What to come up with for Halloween at home. A bright and unforgettable Halloween at home. Halloween party at home: festive dress code

Traditionally holiday evil spirits celebrated on the night of October 31 to November 1. It originated in the pre-Christian era and was considered the most important among the Celtic tribes. It all started with the Celts... At this time, their harvest period (calendar summer) was ending and a cold and long period of winter began. According to legend, on this same night the gates to the other world were opened, the line between the world of the living and the dead was erased. To avoid becoming prey to spirits, the pagan Celts dressed up in animal skins, tried to appease them with treats, and gathered around the fire. Today, dressing up in costumes, gathering in noisy groups and treating yourself to something sweet has become a tradition almost all over the world.

Night in the style of "Twilight"
Vampires have become very fashionable these days. A prerequisite for guests, of course, will be the presence of sharp fangs, a powdered, deathly pale face with bruises under the eyes, and dark clothing.

It will not be difficult to create a certain ambience and atmosphere in the house. On a large sheet of whatman paper, draw ghosts, witches, blue faces with bruises, with nooses around the neck or with an ax stuck in the skull. Attach the drawing to the window to create the feeling that all this evil spirits are rushing into the house. Candles, lanterns, “dull” soulful music, “blood” poured into glasses are the most important attributes of this party. By the way, to prepare the blood, grate the beets and boil them in small quantity water. Then add a little sugar, vodka and vinegar to this mass. Strain the cooled contents of the saucepan through several layers of gauze, and pour the cake again with water, vinegar and sugar and boil again. Secondary brewed blood can be used, for example, to water a crime scene, but it looks and flows not as realistically as the primary one.

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The History of Halloween Pumpkins
Smiling pumpkin! The first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word “Halloween”.

This obligatory holiday attribute is called a Jack-o'-lantern. This Jack fooled the devil himself twice. But after death, he did not go to heaven because of his vicious life, or to hell - the devil, even during Jack’s life, vowed not to take his soul. Now the unfortunate man is doomed to wander the world with a pumpkin head and a smoldering corner inside it.
Add variety to the classic Halloween holiday with the game “Dead Man Jack.”

In a dark room, lay out Jack's "body parts". The "heart" of Dead Jack may be a peeled, rotten and wet tomato. Cook slimy pasta - “guts”. A couple of large grapes will serve as the “eyes” of Dead Joe. Dead Man Joe's "hair" - the wig is pulled over the ball or balloon ik. A pickled cucumber of suitable size is cut in half - these will be the “ears” of Dead Man Joe. Warmed tomato juice poured into a jug will pass for Dead Joe's "blood."

Scariest Movie Night
Your guests will appreciate watching the best films that have become horror classics. Place items around the house that have become important parts of the films you are going to watch. This could be a saw or hanging toy mice, human heads (fill a regular balloon with bright red paint). It will be great if the guests resemble heroes from horror films. For example, someone can come in a death costume from Scream, in the easily recognizable guise of Freddy Krueger, or the girl from the well that causes panic with her appearance... Costumes of monsters, zombies, vampires, witches - everything will be relevant on this night of horror!

To continue the evening in a “dark” atmosphere, you can jokingly tell fortunes. When wishing for something, cut the apple in half. If you damage the seeds, then difficulties await you on the way to your plan, but if all the seeds are intact, then your wish will soon come true.

Halloween photo shoot
Do you want to have an unforgettable Halloween, both literally and figuratively? Have a “terrifying” photo shoot! To do this, of course, it is necessary to come up with images, create an environment and win everyone over. co-creation. Fortunately, not many things are required to implement the plan. Try to ride a mop and jump in the air, dressed in a robe, and you will end up with a flying witch. Ask two friends to hold an unfolded white sheet, place a bright light source behind it and photograph the mysterious shadows of your guests lying on this sheet. For the model, the main thing here is to take a more dramatic pose. You will get amazing photos if you “accidentally” take a picture of a vampire or a killer busy with their daily business: “drinking” human blood, eating people, washing an ax of blood... You will remember this night forever! And in social networks there will be something to show.

Devil's Ball
Have you dreamed of attending Satan’s ball from the novel “The Master and Margarita”? You have a great opportunity to organize such a ball yourself, to be its hostess! Warn your friends about the strict dress code. Mandatory costumes will include, of course, Lucifer himself, witches, zombies, werewolves, demons, skeletons, as well as world-famous sinners - Jack the Ripper, Freddy Krueger, Charles Manson, Bloody Mary... For Satan himself, prepare a throne: a chair or armchair covered red cloth. To the music from Wagner's opera "Die Walküres" the devil's ball will begin, where all the evil spirits will waltz and forget about their evil deeds.

