Halloween
October 31st was the eve of the Celtic New Year butsometime in the 800’s. November 1st became the Christian All Saint’sDay, also known as Allhallows or Hallowmas, a holy day in the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches. The evening before was All Hallows Eve, or Halloween.Halloween is a holiday celebrated in most areas of North America and in some areas of Western Europe. It is symbolically associated with death and the supernatural.
By tradition, Halloween begins after sunset. Long ago, people believed that witches gathered together and ghosts roamed the world on Halloween.Today, most people no longer believe in ghosts and witches, but these supernatural beings are still a part of Halloween.
Dressing in masks and costumes is a popular Halloween activity. Costumes can be traditional and scary, such as vampires, skeletons, witches, and devils.Costumes may also have a modern flavor. Many children dress up as movie characters or a favorite superhero. But Halloween is not just for children. Manyadults also enjoy showing off their costumes at Halloween parties.
On Halloween, group of children go from house to house asking forcandy by saying “Trick or Treat!” （不给糖就捣蛋）, which means if the person who answers the door do not give them some candies, they will play tricks on the house owner.
The pumpkin is one of the symbols of Halloween.Carving vegetables into jack-o’-lanterns（南瓜灯） is a Halloween custom dating back to Ireland. A jack-o-lantern is a hollowed-out（中间挖空的） pumpkin with a face carved on oneside. Candles or electric lights are placed inside. According to legend,jack-o’-lanterns protest people in their homes from ghostly spirits. So, it’scommon to see jack-o'-lanterns on doorsteps and otherwise used as decorations prior to and on Halloween.
