How Do You Celebrate Halloween?

Halloween is a beautiful time of year when you have the opportunity to celebrate all things spooky. It is the one season when witches, ghouls and goblins are praised and people in houses pass out candy to random children that come knocking on their door in the evening. Actually, when said like that it does sound a bit strange, truth be told. Perhaps we should go back to the roots of the holiday.

Halloween came from the Celtic holiday Samhain. Samhain was a pagan holiday when people believed that spirits would grace the Earth and they would appease said spirits with treats. It also marked the beginning of winter and people would celebrate the fall harvest by slaughtering cows to store meat for the long cold months that would follow.

Of course, given our modern conveniences and the fact that we no longer need to slaughter anything in order to eat, Samhain has evolved into something far more tame, compared to what it was like in the past. Nowadays, children dress up in costumes and go around their neighborhoods, door to door, begging for treats. If they are denied, then they feel like they have the right to play a `trick` on the person, hence the name of the activity, `trick or treat.`

I personally feel I am a bit too old to go door to door for candy, but if I were in America I might toy with the idea. This is due to the fact that I am rather short so I can still pass for a junior high school student if I was wearing a mask. I promise that it has been awhile since I have done this, but I would if the opportunity actually presented itself.

Nowadays, I usually spend my Halloween enjoying good food with several friends while wearing a costume at the same time. I think costumes are an important part of the holiday because it allows us to let our creativity flow and become anything we want. Pirate? No problem. Celebrity? Piece of cake. Royalty? Why not?

Each year, my Halloween costume becomes increasingly more elaborate as my friends and I have a competition with one another to see who can come up with the most creative and interesting costume. Last year, I was a zombie clown. This year, I am still thinking of which theme I would like to follow, but I think I would like to lean towards something unique rather than scary.

In addition, I adore gory films and Halloween is the perfect season to enjoy frightening flicks. My personal favorite is the movie Halloween because nothing beats a good classic. When I hear the iconic music that appears throughout that film, it sends chills up and down my spine and my excitement through the roof! Add to the mix an array of fall foods like pumpkin and purple yams and it’s the perfect way to spend the evening!

What about you? How do you celebrate the holiday? Do you like to dress up?

Evalyn

Vocabulary

pagan (adj.) ? relating to an ancient religion that had many gods and worshipped nature
appease (v) ? the desire to please or satisfy someone
slaughter (v) ? to kill, slash and stab in a very bloody manner
piece of cake (idiom) ? easily done; requires little to no effort
gory (adj.) ? very graphic and bloody