On October 31st we celebrate the holiday Halloween in the United States! I really have no idea as to how or why this holiday exists, without typing it into Google or another search engine. But I can tell you what people do to have fun and celebrate Halloween and add some pictures to help out too.
Even though many people consider this a holiday for kids, it has grown in popularity among adults each year as well. On October 31st every year, kids will dress up in costumes of all kinds (super heros, ghosts, witches, princesses, animals, and just about anything you can think of! The more different the costume, the more fun! Around 6pm or so (after work hours but before it starts to get dark outside) kids will put on their costumes and grab a bag (to hold candy) and the parents will walk with the child around to the homes in their neighborhood (the houses with a light on outside - this signifies the house is participating in Halloween). The child walks up to the door and yells out "TRICK OR TREAT" and holds their bag open. The home owner will then give the child a piece of candy.
My daughter Ailey Yasneski (pink dress) and her friends trick-or-treating.
As mentioned, adults have really been enjoying Halloween as much as kids and often participate in many of the other Halloween events including-carving faces or designs into pumpkins. You cut the top off the pumpkin, scoop out all the gooey insides then carve a face or design on the front side and put a candle inside of it. The pumpkin is set outside and when it gets dark you light the candle to create a spooky glow! Here are pumpkins my family carved:
People often have Halloween parties (can be adults only, kids only or families). Dressing up in a costume is a must at all Halloween parties and there are scary decorations and Halloween themed treats and food. Here are some photos from the Halloween celebration at the Hanover office for Phillips.
Decorations around the office included skeletons, hanging bats from the ceiling, a mad scientists' lab, spider webs and spiders all over, a giant rat, and vultures!
Fake brain and fake fingers in a jar - a fake scientists' laboratory in our kitchen, along with mice and bugs! Ewwwwwww!
Our Partners in costumes:
From left to right: Connie Leppert as a Mime; Bryan Pax as a doctor and Tim McClanahan as a monk.
Bill Withers as a jester and Danny Kelly as the devil!
Here is the graveyard cake that I made for the office, complete with edible tombstones, edible skeleton and bones, chocolate tree and edible pumpkins and ghosts! The cake flavor is "red velvet" which is a dark red color - spooky!
Other fun Halloween activities include watching scary movies or going to a haunted house (not a real one, just one created for entertainment). Although it is not the most popular holiday in the US, it is probably one of the top 4 holidays here and widely celebrated.
Wow，Amy!
I never knew Halloween can be so funny! I learnt a lot. You really encourage me to Share our Spring Festival with you next time!
Posted by: Sally Chen | 11/04/2011 at 12:00 AM