Welcome, Ghosts, Ghouls, and Goblins! Which one would you prefer: right or left? ~~~~~ Light & Dark, Yin & Yan, Merry & Sad, Good & Bad, Soft & Hard, Near & Far, Happy & Mad, Bright & Dull, Thin & Fat, Old & Young, Slow & Fast, Present & Past, Together & Apart, Bland & Sharp ~~~~~
Every town and village has a spooky house in one of its neighborhoods that makes everyone nervous to walk around. Nobody wants to visit it, and if they do, they get shivers down their spines and hear strange voices calling them inside. There are famous and popular horror stories for each haunted house, which some people are only brave enough to discuss on Halloween.
According to one story, on Halloween night, a group of friends, including boys and girls aged 20 to 25, went inside a scary house located outside of town. The group brought several items, including candles, blankets, cushions, water, sweets, chips, beers, and wine, as they intended to spend the entire Halloween night in that eerie house.
The abandoned house was surrounded by overgrown vegetation that obscured it, and the interior was covered in cobwebs and broken furniture. As the group of friends entered the living room, they noticed that the house was constantly dark and that the walls were extremely cold to the touch. One of the friends noticed a chimney with fresh wood burning in the fireplace. The room was getting warm at this point, and because they all enjoyed Halloween stories and bizarre situations, they all sat in a circle in front of the fireplace.
One of the friends began telling a Halloween ghost story to scare their friends: “This spooky house was built from the poetry of nighttime trees, from their shadows and the chill of innocent people.”
At the thirteen-word mark of the story, footsteps appeared on the first floor, a door closed violently, lamps balanced from one side to the other, and disembodied footsteps appeared beside the group of friends. One of the girls thought, “This isn’t right. I should not be here. Everything looks like the dead have risen up from their graves.” Despite hearing ghostly noises, none of them fled, as they all enjoyed celebrating Halloween… although, to this day, no one has ever seen these children return home.
Who created Halloween?
Halloween’s origins can be traced back to the ancient, pre-Christian Celtic festival of Samhain, which took place on the night of October 31.
The Celts, who lived 2000 years ago in what is now Ireland and Northern France, believed that on Samhain, the dead returned to earth. They celebrated the festival by lighting bonfires and dressing up in costumes to ward off ghosts.
Pope Gregory III established November 1st as a day to commemorate all Christian saints. Soon, All Saints’ Day incorporated some of Samhain’s traditional practices. All Hallows’ Eve, which later became Halloween, took place the evening before All Saints’ Day.
All Hallows’ Eve is now celebrated on the night before All Saints’ Day in the Catholic Church.
Halloween is now a fairly secular holiday, and its celebrations are becoming increasingly popular around the world. Today, Americans spend an estimated $6 billion on Halloween each year, making it the country’s second largest commercial holiday after Christmas.
How do people celebrate Halloween?
🎃👉Playing traditional games at home with friends or family members.
🎃👉Visiting a pumpkin farm to pick your favorite seasonal pumpkins.
🎃👉Carving pumpkins into Halloween scary shapes.
🎃👉Making a jack-o-lantern.
🎃👉Baking and decorating Halloween Biscuits.
🎃👉Dressing up with a terrific costume and acting like an evil character.
🎃👉Walking around your neighborhood asking for a trick or a treat.
🎃👉Exploring haunted tours such as Ghost Tours at Eltham Palace and Gardens, London, UK.
🎃👉Visiting haunted house attractions such as Bloodworth Haunted Mansion, New York, USA.
🎃👉Watching family-friendly Halloween movies in case you have kids at home; movies like “Hocus Pocus”, “The Nightmare Before Christmas”, “Beetlejuice” and “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown”.
🎃👉Watching a collection of classic horror movies like “Scream”, “Nightmare on Elm Street”, “Halloween”, “The Conjuring”, “All Hallows’ Eve”.
If you really enjoy horror films, I recommend that you watch “The Rite” if you haven’t already. The film was directed by Mikael Håfström and is based on Michael Petroni’s book “The Rite: The Making of a Modern Exorcist.” It’s a supernatural horror film that shows you that evil exists. It’s based on the true experiences of Father Gary Thomas, a California priest assigned by his bishop to study exorcism at the Vatican. In “The Rite,” he portrays Father Michael Kovak of Chicago, a seminary student who travels to Italy to learn exorcism.
A few events specifically for Christians:
🎃👻Carving pumpkins into hope-filled shapes and words.
🎃👻Reading stories about the saints by candlelight.
🎃👻Celebrating a harvest feast like Samhain.
🎃👻Designing a bunch of flowers to visit the cemetery on All Saints Day.
🎃👻Dressing up and acting out a dark story from the Bible.
🎃👻Creating a light box to illuminate your soul and protect the spirits of Halloween.
🎃👻Creating a fear-free Halloween banner and placing it on top of the chimney.
As you can see, there are many ways to celebrate Halloween.
How could I not celebrate Halloween? If you are one of those neutral souls who do not celebrate parties and do not want to be involved in Halloween, listen to my next piece of advice:
👉Don’t decorate your house. Don’t display pumpkins, fake cobwebs, or other Halloween decorations in public places.
👉Leave your house plain to let trick-or-treaters know you don’t celebrate Halloween.
👉Turn off your porch lights, and no one will come knocking on your door for sweets or to steal your soul.
About me, Halloween has always held a special place in my heart. I have been celebrating it year after year, but not in the same way most people do. For many years, I have celebrated it by saying hello to the dead, speaking with them, and thanking all of the lovely spirits who move around us despite our inability to see them.
As Ya-Hub Translations‘ Chief Marketing Officer and blogger, I wish you a very scary Halloween filled with haunted and spooky encounters!! Be very afraid of the dark because you never know what lurks within. Don’t listen to the whispers in your ears.
Best wishes for a haunting All Hallows’ Eve!