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The Story of Halloween
Level A1. Words: 148 — General English
Pre-Reading
What do you know about Halloween?
Article
Halloween is on October 31. Children wear costumes, and families decorate their homes with pumpkins. This holiday is fun, but it is very old.
Thousands of years ago, the Celts lived in Europe. On the night of October 31, they had a festival, Samhain. People made big fires and welcomed the new year. They thought that dead people came back on this night. Later, people called this night “All Hallows Even.” That name became “Halloween.”
Some Halloween traditions are very old, too. In the Middle Ages, children asked for small cakes, or “soul cakes.” In return, they said prayers for the dead. In Europe, children also made lanterns from turnips with candles inside. Later, Americans used big pumpkins instead and carved faces in them.
Today, Halloween is a happy night with candy and costumes. Look at a pumpkin with a face, and remember the long story of Halloween.
Reading Comprehension
Post-Reading
Which old Halloween tradition do you like most, and why?
Glossary of Verbal Phrases
1. ask for small cakes
Definition: to say that you want small cakes
New example: My little brother asked for small cakes at the bakery.
2. carve faces in pumpkins
Definition: to cut eyes, a nose, and a mouth into pumpkins with a knife
New example: We carved faces in pumpkins with our parents last Saturday.
3. come back
Definition: to return to a place
New example: My sister went to the store, and she came back with apples.
4. decorate one’s home
Definition: to put pretty or special things in and around your house
New example: We decorate our home with lights in December.
5. have a festival
Definition: to celebrate a special day or event with many people
New example: Our town has a music festival every summer.
6. make big fires
Definition: to start large fires outside, usually with wood
New example: On the holiday, the villagers made big fires in the town square.
7. make lanterns from turnips
Definition: to cut the inside out of turnips and use them as lamps
New example: Grandma and I made lanterns from turnips last week.
8. say prayers for the dead
Definition: to talk to God and ask for good things for dead people
New example: On that day, the family says prayers for the dead at church.
9. wear costumes
Definition: to put on special clothes and look like another person or thing
New example: The students wear costumes at the school party.
10. welcome the new year
Definition: to celebrate the start of a new year
New example: We welcomed the new year with music and food.
Glossary of Prepositional Phrases
1. in return
Definition: as a thank-you for something
New example: I helped my friend, and in return she gave me a book.
2. in the Middle Ages
Definition: in a time in European history, about 500 to 1,500 years ago
New example: People built many castles in the Middle Ages.
3. on the night of October 31
Definition: in the dark hours of October 31
New example: Our school has a party on the night of October 31.
4. with candles inside
Definition: and there are candles in it
New example: We put glass jars with candles inside on the table.
From Turnips to Candy: How Halloween Changed
Level A2. Words: 246 — General English
Pre-Reading
What do people usually do on Halloween, and why do you think they enjoy it?
Article
On October 31, children across America put on costumes and knock on doors for candy. Halloween may look like a modern holiday, but its history goes back thousands of years.
The story began with the Celts, an ancient European people. For them, the end of the harvest was a scary time because the days were getting shorter and there might not be enough food for the winter. On October 31, they celebrated a festival, Samhain, and lit big bonfires to welcome the new year. They believed that the dead could visit the living on this night. Later, church leaders moved a holy day, All Hallows Day, to November 1. People started calling the night before it “All Hallows Even,” and slowly this name became “Halloween.”
Old Halloween customs traveled to America with Scottish and Irish immigrants after the Civil War. In Europe, children carved faces into turnips and put candles inside, but Americans used big, round pumpkins instead. But by the early 1900s, Halloween had a dark side. Young people played dangerous tricks: they broke windows, set fires, and damaged buildings. To stop the trouble, towns organized parties, and families gave treats to children. In 1939, a magazine article described this new custom, “trick or treat,” and soon candy from stores replaced the tricks.
Over the centuries, Halloween moved from Celtic bonfires to candy and costume parties. But one thing is still the same: on one dark night every year, people enjoy turning fear into fun.
Reading Comprehension
Post-Reading
Do you think that treats were a good way to stop the dangerous tricks? Why or why not?
