Halloween originated as a celebration connected with evil spirits. Witches flying on broomsticks with black cats, ghosts, goblins(小精灵) and skeletons have all evolved as symbols of Halloween. They are popular trick-or-treat costumes and decorations for greeting cards and windows. Black is one of the traditional Halloween colors, probably because Halloween festivals and traditions took place at night. In the weeks before October 31, Americans decorate windows of houses and schools with silhouettes(轮廓) of witches and black cats.

Pumpkins are also a symbol of Halloween. The pumpkin is an orange-colored squash, and orange has become the other traditional Halloween color. Carving pumpkins into jack- o'lanterns is a Halloween custom also dating back to Ireland. A legend grew up about a man named Jack who was so stingy(吝啬的) that he was not allowed into heaven when he died, because he was a miser(吝啬鬼). He couldn't enter hell either because he had played jokes on the devil. As a result, Jack had to walk the earth with his lantern until Judgement Day(审判日). The Irish people carved scary faces out of turnips(芜菁根), beets(甜菜根) or potatoes representing "Jack of the Lantern," or Jack-o'lantern. When the Irish brought their customs to the United States, they carved faces on pumpkins because in the autumn they were more plentiful than turnips. Today jack-o'-lanterns in the windows of a house on Halloween night let costumed children know that there are goodies(糖果) waiting if they knock and say "Trick or Treat!"

Halloween Treats

Dried Pumpkin Seeds

After carving your pumpkin, separate the pulp from the seeds. Rinse(冲洗) the seeds and spread them out to dry. The next day, add enough melted butter or margarine(人造黄黄油) to coat each seed. Spread the seeds onto a cookie sheet(甜酥饼干) and bake for 20 minutes in a 300 degree oven for 20 minutes or until they are slightly brown.

Caramel Apples

Take the paper wrapping off about 100 caramels(饴糖) and put them in a saucepa

an(炖锅). Put the saucepan over a pan of boiling water. Boil the water until the caramels melt. Put a wooden stick into the top of each apple, dip the apple into the caramel. Let them cool on wax paper and enjoy!

Scary Stories

No Halloween party is complete without at least one scary story. Usually one person talks in a low voice while everyone else crowds together on the floor or around a fire. The following is a retelling of a tale told in Britain and in North Carolina and Virginia.

"What Do You Come For?"

There was an old woman who lived all by herself, and she was very lonely. Sitting in the kitchen one night, she said, "Oh, I wish I had some company."

No sooner had she spoken than down the chimney tumbled two feet from which the flesh had rotted. The old woman's eyes bulged with terror.

Then two legs dropped to the hearth and attached themselves to the feet.

Then a body tumbled down, then two arms, and a man's head.

As the old woman watched, the parts came together into a great, tall man. The man danced around and around the room. Faster and faster he went. Then he stopped, and he looked into her eyes.

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"What do you come for? she asked in a small voice that shivered and shook.

"What do I come for?" he said. "I come for YOU!"

The narrator shouts and jumps at the person near him!