One of the fun things to do this evening could be turning a witch or vampire into a mummy. The competition for the best mummy is a fun old competition that leaves neither participants nor spectators indifferent. On command, wrap the “victim” with toilet paper from head to toe. Whoever has the most open body not covered with paper is the loser. The winner becomes Satan's assistant and deserves a glass of mulled wine.

Text: Harina Yana

Photo: kinopoisk, Eastnews, Fotolia/PhotoXPress.ru

The roots of this colorful and eerie action go back centuries. Even 2000 years ago, the Celts who inhabited Great Britain and northern France divided the year into two parts: winter and summer. On October 31st they celebrated the end of the harvest and New Year's Eve. The Celts believed that on the last night of October their main god, the Sun, was kidnapped by the prince of darkness Samheim. And therefore the whole world falls into the grip of darkness and cold. On this night, the gates of the underworld open, and the souls of the dead come to earth to celebrate their carnival. According to legend, the only way to defend yourself from uninvited aliens is with live fire. Druids lit fires, peasants walked around their houses with torches. Treats were placed outside for the spirits to prevent them from breaking into the house. And the residents themselves gathered around the fires of the Druids. When the rituals and dances around the fire ended, everyone took a tongue of sacred flame into their home to protect their home from evil spirits.

By 43 AD e. The Romans occupied most of the Celtic territories. During the 400 years that they spent on these lands, not only the population, but also traditions mixed. Christianity turned out to be helpless in the face of the ancient holiday. Then the cunning priests made a kind of concession. In the 7th century, Pope Boniface IV established November 1 as All Saints Day. It turned out that October 31 was the eve of the holiday. Hence the name, because Hallow in Old English means “holy,” and e"en means “evening.” Subsequently, the name of the holiday appeared - Halloween.

In what is now the United States, Halloween arrived with the first Irish immigrants. With them light hand In the New World, witches and devils swirled in the whirlwind of a carnival, playing tricks on each other and lighting up the night with laughing pumpkins with a candle inside.

Why pumpkin?

Pumpkin is at the same time a mandatory attribute of Halloween and at the same time a talisman that protects against evil sorcerers and other evil spirits on the night of magic and magic. There are several legends about why the pumpkin became a symbol of Halloween. According to one of them, one girl returned home in the evening and got lost in the forest, just on a terrible night of rampant ghosts. She knew that she needed to light a candle, but the wind would blow out the weak flame. The girl had a pumpkin in her basket. The resourceful child pulled out the pulp from it, cut out the pumpkin's eyes, nose and mouth, which curled into a grin. He lit candles inside the pumpkin. The spectacle turned out to be impressive, the ghosts shied away! According to another Irish legend, a man named Jack managed to deceive the Devil twice and received from him a promise not to encroach on his own soul. However, for his sinful worldly life, the Irishman was not allowed into Paradise. In anticipation of Judgment Day, Jack had to wander the Earth, lighting his way with a piece of coal, protected from the rain by an ordinary pumpkin. The Jack-O-Lantern still roams the earth in anticipation of the Last Judgment and is a symbol of the damned soul. In Ireland it was customary to cut from turnips, beets or potatoes scary faces, depicting "Jack-O-Lantern". Later they began to use pumpkins for this. Thus, a pumpkin with a candle inside, symbolizing Halloween, was called “Jack-o-lanterns”.

How to Make a Jack-O-Lantern Pumpkin

Halloween pumpkin For this, choose only fresh pumpkin (so that it lasts longer). The skin should not be very hard. Then you need to wash it and carefully cut off the “lid” or “bottom” with a sharp knife. It is recommended to cut the “lid” at an angle, because otherwise you will not be able to use it for its intended purpose - for closing, because it will fall into the orange interior of the future lantern. By operculum we mean the upper part crowned with the stalk. Do not overdo it with its width; there is no need to cut off half of the pumpkin. Then take a large spoon and scoop out the pulp from the pumpkin, being especially careful around the eyes and mouth. Draw outlines with a pencil: eyes, mouth and nose, and carefully cut them out with a sharp knife. Lubricate the cuts with Vaseline to keep the pumpkin longer. Then a candle is placed inside the pumpkin (it is better to use a washer candle, it will be the most stable). If you cut out the top of the pumpkin, then place the candle inside. If you cut off the bottom, place the candle on the surface where your Jack-O-Lantern will stand, and put a pumpkin on top, with this option it will be more stable. To make the candle burn longer, place it in the freezer for a couple of hours first. Your Jack-O-Lantern is ready! He will protect you from evil spirits and evil spirits on this fabulous and magical night.