Glossary of Verbal Phrases
1. carve faces into turnips
Definition: to cut eyes, a nose, and a mouth into a hard round vegetable
New example: My grandfather carved faces into turnips with us last October.
2. celebrate a festival
Definition: to enjoy a special day or event with other people, often with music, food, or fires
New example: Our town celebrates a music festival every August.
3. give treats to children
Definition: to offer sweets or small presents to children
New example: On Halloween, our neighbor gives treats to children at her door.
4. go back thousands of years
Definition: to start a very long time ago and continue until now
New example: The history of bread goes back thousands of years.
5. knock on doors
Definition: to hit a door with your hand to tell the people inside that you are there
New example: We knocked on doors to invite our neighbors to the party.
6. light big bonfires
Definition: to start large fires outside, often for a celebration
New example: Every summer, people in the village light big bonfires on the beach.
7. look like a modern holiday
Definition: to seem to be a new holiday from recent times
New example: With its bright lights and online sales, the festival looks like a modern holiday.
8. organize parties
Definition: to plan and prepare parties for other people
New example: Our school organizes parties for the students at the end of the year.
9. play dangerous tricks
Definition: to do dangerous things as a joke, for example, breaking things or hurting people
New example: The teacher said, “Don’t play dangerous tricks near the lake.”
10. put on costumes
Definition: to dress in special clothes to look like a different person or thing
New example: The students put on costumes for the school play.
11. set fires
Definition: to start fires on purpose, usually to damage something
New example: Two men set fires in the park, and the police caught them.
12. turn fear into fun
Definition: to change a scary feeling into an enjoyable one
New example: Scary movies with friends can turn fear into fun.
Glossary of Prepositional Phrases
1. across America
Definition: in many places in the United States
New example: Families eat turkey across America on Thanksgiving.
2. after the Civil War
Definition: later than the war between the northern and southern states of the US (1861–1865)
New example: Many families moved west after the Civil War.
3. by the early 1900s
Definition: not later than the first years of the twentieth century
New example: By the early 1900s, my great-grandparents lived in a small town.
4. for the winter
Definition: to use during the cold months of the year
New example: We bought warm clothes for the winter.
5. over the centuries
Definition: during many hundreds of years
New example: Over the centuries, the old church changed a lot.
The Surprising Origins of Halloween Symbols
Level B1. Words: 344 — General English
Pre-Reading
Which Halloween symbols do you know, and what do you think they mean?
Article
Every October, many homes fill up with glowing pumpkins, black cats, witches on brooms, and ghosts in white sheets. Most people enjoy these decorations without thinking about their origins. In fact, each symbol has a long history, and several started as ordinary things.
The best-known symbol, the jack-o’-lantern, began with an old European legend. In the story, Jack was a terrible troublemaker, and even hell refused to keep him. However, the devil felt sorry for him and gave him an ember, a piece of burning coal, from the fires of hell. Jack emptied a turnip, put the ember inside, and walked around with it. For centuries, European children carved lanterns out of turnips and lit them with candles. When Scottish and Irish immigrants brought this custom to America, people replaced the hard little turnips with big pumpkins. Pumpkins are ready around Halloween, and children soon found a new way to scare people: they put a pumpkin lantern on a stick, covered it with a sheet, and held it up in front of a window.
Witches have a darker history. In the 16th century, many Europeans feared witches and accused women of working with the devil. Some of these women were probably healers, and they often lived alone. As a result, their ordinary household objects started to look evil. The broom was a normal cleaning tool, and the cauldron was the basic cooking pot in every medieval kitchen. The pointed hat came from the hats of country women in the Middle Ages. Cats often sat near the fire and the brooms, so people connected them with witchcraft too. Ghosts got their white sheets from the shroud, a cloth for wrapping dead bodies before burial. In the early 20th century, artists brought all these images together in orange and black. Their style is still popular today.
These stories show that Halloween symbols did not appear by chance. Some came from legends, and others came from simple tools and real fears about death. Next time you carve a pumpkin, remember that you are continuing an old tradition.
Reading Comprehension
Post-Reading
In your opinion, which Halloween symbol has the most interesting story, and why?
