It’s Hallo-scream! Yes, that means Halloween!

On Hallowe’en the thing
you must do
is pretend that nothing
can frighten you.
An’ if somethin’ scares you
and you want to run
Jus’ let on like
it’s Hallowe’en fun.

– – – from an Early Nineteenth Century Halloween Postcard

Halloween is a perfect example of the American “melting pot”. It is a mixture of beliefs, rituals and traditions, both religious and pagan, which come from all cultures in the USA.

Halloween History: haunted houses and horror and pumpkins too!

On October 31st we celebrate Halloween or Hallowe’en, a shortened version of All Hallows’ Eve. This holiday marks the evening before All Hallows Day or All Saints Day. When the Romans conquered the Celts in 43AD, they incorporated many of their festivals into their own celebrations, including Halloween. Nowadays, we celebrate with elaborate costumes, haunted houses, carved pumpkins and trick-or-treating (children go door-to-door asking for goodies and threaten to play tricks on those who refuse).

Halloween is an excuse to dress up and we’re going all out this year at TALK. We have planned a trip to Orlando for Halloween Horror nights at Universal Studies (Oct. 23rd) and a party (Oct. 30th) with pumpkin carving and costume contests.  Halloween has proved to be the most popular annual holiday celebrated by our TALK students. Stay tuned for pictures!