HALLOWEEN

Halloween is a spooky holiday celebrated on October 31^st.  People in North America and some people in Europe celebrate Halloween.  There are even Halloween parties in Korea!  So, where did Halloween come from? 

It all started about 2,000 years ago in Britain.  First it was a Pagan harvest festival called Sowan.  They believed that ghosts and spirits came out this time of year.  They wanted to hide from the evil spirits so they dressed in costumes of dead people and ghosts. 

Later, this holiday mixed with the Christian holiday called All Saints Day.  People would go to houses and ask for a Soul Cake, a kind of bread.  Many years later Halloween was born.

Now people celebrate Halloween in many ways.  Children wear costumes and go to houses and ask for candy.  This is called Trick-or-treating.  Adults often go to costume parties.  Many people also decorate their houses.  A common decoration is a jack-o-lantern.  It is a carved pumpkin that looks like a scary face.  People also go to haunted houses with friends and family.  These haunted houses are like very scary theme parks.  Watching horror movies is another fun Halloween tradition. 

Common Halloween costumes are:  ghosts, vampires, zombies, scary masks, monsters, animals, witches, mummies, werewolves, and dead people.  What do you want to be for Halloween?

Halloween Quiz

1.  What day is Halloween?  

2.  Who celebrates Halloween?

3.  When did the Pagan’s start to celebrate Sowan? 

4.  What holiday mixed with Sowan?

5.  What is Soul Cake?

6.  What is trick-or-treating?

7.  What is a jack-o-lantern?

8.  What are three things people do on Halloween? 

9.  What are three common Halloween costumes?