Glossary of Verbal Phrases
1. accuse women of working with the devil
Definition: to say that women did something bad, in this case that they were helping the devil
New example: In the old story, the villagers accused women of working with the devil when their crops died.
2. appear by chance
Definition: to start to exist without a plan or a reason
New example: Good ideas rarely appear by chance; they usually come from hard work.
3. carve lanterns out of turnips
Definition: to cut the inside of turnips away and shape them into small lamps
New example: At the history museum, we learned to carve lanterns out of turnips.
4. come from legends
Definition: to have old traditional stories as their origin
New example: Many names of places in this region come from legends.
5. connect something with witchcraft
Definition: to think that something has a connection with evil magic
New example: In the past, some people connected owls with witchcraft.
6. continue an old tradition
Definition: to keep a very old custom alive
New example: By baking these cookies every December, we are continuing an old tradition.
7. cover something with a sheet
Definition: to put a large piece of cloth over something
New example: Before we painted the room, we covered the sofa with a sheet.
8. feel sorry for someone
Definition: to feel sad for a person because they are in a bad situation
New example: The little boy lost his dog, and I felt sorry for him.
9. find a new way to scare people
Definition: to discover a different method to frighten others
New example: Every year, the theme park finds a new way to scare people on Halloween.
10. have a long history
Definition: to exist or happen for many years in the past
New example: Chocolate has a long history in Mexico.
11. live alone
Definition: to live without any other people in your home
New example: After her children moved away, my aunt lived alone in a big house.
12. refuse to keep someone
Definition: to say no to letting a person stay
New example: The hotel refused to keep the noisy guests for another night.
13. start as ordinary things
Definition: to be normal, everyday objects at the beginning
New example: Many famous toys started as ordinary things, like boxes and pieces of wood.
14. walk around with something
Definition: to carry something with you while you move from place to place
New example: The tourist walked around with a map all day.
Glossary of Prepositional Phrases
1. around Halloween
Definition: at about the same time as Halloween, a little before or after it
New example: The weather usually gets colder around Halloween.
2. before burial
Definition: before people put a dead body in the ground
New example: In some cultures, the family washes the body before burial.
3. for centuries
Definition: for hundreds of years
New example: People in this village have made cheese for centuries.
4. in front of a window
Definition: very close to a window, not behind it or next to it
New example: My cat likes to sleep in front of a window in the afternoon.
5. in the early 20th century
Definition: in the first years of the 1900s
New example: My great-grandparents moved to the city in the early 20th century.
6. without thinking about their origins
Definition: without asking about the beginnings of things
New example: We often use old expressions without thinking about their origins.
Taming Halloween: How a Night of Pranks Became a Night of Treats
Level B2. Words: 445 — General English
Pre-Reading
What kinds of problems can happen during big public celebrations, and how do towns usually deal with them?
Article
For many people today, Halloween means that children in costumes collect candy from friendly neighbors. About a century ago, however, the holiday was heading in a very different direction. In the early 20th century, Halloween night in America became destructive enough to threaten its own future, and the way communities responded shaped the celebration we know today.
Opinions about Halloween mischief depended on who you asked. Some people who were young at the time remembered pushing a buggy, a light horse-drawn carriage, onto a haystack and insisted that they had never done anything truly destructive. Elsewhere, however, the tricks went much further. Pranks by teenage boys troubled cities such as Chicago and Philadelphia. Some pranksters put soap on streetcar rails to make the cars derail, and others moved the steps in front of houses, so people fell when they walked outside. In the countryside, pranksters took wagons apart and rebuilt them on roofs, or removed farm gates to let animals escape. In some places, the night before Halloween was called “gate night”; elsewhere, it was “mischief night” or even “hell night.” During the Great Depression, many communities could barely afford to feed their own residents, so the damage was even harder to accept. Newspapers called the Halloween of 1933 “Black Halloween” because young people had smashed windows and set buildings on fire. For property owners and the authorities, something clearly had to change.