Costumes and games

Halloween is associated with evil spirits: witches, witches flying on broomsticks; ghosts, skeletons, black cats. But despite this, children especially love the holiday. During the holiday, they dress up in funny or creepy costumes, go from house to house, knock on doors and shout: “trick or treat,” which means “treat, or we’ll make a joke,” and collect sweets. Besides this they do greeting cards with images or silhouettes of “evil spirits” and decorate the windows. On Halloween, it is customary to tell fortunes, as well as to tell scary stories when gathered around the fireplace or jack-o-lantern on a dark October night.

photo www.britannica.com

Halloween costumes usually represent images of various fairy-tale and mysterious characters: Count Dracula, vampires, witches, ghosts, skeletons, devils, princesses. Nowadays, such costumes, masks and other Halloween attributes can be easily purchased in stores. But it’s much more interesting to do it all with your own hands using available materials. To do this, it’s enough to fantasize and, with your mother’s help, bring these fantasies to life by sewing costumes from unnecessary fabrics, scraps and accessories. You can make original masks of various characters from cardboard and papier-mâché.

How to Decorate Your Home for Halloween

Typically, various figurines or posters depicting witches, vampires, black cats, ghosts, spiders with cobwebs, skeletons, bats, etc. are used for decoration. And many even make panic rooms. Various lanterns and lanterns are often used in decoration. You can also decorate with candles of different sizes and decorative elements of the same characters. The most important decoration is considered to be a pumpkin (“Jack Lantern”).

You also need to stock up on sparklers that you will light on the night of Halloween. Your holiday table with unusual dishes (described below) will also be a wonderful holiday decoration. Since the most important colors of this holiday are black (the color of the night) and orange (the color of pumpkin), they can be safely used in home or table decoration. For example, let the tablecloth be black and the napkins on the table orange or vice versa. In addition to the main dishes, put apples and nuts on the table; there must be candles on the table. You can also decorate the house with fruits and vegetables (apples, pumpkins), and multi-colored ribbons. Show your imagination and your children will be absolutely delighted.

Unusual children's culinary recipes for Halloween

What would a holiday be without delicious food? festive table. Since we celebrate Halloween, and even together with our children, the dishes should be appropriate for the holiday.

Salad "Witch's Potion"

Ingredients:

Pasta of 3 or 4 types - shells, wheels, snails, bows, etc.
Black olives
Small tomatoes (such as Cherry varieties)
Red, green and yellow peppers, sliced.
Broccoli, diced
Carrots, cut into slices
Zucchini pieces
Salami cubes
Feta cheese
Raisins and nuts (optional)
Spaghetti sauce

Cook the pasta and drain the water. Combine pasta with other ingredients and sauce. Let cool. Serve in a festive witch's pot.

Mini-Pizza “Jack-O-Lantern”

Ingredients:

Small round buns, cut into halves
Pesto or Marinara sauce
Grated Cheddar Cheese
Black olives

Spread the sauce over the bun halves and sprinkle grated cheese on top.
Cut the olives into pieces and put them on Jack's face (like on a Halloween pumpkin).
Place the mini-pizzas on a baking sheet and place in the oven (microwave). Wait until the cheese begins to melt and remove. Let cool.

Cookies "Giant's Teeth"

Ingredients:

3/4 cup butter
1 tbsp. Sahara
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon soda
1 1/2 cups flour
Red and yellow food coloring
Wax paper

1. Melt the butter and add it to a medium sized cup.
2. Add eggs, sugar, vanilla and salt. Whisk.
3. Add flour and soda.
4. Divide the dough into 3 balls. Set aside one ball, add yellow food coloring to another, and a mixture of red and yellow to the third to get a beautiful orange color.
5. Knead the colored dough well, then wrap it in plastic and refrigerate for 2 or 3 hours.
6. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and form each ball into a long “sausage”. Lightly dredge each one in flour. Place wax paper under them and arrange the “sausages so that there is uncolored sausage on top, orange in the middle, and yellow at the bottom.
7. Cover the dough with another sheet of wax paper and press lightly with your hand. Use a rolling pin so that the strips stick together under pressure, creating pieces about three centimeters thick.
8. Cut tricolor triangle “teeth” out of the dough and bake them on a lightly greased and floured baking sheet for 4-5 minutes.

