Origin
Halloween (a contraction of “All Hallows’ Eve“) is a traditional festival celebrated on October 31, the evening before All Hallows’ Day (November 1) in Western Christianity. The traditional focus of Halloween revolves around the theme of using “humor and ridicule to confront the power of death”.
The name Halloween or Hallowe’en originated around 1745. It is an abbreviation of the Scots term AllhallowEven or Hallow-e’en, which means All Hallows’ Eve in English. In Scots, the word even or e’en means evening. Over time, Hallow e’en became Halloween.
Activities – Characters
Common Halloween activities include trick-or-treat, attending costume parties, lighting bonfires, carving pumpkins into jack-o’-lanterns, apple bobbing, playing pranks, watching movies, or telling scary stories. Jack-o’-lantern is one of the biggest symbols of Halloween, besides other characters such as Vampire, Mummy, Frankenstein, Dracula…
Costume
Traditional Halloween costumes are based on the image of supernatural characters such as monsters, ghosts, skeletons, witches,… Over time, the choice of costumes includes famous characters in novels, movies, comics, celebrities… Costumes became popular in Scotland in the late 19th century and in the US in the early 20th century. Halloween costumes first appeared in stores in the 1930s when the art of costume making became popular in the United States
In Vietnam
Halloween began to be introduced to Vietnam around 2007-2008, due to the development of the Internet as well as the influence of movies, music, and Western culture. At that time, the celebration of Halloween was still primitive but very exciting. Coffee shops often decorate their shops in a spooky way with many witch models, skeletons, and photo corners that are full of the holiday to attract young people. Some universities also organize Halloween Balls to celebrate this day, and attract students. Up to now, after many years of introduction, Halloween in Vietnam is still enthusiastically responded to, an occasion for couples to date and take memorable photos together. However, activities such as trick or treating, carving Jack-o-lanterns, or Halloween are still not popular or have not been implemented, for many safety reasons.
Minh Châu