The story of Halloween
Read the story of Halloween, then do the quiz and test your understanding.
History of Halloween
Decorations
Fancy Dress
Traditional Games
Trick or Treat?
Quiz: Check your understanding
Halloween, October 31, is a festival in Britain, and especially now in North America, that celebrates people's fear of the supernatural, including:
- life after death
- black magic
- bad luck
(The supernatural is a collective word for everything that isn't part of the normal natural world.)
History of Halloween
In the past, hundreds of years ago, people thought that the night of Halloween (All Hallows Eve, as it was called long ago) was a very dangerous time.
During this festival, they believed, witches' magical powers were at their strongest, and the dead could enter our world and, if they wanted to, attack people and their animals.
More recently, perhaps as people became less superstitious, Halloween became a time for parties, dressing up, and games.
Nowadays, most people still enjoy the traditions of Halloween, especially for children's parties.
Decorations
People cut faces in pumpkins and put candles inside them to make special lamps, called jack-o'-lanterns, which they put in the windows or outside the front door.
Some people like to decorate their homes with images of scary supernatural animals - black cats, bats and spiders.
The traditional colours of Halloween are black (for the night), red (for blood!), and orange (for pumpkins).
Fancy Dress
On the day of Halloween, children put on scary masks and fancy dress costumes of frightening supernatural creatures such as ghosts, monsters, or skeletons.
Traditional Games
After dark, children may go to a Halloween party and play a traditional game. One game is called "ducking for apples". In this game, people have to try to get apples out of a bucket full of water without using their hands (only their teeth!).
Trick or Treat?
Another tradition is for children, wearing fancy dress costumes, to visit their neighbours' houses to ask for something nice to eat or drink.
The traditional phrase that the children use is: "Trick or Treat!" This means, "Give us a nice snack to eat (= a treat) or we'll do something bad to you (= play a trick on you)!".