Haunted Candy House

Ingredients:

One empty milk carton (Tetra Pack type)
Glaze for gluing decorations (recipe below)
Large rectangular crackers
Multi-colored and different-sized candies: red, black, green and others.
Chocolate pieces, licorice sticks, colored sugar, etc. - for decoration.

For the glaze

1/2 pound fine granulated sugar
3 tbsp. tablespoons butter/margarine
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 - 2 tbsp. spoons of milk
Food coloring for glazing orange color(if needed)

Mix all ingredients together. The mixture should be easy to spread, but not runny. You can add more sugar for viscosity or dilute with milk. If you have a pastry syringe, place the frosting in it (use the tip with the small hole). Instead of a syringe, you can take a simple plastic bag with a corner cut off.
So, let's start building the candy house.

Open the pack and wash the inside. Then reseal it with a stapler or tape. Place the packet on a sheet of wax paper, on top of a piece of stiff cardboard.

Glue crackers to the walls and roof of the “house” with icing so as to cover the cardboard. If necessary, break or cut them.
Leave the house for 10 minutes so that everything sticks well and hardens. Then start decorating the roof: spread it with icing and stick orange candies on top - “tiles”.
Decorate the “yard” and the “house” in the same way. Use chocolate bars along with candies different shapes, cookie crumbs, toffees, straws, jelly beans, whatever. You can make “windows” from small square candies, and doors and shutters from chocolates. Imagine!

To give the house an ominous look, cut out ghost figures from paper and place them in the “yard” (you can use toy figures if you have them). Make a dried tree from a licorice stick (to do this, you need to split it lengthwise). You can also make a “lawn” by sprinkling the “yard” with green sugar.

We wish you the most unforgettable and “creepy” evening!

At midnight from October 31 to November 1, the entire Catholic world celebrates the most terrible holiday of the year - Halloween. IN recent years This holiday is increasingly celebrated in Russia. And despite the fact that Halloween is not of original Russian origin, it is a good reason to have fun with your kids and give them another holiday.

By 43 AD e. The Romans occupied most of the Celtic territories. Over the 400 years that they spent on these lands, not only the population, but also traditions mixed. Christianity turned out to be helpless in the face of the ancient holiday. Then the cunning priests made a kind of concession. In the 7th century, Pope Boniface IV established November 1 as All Saints Day. It turned out that October 31 was the eve of the holiday. Hence the name, because Hallow in Old English means “holy,” and e"en means “evening.” Subsequently, the name of the holiday appeared - Halloween.

In what is now the United States, Halloween arrived with the first Irish immigrants. With their light hand, witches and devils swirled in the whirlwind of the carnival in the New World, playing pranks on each other and lighting up the night with laughing pumpkins with a candle inside.

Why pumpkin?

Pumpkin is at the same time a mandatory attribute of Halloween and at the same time a talisman that protects against evil sorcerers and other evil spirits on the night of magic and magic. There are several legends about why the pumpkin became the symbol of Halloween. According to one of them, one girl returned home in the evening and got lost in the forest, just on a terrible night of rampant ghosts. She knew that she needed to light a candle, but the wind would blow out the weak flame. The girl had a pumpkin in her basket. The resourceful child pulled out the pulp from it, cut out the pumpkin's eyes, nose and mouth, which curled into a grin. He lit candles inside the pumpkin. The spectacle turned out to be impressive, the ghosts shied away! According to another Irish legend, a man named Jack managed to deceive the Devil twice and received from him a promise not to encroach on his own soul. However, for his sinful worldly life, the Irishman was not allowed into Paradise. In anticipation of Judgment Day, Jack had to wander the Earth, lighting his way with a piece of coal, protected from the rain by an ordinary pumpkin. The Jack-O-Lantern still roams the earth in anticipation of the Last Judgment and is a symbol of the damned soul. In Ireland, it was customary to carve scary faces from turnips, beets or potatoes, depicting “Jack the Lantern.” Later they began to use pumpkins for this. Thus, a pumpkin with a candle inside, symbolizing Halloween, was called “Jack-o-lanterns”.

