Happy Halloween!

What is Halloween?
Halloween is an annual holiday. It has roots in the Celtic festival of Samhain and the Christian holiday of All Saints. It is celebrated on the 31st October. It is celebrated on this day because it was the end of the harvest season and the new year for the Celts. Halloween is a religious celebration. It became a dangerous celebration when there was vandalism. So then, the children, started travelling door to door for treat as an alternative to troublemaking.Trick-or-treating, costume parties, apple bobbing and ghost tours are two Halloween typical activities.

• What does the word Halloween mean?

The word itself, "Halloween", actually has its origins in the Catholic Curch. It comes from a contracted corruption of All Hallows Eve. November 1, "All Hollows Day" (or All Saints Day), is a Catholic day of observance in honor of saints.

• How do people celebrat it today?

Now, Halloween activities include trick-or-treating, wearing costumes and attending costume parties, ghost tours, bonfires, visiting haunted attractions, telling scary stories, and watching horror films.

If you want to know more about Halloween... Click here!

Vocabulary

1. Apple bobbing: players try to catch an apple with their teeth. Using hands is not allowed.  

Apple bobbing

2.  Apparition: a transparent, ghostly figure.

3.  Bat: a small flying mammal, with leathery wings. According to legend, vampires are said to be able to turn into bats. 

4.  Broom or broomstick: a type of brush with a long wooden handle, said to be used by witches to fly, according to legend.

5. Corpse: a dead body

6. Creepy: Unsettling, or scary

7. Graveyard: a place where dead people are buried.

8. Howl: a high pitched noise made by dogs and wolves.

9. Nightmare: a scary, bad dream.

10. Wand: a stick used for casting magic spells.

11. Warlock: a male witch

12. Werewolf: a person who turns into wolf whenever there is a full moon.

13. Wicca: an ancient religion, practised by witches.

14. Spooky: mildly scary, though often in a fun way.

You can find more Halloween vocabulary here!

Halloween Food!

• Candy apples, candy corn, candy pumpkins
• Caramel apples
• Caramel corn
• Soul cakes
• etc

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein - Film trailer