Halloween or ‘hallowe’en’ is celebrated every year during 31st October, which includes various types of celebrations. Children get very much excited about ‘Trick-Or-Treat’ where children dress up in various costumes like ghosts, zombies, monsters and comic characters and carry a bag and they knock at each and every door in the neighborhood, saying ‘Trick-Or-Treat’. The neighbors are expected to give some candies for these children. It is always fun to go ‘Trick-Or-Treat’ with friends, collecting tons of sweets and candies and scaring the neighborhood! So what does ‘Trick-Or-Treat’ means? The ‘Trick’ part of the ‘Trick-Or-Treat’ is a threat to play a trick on the homeowner or on his property; if not, a treat (confectionaries) are given.
‘Trick-Or-Treat’ is an important tradition of Halloween celebrations and it is expected that everyone from the neighborhood with children should purchase treats/candies for all those Trick-Or-Treaters who knock at the door. In 2005, according to the National Confectioners Association, eighty percent of the adults in United States planned to give away candies and sweets to Trick-Or-Treaters and ninety-three percent of children go Trick-or-treating every year. It is interesting to note that In Sweden children dress up as witches and go ‘trick-or-treating’ on Maundy Thursday (the Thursday before Easter) while Danish children dress up in various attires and go ‘trick-or-treating’ on Fastelavn or the next day of Shrove Monday. In Ohio, Iowa, and Massachusetts, the night designated for ‘Trick-or-treating’ is often referred to as Beggars Night.
Halloween celebration is incomplete without Bonfires and costume parties. Both adults and children participate in costume parties, who wear attractive costumes like Super Heroes, Pirates, Pimps, Corrupt Cops, Dracula, Uncle Sam, Adult Bunny, Hippie, Mummy, Gangster, Werewolf, Naughty Nurse, Scary Jason, Freddy, Witch/Wizard, etc., there are so many other costumes you can wear; including serial comic stars. Now the festival of Halloween has spread to several parts of the world, including countries like Hong Kong, Japan, Australia, India, Malaysia, Singapore, Puerto Rico and New Zealand.
Halloween is unfinished without those creepy Jack-O-Lanterns, which is nothing but a vegetable carving, made from pumpkin but alternatively with a turnip. Here the pumpkin’s top is cut off and the flesh inside is scoped off and a monstrous mage is carved outside and the lid is replaced. During all nights of the Halloween season, a candle is placed inside to give an illuminated effect. Hence pumpkin carving is considered to be an art!