How to Make a Jack-O-Lantern Pumpkin

Costumes and games

Halloween is associated with evil spirits: witches, witches flying on broomsticks; ghosts, skeletons, black cats. But despite this, children especially love the holiday. During the holiday, they dress up in funny or creepy costumes, go from house to house, knock on doors and shout: “trick or treat,” which means “treat, or we’ll make a joke,” and collect sweets. In addition, they make greeting cards with images or silhouettes of “evil spirits” and decorate windows. On Halloween, it is customary to tell fortunes, as well as to tell scary stories when gathered around the fireplace or jack-o-lantern on a dark October night.

photo www.britannica.com

How to Decorate Your Home for Halloween

Unusual children's culinary recipes for Halloween

What would a holiday be without delicious dishes on the festive table? Since we celebrate Halloween, and even together with our children, the dishes should be appropriate for the holiday.

Salad "Witch's Potion"

Ingredients:

Pasta of 3 or 4 types - shells, wheels, snails, bows, etc.

Black olives

Small tomatoes (such as Cherry varieties)

Red, green and yellow peppers, sliced.

Broccoli, diced

Carrots, cut into slices

Zucchini pieces

Salami cubes

Raisins and nuts (optional)

Spaghetti sauce

Cook the pasta and drain the water. Combine pasta with other ingredients and sauce. Let cool. Serve in a festive witch's pot.

Mini-Pizza “Jack-O-Lantern”

Ingredients:

Small round buns, cut into halves

Pesto or Marinara sauce

Grated Cheddar Cheese

Black olives

Spread the sauce over the bun halves and sprinkle grated cheese on top.

Cut the olives into pieces and put them on Jack's face (like on a Halloween pumpkin).

Place the mini-pizzas on a baking sheet and place in the oven (microwave). Wait until the cheese begins to melt and remove. Let cool.

Cookies "Giant's Teeth"

Ingredients:

3/4 cup butter

1 tbsp. Sahara

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon soda

1 1/2 cups flour

Red and yellow food coloring

Wax paper

1. Melt the butter and add it to a medium sized cup.

2. Add eggs, sugar, vanilla and salt. Whisk.

3. Add flour and soda.

4. Divide the dough into 3 balls. Set aside one ball, add yellow food coloring to another, and a mixture of red and yellow to the third to get a beautiful orange color.

5. Knead the colored dough well, then wrap it in plastic and refrigerate for 2 or 3 hours.

6. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and form each ball into a long “sausage”. Lightly dredge each one in flour. Place wax paper under them and arrange the “sausages so that there is uncolored sausage on top, orange in the middle, and yellow at the bottom.

7. Cover the dough with another sheet of wax paper and press lightly with your hand. Use a rolling pin so that the strips stick together under pressure, creating pieces about three centimeters thick.

8. Cut tricolor triangle “teeth” out of the dough and bake them on a lightly greased and floured baking sheet for 4-5 minutes.

Haunted Candy House

Ingredients:

One empty milk carton (Tetra Pack type)

Glaze for gluing decorations (recipe below)

Large rectangular crackers

Multi-colored and different-sized candies: red, black, green and others.

Chocolate pieces, licorice sticks, colored sugar, etc. - for decoration.

For the glaze

1/2 pound fine granulated sugar

3 tbsp. tablespoons butter/margarine

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 - 2 tbsp. spoons of milk

Food coloring to make the glaze orange (if needed)

So, let's start building the candy house.

Open the pack and wash the inside. Then reseal it with a stapler or tape. Place the packet on a sheet of wax paper, on top of a piece of stiff cardboard.

Glue crackers to the walls and roof of the “house” with icing so as to cover the cardboard. If necessary, break or cut them.

Leave the house for 10 minutes so that everything sticks well and hardens. Then start decorating the roof: spread icing on it and stick orange candies on top - “tiles”.

Decorate the “yard” and the “house” in the same way. Along with candy, use chocolate bars of different shapes, cookie crumbs, toffees, straws, marmalade and whatever you like. You can make “windows” from small square candies, and doors and shutters from chocolates. Imagine!

We wish you the most unforgettable and “creepy” evening!

Halloween began to be celebrated probably in the middle of the 16th century. Historians say that it replaced the ancient pagan festival - Samhain or Samhain.

Samhain marked the end of autumn and the beginning of winter, lasted a whole week, and culminated on October 31st. By this day, farmers and cattle breeders had to harvest all the crops and prepare stalls for animals. In honor of the change of season and the end of field work, noisy feasts were held.