The response came from several directions at once. Schools, police departments, and civic groups organized town-wide parties, costume contests, and games to keep young people away from trouble. Parades also helped: Allentown, Pennsylvania, may have held the first one in 1905, and Anoka, Minnesota, has held its parade every year since 1920. Businesses saw an opportunity as well. The Dennison company published party guides, the “Bogie Books,” and sold the first costumes that were made specifically for Halloween, although its paper costumes had a serious drawback: they could catch fire. Around 1930, Sears began selling boxed costumes of radio and comic-strip characters. The most effective solution, though, was surprisingly simple. Homeowners began to buy off potential pranksters with treats such as popcorn balls and candy apples, and in 1939 the phrase “trick or treat” appeared in a magazine article. Some might see this as a bribe, and in a sense it was. Nevertheless, it worked, especially once store-bought candy replaced homemade treats.
The taming of Halloween shows how communities can redirect a tradition instead of banning it. By offering parties, parades, and candy, Americans turned a night of destruction into a family celebration. Yet the holiday’s rebellious spirit never fully disappeared; it simply found safer outlets, from costume parties to haunted houses.
Reading Comprehension
Post-Reading
Do you agree that giving treats was the best way to stop the pranks, or would another approach have worked better? Explain your view.
Glossary of Verbal Phrases
1. buy off potential pranksters
Definition: to give possible troublemakers something they want in order to stop them from causing problems
New example: The shop owner tried to buy off potential pranksters by handing out free sodas.
2. catch fire
Definition: to start burning, usually by accident
New example: Keep the curtains away from the candles, or they might catch fire.
3. come from several directions at once
Definition: to arrive from different sources or groups at the same time
New example: When the factory closed, criticism came from several directions at once.
4. depend on who you ask
Definition: to vary according to the person who gives an opinion
New example: Whether the new stadium is a good idea depends on who you ask.
5. find safer outlets
Definition: to discover less dangerous ways of expressing energy or feelings
New example: Through sports and music, many teenagers find safer outlets for their frustration.
6. go much further
Definition: to be far more extreme or serious than something else
New example: The new law goes much further than the old one in protecting workers.
7. have a serious drawback
Definition: to have an important disadvantage or problem
New example: The cheap flight had a serious drawback: it left at four in the morning.
8. head in a very different direction
Definition: to develop in a way that is not at all like what others expect
New example: After the election, the country’s economy was heading in a very different direction.
9. keep young people away from trouble
Definition: to stop young people from becoming involved in bad or dangerous activities
New example: The youth center offers free classes to keep young people away from trouble.
10. redirect a tradition
Definition: to change the purpose or form of a custom and make it develop differently
New example: The village redirected a tradition of street fights into a friendly football match.
11. remember pushing a buggy
Definition: to recall the experience of moving a light horse-drawn carriage by pushing it
New example: My grandfather remembers pushing a buggy through the snow when he was a boy.
12. see an opportunity
Definition: to notice a situation that can bring an advantage or profit
New example: When tourists started visiting the island, local families saw an opportunity to open restaurants.
13. see something as a bribe
Definition: to consider a gift or payment as an attempt to influence someone dishonestly
New example: Some voters saw the free concert as a bribe before the election.
14. set buildings on fire
Definition: to make buildings start burning on purpose
New example: During the riot, a small group set buildings on fire.
15. shape the celebration
Definition: to have a strong influence on the form that a celebration takes
New example: Local food and music shaped the celebration more than any official plan.
16. take wagons apart
Definition: to separate the parts of wagons from each other
New example: The farmers took wagons apart to repair the wheels.
Glossary of Prepositional Phrases
1. at the time
Definition: during the period that someone is talking about, not now
New example: I was only ten at the time, so I don’t remember the flood very well.
2. during the Great Depression
Definition: in the 1930s, a period of serious economic crisis in which many people lost their jobs
New example: My grandmother’s family lost their farm during the Great Depression.
3. from friendly neighbors
Definition: from kind people who live near you
New example: When we moved in, we received cookies from friendly neighbors.
4. in a sense
Definition: in one way; partly true if you look at it in a certain way
New example: In a sense, the mistake helped us, because we learned something important.
