With Halloween having finally arrived, children, adults and celebrities alike will hit the streets and attend parties in their best costumes - right from funny and creepy to pop culture attire. Many have been caught on camera in their best Halloween costumes on the eve of the festival.

Search engine giant Google also celebrates Halloween with a special creepy doodle featuring a witch. A click on the play button leads to witchery with spooky background sound.

Halloween is celebrated on 31 October every year. Also called "Hallowe'en", "All Hallows' Eve," and "All Saints' Eve," it is celebrated on the eve of All Hallows (or All Saints), a time Christians remember the dead and saints by conducting church services, prayers and fasting. However, the festival is celebrated by people from all walks of life irrespective of religion and region.

According to Halloween History website, Halloween originated in the ancient Celtic festival known as Samhain, which celebrates the end of the harvest season in Gaelic culture. Samhain was a time used by the ancient pagans to take stock of supplies and prepare for winter. The ancient Gaels believed that on 31 October, the boundaries between the worlds of the living and the dead overlapped and the deceased would come back to life and cause havoc such as sickness or damaged crops.

The festival is celebrated with costume parties, making bonfire, trick-or-treating or guising, apple bobbing, making jack-o-lanterns, divination, playing pranks and visiting haunted houses.

Halloween parade
A participant, wearing make-up, poses for photos at a Halloween parade in Kawasaki
Halloween
Google's Halloween doodle
Halloween parade
Ritsuto Higa, an 8-year-old participant, has his face painted for a Halloween parade in Kawasaki
Halloween parade
Participants wearing costumes take part in a Halloween parade in Kawasaki
Halloween parade
Spectators, dressed in costumes, wait for a Halloween parade in Kawasaki
Halloween parade
Mr. CB, a dog wearing a costume, takes part in a Halloween parade in Kawasaki
Halloween parade
Participants, wearing costumes, pose for photos at a Halloween parade in Kawasaki
Halloween Surf Contest
Owolo, dressed as the Grim Reaper, and Petrulis, dressed as a chicken, prepare to compete in the ZJ Boarding House Halloween Surf Contest in Santa Monica
Halloween Surf Contest
Competitors line up to surf in the ZJ Boarding House Halloween Surf Contest in Santa Monica, California
Halloween Surf Contest
A woman dressed as a rock star competes in the ZJ Boarding House Halloween Surf Contest in Santa Mon
Halloween Surf Contest
A man dressed as a mummy competes in the ZJ Boarding House Halloween Surf Contest in Santa Monica, California
Halloween Surf Contest
Anna Dimond competes dressed as a tennis player in the ZJ Boarding House Halloween Surf Contest in Santa Monica, California
Halloween Surf Contest
A man dressed as a wrestler competes in the ZJ Boarding House Halloween Surf Contest in Santa Monica, California
Halloween Surf Contest
Tammy Mowery competes dressed as a Hooters waitress during the ZJ Boarding House Halloween Surf Contest in Santa Monica, California
Halloween celebration
A polar bear called Uslada eats a carved pumpkin during a Halloween celebration at the zoo in St. Petersburg
Halloween costume competition
A mother carries her son wearing a costume while waiting for a Halloween costume competition in Manila
Halloween Horror Party 2013
A performer in "The Walking Dead" haunted house poses during the "Halloween Horror Party 2013" at the Movie Park Germany in the western city of Bottrop
Halloween Horror Party 2013
A performer in "The Walking Dead" haunted house poses during the "Halloween Horror Party 2013" at the Movie Park Germany in the western city of Bottrop
Halloween party
Ramon Starks, 11, takes part in an attempt to break a world record for largest gathering of people wearing googly eye glasses during a Halloween party in Los Angeles
Halloween party
Children attend a Halloween party during an attempt to break a world record for largest gathering of people wearing googly eye glasses in Los Angeles