Pagan traditions are primarily associated with nature. In autumn, trees fly away and fall asleep, it gets dark early and dawns late, the nights are increasingly cold. It is not surprising that the holiday at the border of two seasons has become a festival of death with a distinctive aesthetic. Therefore, on Samhain they not only harvested crops and slaughtered livestock, but also commemorated the dead.

Pagans believe that on the nights of Samhain, the gates between the worlds of the living and the dead open, so the spirits of deceased ancestors can visit their descendants. A meal and a place at the table are prepared for them, they are asked questions and recounted the events of the year. It is also believed that the living can easily get lost and end up in the world of spirits, which is hostile to people. Therefore, on the night of Samhain you need to be extremely careful and not wander alone, especially in unfamiliar areas.

How to celebrate Halloween in Russia

In our country, the attitude towards Halloween is clearly ambiguous. Orthodox activists argue that it is inappropriate to organize all sorts of demonic parades. Businessmen, meanwhile, do not miss the opportunity to earn more: they hold sales and costume parties, decorate windows with pumpkins, witches, bats and other paraphernalia.

You can celebrate Halloween in one of the nightclubs in your city, if, of course, you like a big, noisy company. The party will feature loud music, a lot of alcohol, and people in funny costumes from a specialty store for adults. It is possible that guests will be served snacks and drinks that imitate blood or severed body parts. Undoubtedly, this has its own charm.

If you are under 18 years old, or just don't like bars and nightclubs, you can throw a party at home.

Stock up on hibiscus, wine, pomegranate or tomato juice if you are going to “drink blood”.
For a snack, make something from pumpkin: pancakes, muffins or pie. If you want to eat heartily, you can enjoy hot dishes made from seasonal vegetables, such as stew or chowder.
Decorate your house with themed decor in the form of skulls, tombstones, cobwebs, bats. Such details will create a suitable ambiance.
If everything is serious for you, and goods from a joke store are not suitable for you, decorate your home with textiles and accessories in festive colors. Black, orange, burgundy, purple and dark green are the most matching colors for Halloween.
Get more candles! Such a holiday should not be held in the light of electric lamps.
Be sure to make your own or buy a pumpkin candle holder. Without Jack-o'-lantern, Halloween becomes just another party.
Think about it entertainment program and prepare everything you need to watch horror movies, scare friends, summon spirits or tell fortunes.
Finally, have a masquerade if your soul demands it. It's really funny, especially if you walk in carnival costumes around the city. Follow safety precautions: don’t get drunk, behave decently and under no circumstances ask the police for sweets or nasty things.

As you can see, Halloween can be celebrated not only in America, but also in Russia. There is nothing criminal, immoral or occult in this tradition. Therefore, go to the party with peace of mind if you want to have a lot of fun. Happy Halloween!

Halloween is one of the most ancient holidays, but until recently it was popular mainly in English-speaking countries. However, since the end of the last century, this slightly creepy, but undoubtedly cheerful custom has spread almost throughout the world. They began to celebrate it in our country, however, not everyone knows what they do on Halloween, and what signs and superstitions exist in connection with this holiday.

How to celebrate?

Over thousands of years, the traditions and customs of Halloween have changed many times, so modern way celebrating this “creepy” night has little to do with the origins of the holiday. In addition, in different countries developed their own traditions.

If in the USA it is predominantly family holiday, then in Russia and Ukraine Halloween is celebrated mainly by young people, and not at home, but in clubs. In entertainment centers, as a rule, they prepare thematic programs, and young people, dressed in costumes appropriate for the holiday, have fun with friends.

Moreover, in many cases, our people change the traditions of the holiday in their own way. For example, when choosing costumes, they are not limited to Western representatives of evil spirits, but choose characters from Slavic mythology. At parties you can meet not only “imported” vampires, but also “domestic” ghouls (despite their similar way of eating, they do not differ in elegance and beauty). In addition, at a party you can easily meet Baba Yaga, Mavka, Kikimora or Lesavka.

Of course, you have to come up with and make an outfit for a costume ball yourself, because in costume stores you won’t find evil spirits from Slavic mythology. But when have such minor difficulties stopped creative people?

What to treat?

