Each Halloween, families celebrate with traditions like carving pumpkins into jack-o'-lanterns, wearing Halloween costumes, yelling out "trick-or-treat" or even bobbing for apples.

But these activities have ancient pagan roots — although, many don't make the connection today.

"The basic character of it goes back to a very ancient pre-Christian, Celtic celebration Samhain," said Sally Weidmann, a professor in the history and philosophy department at North Georgia College & State University. "The belief was that as the days grew shorter and the nights grew longer the wall or the barrier between the world of the living and the world of the dead got thinner and thinner and thinner.

"Part of the celebration involved appeasing the spirits of the departed. They would invite the spirits of dead relatives to come back to visit."

There also was a focus on keeping bad spirits away from the living.

"There were different symbols used to also try and keep away threatening spirits or bad spirits - evil spirits that might do them harm," she said.

During the Samhain festival, children had a part of the festivities, which is where the practice of trick-or-treating may have originated.

"The little kids would go around dressed in costumes, spirits, demons, etc., and stop at the house and present the challenge to the homeowner: Either you better give us a treat or we'll play a trick," Weidmann said.

There also was a belief that if you didn't satisfy the children with treats, the spirits may play a trick as well.

Today, many trick-or-treaters don't know the history, but some Christians say celebrating Halloween is a slippery slope.

Sandra Pizano, a member of Primera Iglesia Bautista in Gainesville, said the girls' youth group she teaches on Sunday nights decided to protest Halloween this year for the first time because they said the holiday does not fit with their Christian beliefs.

"As Christian people we aren't supposed to celebrate Halloween," Pizano said. "We know that so many children trick-or-treat on Halloween, and what our youth group decided to do was protest against Halloween.

"We did some research and we started with the history from the very beginning of Halloween and learned how it migrated to the United States."

Pizano added that the students - comprising her Sunday group and the Wednesday night youth group - will be standing outside the church on Dorsey Street in Gainesville with posters on Halloween day.

Melissa Puentes, 15, a sophomore at Gainesville High School, said she has never dressed up for Halloween and decided to boycott Halloween because "some people celebrate things that they just don't know about. In class we learned a lot, and everything with Halloween has a meaning and it's not good."

Added Monica Pizano, 12, "Witches and skeletons and stuff, first of all it's creepy and ... you shouldn't do it because it has to do with witches and the devil. I hope they understand what we are trying to say and that we just aren't hating on Halloween."

Weidmann added that hundreds of years ago the Catholic Church made attempts to reform the holiday into a Christian observance as well.

"The Catholic church tried to reform the holiday and tried to associate it with a celebration of All Saints Day," Weidmann said. "Now it's really just a great excuse for little kids to dress up and have some fun, get some candy. I think the pagan roots have pretty much died out.

"It's really just become very secular ... closer to something like Thanksgiving or even Fourth of July than anything pagan."