Here's something totally disgusting that you might not know about Halloween candy: Some candy contains things like mashed-up cow skin, cartilage, bones, and even bugs! And some companies, like Mars Candy, fund deadly animal testing for their candy, even though the tests are not required by law! Costumes are supposed to be scary—not candy! But don't worry: There are plenty of goodies to enjoy out there. Check out this list of animal-friendly treats. Don't forget to share it with Mom and Dad so that they won't accidentally hand out cruelty-filled candy—like Snickers, Twix, M&M's, Skittles, and Starburst, which are all made by the meanies at Mars—to trick-or-treaters or give it to you to take to school for your class Halloween party.

The following types of candy are all animal-friendly:

Airheads taffy
Blow Pops
Brach's Cinnamon Hard Candy
Charms lollipops
Cracker Jack
Cry Babies
Dem Bones
Dots
Dum-Dums
Fireballs
Goldenberg's Peanut Chews
Hubba Bubba bubblegum
Jolly Ranchers (lollipops and hard candy)
Jujubees
Jujyfruits
Lemonheads
Mambas
Mary Janes (regular and peanut butter kisses)
Now and Later
Pez
Ring Pop lollipops
Smarties (U.S. Brand)
Sour Patch Kids
Super Bubble
Swedish Fish
Sweet Tarts
Tropical Source mini chocolate bags
Twizzlers
Zotz

Ever wonder how trick-or-treating started? Why exactly do we get as much free candy as we want on one night out of the year?

Halloween's origins are religious. The ancient Celts celebrated the harvest and honored the dead during a festival called Samhain, which was observed on November 1 (New Year's Day on the Celtic calendar). Eventually, November 1 turned into a day to honor saints, and October 31 came to be known as All Hallows' Eve (a.k.a. Halloween).

So where do the candy and costumes come in? On New Year's Eve, it was believed that the spirits of the dead mingled with the living. People left food on their doorsteps to keep hungry spirits from entering the house. They also dressed up in ghost and goblin costumes so that wandering spirits would mistake them for "kindred" spirits and leave them alone. Later, people started giving out "soul cakes" to beggars in exchange for prayers for their dead relatives. Children started going "a-souling" in their neighborhoods, and this evolved into today's trick-or-treating ritual! Pretty cool, right?

Happy haunting from PETAKids!