Not a single holiday in our country is complete without a traditional feast, so thinking through the menu is one of the stages of preparing for the holiday. As a rule, the most ordinary dishes are served on the table, you just need to decorate them so that they look creepy. For example, any salad or pizza can be decorated with cute spiders made from olives. And sausages can easily be turned into hideous mummies by wrapping them in thin strips of puff pastry or yeast dough. You can make pumpkins from tangerines, and bake cookies in the shape of skulls.

In the USA and some European countries, children go to neighboring houses begging for sweets. And if the owners are stingy with treats, then uninvited guests may do something nasty to them, for example, covering the windows with soot. In our country, this custom has not really taken root, since it is unlikely that adequate adults will let kids wander around at night in search of candy.

Fortune telling

In our country, it is customary to tell fortunes during Christmas time, however, as experts assure, fortune telling on Halloween is no less accurate and certainly more terrible.

As a rule, girls are into fortune telling and want to find out who they are going to marry. There are quite a few options for telling fortunes about the groom. The most famous one is with a mirror and a candle. You need to sit completely alone in a dark room, placing a candle in front of the mirror, and comb your hair (in some versions of fortune telling, it is recommended to leave your hair alone and start eating an apple). It is believed that if you look into the mirror for a long time, you can see the image of your future spouse.

If doing fortune telling alone is scary, then you can do this exciting activity in the company of a friend. For example, you can try to conduct a seance at home by preparing a sheet of paper with letters written and a saucer with an arrow drawn on it. It is believed that on the night of Halloween, the door to the world of spirits and ghosts opens, so the likelihood that one of the loitering spirits will drop in to see the fortune tellers increases.

However, not only girls, but also guys are into fortune telling. So, if a young man wants to find out what his future wife will be like, then he will need to crawl under the branch of a blackcurrant bush (in extreme cases, a rose hip or acacia bush will do). It is believed that at the moment of crawling on the ground, the fortuneteller will be able to see the shadow narrowed. And from this shadow he sees, he will be able to judge what his wife will be like - short or tall, fragile or “in body.” Of course, in our climate at the end of October it is not pleasant to crawl outside under the branches of bushes. But for the sake of fortune-telling one has to make other sacrifices.

A very ancient collective fortune-telling at the stake can be carried out if the celebration takes place outside the city, for example, at a dacha. Fortune tellers placed stones around the fire, remembering where and in what position “their” stone was located. The next morning we had to go and see the “mosaic” that had been made. If all the stones are in place, then all fortunetellers will good year. If the stones are moved out of place, you should expect trouble.

Determining fate using an apple is also an ancient form of fortune telling. Before eating the fruit, it must be cut in half with a knife. If all the apple seeds turn out to be intact, then prosperity awaits the fortuneteller. If at least one seed is damaged by a knife, you should expect trouble. But worst of all, if several seeds are damaged at once, it means that the year will be very difficult for the fortuneteller.

Signs and superstitions

There are many superstitions associated with Halloween. Let's figure out what you need and what you can't do on this day.

after dark, tightly close all windows and doors in the house;

decorate living spaces with nuts and candles, and be sure to place a pumpkin in front of the front doors. You can just put a whole vegetable, but it’s better, of course, to make a lantern out of it, carving a scarier face on the pumpkin.

Attention! You should not leave burning candles in the house unattended, this is no longer a sign, but fire safety rules.

if a spider is found in the house on the night before the first day of November, then this is a bad sign, indicating the presence of evil spirits in the room. You need to go around the perimeter of the house with lit candles, and under no circumstances kill the spider you find, but try to carefully put it outside;

On a holiday night, you cannot leave clothes to dry, even if the dryer is on the balcony. A person who then puts on clothes that were dried on Halloween night will attract misfortune, both to himself and to those around him. Therefore, if you believe in omens and forgot to take off your underwear before the onset of the “terrible” night, you will have to wash everything again. Water will wash away all negativity.

What else is not customary to do on Halloween? Signs vary in different countries. So, somewhere it is strictly forbidden to allow black cats to spend the night in the house. Therefore, it is customary to put even beloved pets outside on this night. In many areas it is considered good luck to kill a bat, however, there is also the opposite superstition, which says that there are many flying bats portend wealth.

It is considered very useful to wear clothes “topsy-turvy” on a festive night, and also to leave the house backwards. In this simple way people try to deceive spirits.

Whether to believe in signs and fortune-telling, or whether to celebrate this holiday at all, everyone can decide for themselves. However, it must be admitted that Halloween is a holiday with a rich and very ancient history.