Halloween is fast approaching and the spookiest time of year will soon be upon us. Whether you like dressing up as your favourite movie villain, throwing the wildest Halloween party around or curling up with a box set of the creepiest horror movies, there’s something about this time of year that has everybody excited to scare themselves silly.
While we’re all used to the traditional celebrations in our own country, what about the rest of the world? It isn’t all spook houses and trick or treating in every country, so we’ve rounded up a list of how Halloween is celebrated in different parts of the world. Now, there’s just one thing left to say… Trick or treat?
Today’s UK Halloween celebrations are much more rooted in commercialism than anything spiritual, but that doesn’t stop the scares! Fancy dress parties are rife (where the long-standing argument about sexy costumes vs. scary costumes reappears each year), as well as pumpkin carving, trick or treating and, of course, a horror movie marathon to get into the spooky spirit.
Borrowing Halloween traditions from the USA, Italian culture is slowly starting to blend Halloween with November 1st’s All Saints’ Day, where deceased loved ones are remembered and it’s treated as a national public holiday. The blurred lines between Halloween and All Saints’ Day are said to be considered somewhat controversial by the religious bodies in the country.
The Greeks whip up a mean pumpkin pie, known as ‘kolokythopita’ and Halloween is beginning to be celebrated around the country, though the main masquerade celebration of the year is Apokries, which takes place in February and celebrates the end of winter. Children dress up in costumes and try to guess their friend’s identities, while enjoying plenty of sweet treats at the many parades that are held in towns and cities all over the country.
In the USA Halloween gets bigger and better every year. Adults transform their properties into haunted houses to scare trick or treaters and costume parties and competitions are the norm in every town and school. Plus, terrifying spook houses for adults are getting more and more extreme every year…just try to get to the bottom of this list without freaking yourself out!
The Hungry Ghost Festival is the biggest Halloween-related celebration in China, which is a Buddhist festival that takes place on the 15th night of the seventh month of the Chinese calendar. The ghosts and spirits of deceased ancestors are said to emerge from the spirit realm to visit the living that they’ve left behind. The living, meanwhile, pay homage to their deceased loved ones and remember those who have passed on.
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