Culture Notes Everyone knows a little about Halloween…but what does this strange word actually mean? Halloween comes from All Hallows Eve: in the old church calendar, 1st November was celebrated as All Hallows Day, the day for paying respect to the spirits of dead ancestors, so the day before this, 31st October, was All Hallows Eve. (In the same way, the day before Christmas Day is Christmas Eve, and New Year’s Eve is the day before New Year’s Day.) It was believed that on this night, the spirits of the dead could come back to the earth…Today,
Halloween is celebrated rather differently on both sides of the Atlantic. In America, the main feature is trick or treat, when children go to neighbours’ homes and ask for some candy (a treat) otherwise they will play a trick on them! In the UK, Halloween is not such a big event. Some parents give parties for their children’s friends, where many of the traditional games involve apples. For example, in Bobbing for Apples, apples are put in a big bowl of water. To win a prize, you have to get an apple out of the bowl using only your mouth! However