Halloween, Halloween!
All those scenes from American movies that have filled the collective imaginary: great big Midwest houses where cheery neighbours fill kids’ pockets with candy… Although some Halloween traditions have reached many other countries in the world, it’s still the United States where this festivity is celebrated to the full.
Carving pumpkins, dressing up as zombies, witches, vampires, skeletons, corpse brides and other terrifying characters, turning homes into houses of horror… all to create what for many children is the happiest day of the year.
Trick-or-treating dates back to the Middle Ages, when ghosts were believed to visit the family home to settle old scores. Bonfires lit to ward off evil spirits and games such as apple bobbing or ghost hunts are other characteristic features of a celebration that has now spread across the world.