万圣节，为每年的10月31日，通常与灵异的事物联系，是西方的传统节日，主要流行于撒克逊人后裔云集的美国、不列颠群岛、澳大利亚、加拿大和新西兰等西方国家。很多城市及小镇都会组织万圣节游行。

万圣节的经典装饰是雕刻过的南瓜灯（Jack-o-Lantern）和骷髅，还包括僵尸、鬼魂、女巫、墓碑及恶魔等。许多人家在之前一个月左右便会把房前花园布置成恐怖之城。

万圣夜的主要活动是“不给糖就捣乱”（Trick-or-treat）。当晚小孩会穿上各种化妆服，戴上面具，装扮成各种恐怖样子，逐门逐户按响邻居的门铃，大叫："Trick or Treat!"，主人家（可能同样穿着恐怖服装）便会拿出一些糖果、巧克力或是小礼物。部分家庭甚至使用声音特效和制烟机器营造恐怖气氛。小孩得到的糖果往往可以袋计算。

在整个10月，各大商店的巧克力和各种糖果都会打折促销，而各种造型恐怖的食物也随处可见。

Halloween

On the evening of October 31 every year, in most US communities, you will see children in the streets, dressed in costumes, carrying bags for candy. They will go from door to door in their neighborhoods and shout, “Trick or Treat!” According to tradition, the neighbors should give them a piece of candy (the Treat). If not, the children will play a Trick on them. Halloween is so popular in the US that most adults are ready with a basket of candy at the door. Today, the Trick part is rare — children just run to the next house if there is no Treat.

The roots of Halloween are very old. The name itself comes from a Christian celebration of all saints (or “hallows”), started in the ninth cen-tury. All Hallow’s Day is November 1; the night before is All Hallow’s Eve. But the holiday is also rooted in an older, pre-Christian festival, Samhain (pronounced “SOW-in”).

In the mid-1800s, Irish immigrants to the US brought their traditions with them and, by the 20th century, Halloween had become a popular holiday. Halloween is not considered a religious holiday by most Americans. Here

is some background about the common sym-bols of this holiday:

Ghosts and skeletons: These are references to the thinning of the veil between our world and the “other world.”

Witches, broomsticks and black cats: You will see images of witches riding on broom-sticks, sometimes with or in the form of a black cat. In the Middle Ages, the idea of witches — women who had sold themselves to the Devil — grew out of the Christian belief about witch-craft (magic) and heresy. You may see witches stirring large pots; in pagan times, these were

signs of abundance but now are used to sug-gest that witches make magic potions.

Jack-o-Lanterns: An old story says that a man named Jack loved to tease the Devil. The Devil made him wander the earth forever, carrying a lantern. Today in the US, a carved pumpkin with a candle in it is called a Jack-o-Lantern.

Apples, squash, corn, and nuts: You will see doors and tables decorated with these harvest fruits, a reference to the harvest timing of Hal-loween.