OCTOBER is here which means Halloween is just around the corner.

It is the scariest time of the year, where people of all ages enjoy all things eerie and spooky.

Halloween is a celebration acknowledged in many countries on October 31, which is on the eve of the Western Christian festival day of All Hallow's Eve.

In popular culture, the day has become a celebration of horror, being associated with the macabre and supernatural.

One theory holds that many Halloween traditions were influenced by Celtic harvest festivals, particularly the Gaelic festival Samhain, which are believed to have pagan roots.

Some go further and suggest that Samhain may have been Christianised as All Hallow's Day, along with its eve, by the early Church.

Other academics believe Halloween began solely as a Christian holiday, being the vigil of All Hallow's Day.

Celebrated in Ireland and Scotland for centuries, Irish and Scottish immigrants took many Halloween customs to North America in the 19th century, and then through American influence various Halloween customs spread to other countries by the late 20th and early 21st century.

Popular Halloween activities include trick-or-treating, attending Halloween costume parties, carving pumpkins or turnips into jack-o'-lanterns, lighting bonfires, apple bobbing, divination games, playing pranks, visiting haunted attractions, telling scary stories, and watching horror or Halloween-themed films.

These photos show how people have enjoyed Halloween here in Cumbria over the years.

We hope that these pictures bring back some fond memories for some of you.