sí) could cross into our world. People would leave out food and drink as offerings to the spirits, in the belief that doing this would ensure the people and their livestock would live through the winter. This is also where the tradition of guising originated. Despite the traditional methods of worshipping Samhain waning over the centuries to the point where it is no longer practiced by modern day people the tradition itself still remained with the cultural descendants of the ancestors who performed these practices long ago.
He can be summoned out of the confines of Otherworld by two witches through three human sacrifices over three days, the last of which must occur on the final day of Celtic harvest, the 31st of October, the American Halloween. This ritual can only be attempted every six-hundred years. Once Samhain rises, he is able to summon ghosts, zombies, ghouls, and other monsters associated to the holiday from the depths of the Underworld and unleash these morbid entities on the world. These monstrous beings then patrol the streets of whatever town Samhain is summoned in to see who is following the tradition of Halloween and seek out those who are not to brutally punish them. Those that insult the holiday they see as a disservice to their lord and consequently punished by the monsters.