Fredrik Johansson

Halloween has its roots in the Celtic tradition of celebrating the harvest festival Samhain, when they believed that the boundary between the living and the dead was the thinnest. They lit fires, dressed up as scary creatures and handed out food to keep the evil spirits away. Later, this tradition was mixed with the Christian holiday All Saints' Day, when they honored saints and martyrs. In Sweden, traditionally we have only celebrated All Saints' Day and not Halloween. When I was a child I had heard about Halloween from TV and movies, but no one celebrated it. Still, these two holidays have both similarities and differences.

        Both are celebrated at the end of October or the beginning of November, and both have something to do with the dead. But while Halloween is a festive and spooky event, All Saints' Day is a more solemn and respectful tribute to those who have passed away. All Saints' Day has its origin in the Catholic Church, which introduced a day to remember all saints who did not have their own day in the calendar. This day was first on November 1, but was later moved to the first Sunday in November in Sweden. On All Saints' Day, we light candles on the graves, visit churches and pray for the dead. Halloween came to Sweden in the 1990s, and has since become more and more popular. Children dress up as witches, ghosts, vampires and other scary figures, but usually they do not go around and knock on doors to get candy or prank the neighbors. Adults sometimes organize parties with pumpkins, spider webs and horror movies, but more because it is a fun masquerade theme than an important holiday. Still, Halloween is a fun and exciting holiday that could bring out the child in everyone. All Saints' Day is a more traditional and serious holiday that gives a chance to reflect on life and death. It is a day when you can show your love and longing for those who are no longer with us.

        All Saints' Day is a beautiful and melancholic holiday that gives a moment of silence and thought. Halloween and All Saints' Day are two different ways of relating to the dead. Both have their charm and meaning, and both can enrich our lives. The most important thing is that we respect each other's choices and traditions, and that we cherish the time we have with our loved ones.

吳宸宇

 Different places celebrate Halloween in different ways. Some of these ways are by having a costume, giving candies to neighbors, or having a big meal with family. Let me tell you how my classmates and I celebrated it at our school this year. We got some candies from teachers and watched scary movies. However, I think the most interesting activity was when we painted something on our faces. It was my first time doing it. Our teacher, Jam, prepared crayons in many colors. Then, we used them to draw our faces. Some looked scary, and some looked funny. We took photos of ourselves, too. What are you waiting for? Come and celebrate with us next year!

楊鈞少

 In different countries, Halloween is celebrated by people in various ways. In Taiwan, usually, there's no big party. Only some malls or restaurants are having some special events to celebrate it. Truly, Taiwan has a big cultural difference from other countries. For instance, in the USA or in Europe, aside from throwing some exciting parties, people wear some scary costumes, parade on streets, and do trick-or-treat. In Teacher Jam's class, we had the opportunity to celebrate it this year. We did art on our faces using colorful face painting crayons. After that, we took some photos and watched a horror movie. It was indeed fun to celebrate Halloween with friends!

曹祐維

Halloween is one of the most popular celebrations across the globe. Sadly, in Taiwan, there are not many people who celebrate this holiday. Fortunately, in Huey Deng, we celebrate Halloween in interesting ways. This 2023, in Teacher Jam's class, we watched a horror movie. We also made some snacks in different shapes like spiders or ghosts, which we eventually ate while enjoying the movie.

We even painted our faces. My classmates and I did it creatively. I did the Joker one. I had so much fun in these activities. Thanks to my teacher. I am excited for the next Halloween.

楊可謙

 Halloween is a pretty common yet fun festival. We sometimes cosplay as if we are a ghost, a zombie, a superhero, and so on. We also go to stores on the streets to trick-or-treat or go to Halloween parties. You can see many children in cool costumes, too. If you give them some candy, they'll really feel happy at that moment. In our class, we made some snacks in different shapes. We even painted our faces this year. Next Halloween, I want to cosplay as an anime character with friends. I am excited to celebrate it again in Teacher Jam's class.

王鉉宇

        "Trick or treat". It's an important festival celebrated in most countries. This special festival comes from the USA, but most people around the world celebrate it, too. What do we usually do on Halloween? Let me tell you all about it!

        There are many popular activities for us to do on Halloween. Besides watching horror movies and telling scary stories, people also visit a "Haunted house". A haunted house looks scary but exciting. There must be a lot of courage for everyone to join this game! Pumpkin-carving is also an interesting activity. Just prepare some pumpkins and a sharp knife, and you can create a scary face. This is a cool thing to do using your imagination! Of course, there can't be a wonderful Halloween party without a "trick-or-treat" activity. It's also a custom of Halloween. To do this, kids and children knock on neighbors' doors and ask for candies. This is a classic! Frightful foods and spooky snacks are also important in Halloween, such as pumpkin pies, toffee apples, Halloween cookies, finger cookies, and Halloween fruit trays. These foods really capture the spirit of Halloween! In our class with Teacher Jam, we did "face-painting". That was funny and cool because everyone's faces looked scary and creepy!

        After all, Halloween is exciting to all of us. It brings us a lot of joy and makes our life colorful. Why not start planning a Halloween movie night with your friends and have fun next year?