5. in the countryside
Definition: in areas outside towns and cities, with farms and fields
New example: They bought a small house in the countryside to escape the noise of the city.
6. instead of banning it
Definition: as an alternative to prohibiting something completely
New example: The school decided to limit phone use instead of banning it.
7. onto a haystack
Definition: to a position on top of a large pile of dried grass
New example: The farmer’s cat jumped onto a haystack to watch the field.
8. since 1920
Definition: from 1920 until now
New example: This bakery has been open since 1920.
Absorbed, Resisted, Reinvented: The Institutions That Shaped Halloween
Level C1. Words: 537 — General English
Pre-Reading
Why do you think some very old traditions survive for centuries while others disappear?
Article
Halloween is often described as an ancient festival that has simply survived into the present, but this picture is misleading. The holiday we recognize today is better understood as the product of repeated negotiations between popular customs and powerful institutions, each of which tried to suppress, absorb, or profit from the human impulse to confront death through play.
The first, and arguably the most consequential, of these institutions was the Christian church. Rather than stamping out pagan practices, the church tended to adopt and reimagine them, a strategy that made conversion considerably easier. The Roman festival of Lemuria, during which people placated the ghosts of the departed by pouring milk on graves or offering little cakes, was turned into All Saints Day in 609 AD. Encouraged by this success, church leaders later moved the feast to November 1, apparently to weaken the Celtic festival of Samhain, which had marked the beginning of the dark half of the year with bonfires on October 31. The evening before All Hallows Day became All Hallows Even and, eventually, Halloween, while the addition of All Souls Day on November 2 reinforced the holiday’s association with the dead. The irony is difficult to miss: an effort to Christianize a pagan festival ended up preserving many of its features.
In colonial New England, the holiday met a very different institutional response. For the Puritans, whose worldview was shaped by the Bible, the supernatural was a menacing force rather than a harmless superstition, and they had no intention of celebrating it. Consequently, Halloween remained marginal in America for a long time; an account from 1833 describes little more than a small gathering at which people told ghost stories around a fire. Two developments transformed this situation. The Civil War, which ended in 1865 with more than half a million dead, left the nation preoccupied with soldiers who had died unidentified, and the earliest Halloween ghost stories were, fittingly, about people coming home. Meanwhile, Scottish and Irish immigrants brought rural customs such as the turnip lantern, which Americans soon reinvented as the pumpkin jack-o’-lantern.
In the twentieth century, civic and commercial institutions took over the task of shaping Halloween. When destructive pranks reached crisis levels in the 1920s and 1930s, schools, police departments, and civic groups deliberately set out to tame the night with parties, contests, and parades. Companies such as Dennison recognized a market in these efforts, publishing party guides and selling the first costumes designed specifically for the holiday, while homeowners discovered that treats could buy off potential vandals. Once prepackaged candy had replaced homemade treats, Halloween was well on its way to becoming an industry. Mass media then amplified it: a 1966 television special gave the holiday an unofficial seal of approval, and John Carpenter’s 1978 film “Halloween,” made for just $325,000, launched a franchise that eventually earned more than $500 million.
Seen in this light, Halloween is less a relic than a continual compromise. Each institution that tried to control it, whether by absorbing, rejecting, or selling it, ended up adding new layers to the tradition. What has persisted beneath these layers is the need to confront fear through ritual and play, a need that no institution has managed to eliminate.
Reading Comprehension
Post-Reading
To what extent does commercialization strengthen or weaken traditional celebrations, and what examples from your own culture support your view?
Glossary of Verbal Phrases
1. add new layers to the tradition
Definition: to contribute further elements or meanings to an established custom
New example: Each generation of immigrants added new layers to the tradition of the street festival.
2. adopt and reimagine something
Definition: to take over an existing practice and give it a new form or meaning
New example: The designers adopted and reimagined traditional embroidery for a modern clothing line.
3. buy off potential vandals
Definition: to give likely troublemakers something they want so that they will not damage property
New example: Some shop owners tried to buy off potential vandals by sponsoring a youth club.
4. confront death through play
Definition: to face the reality of dying by turning it into a game, performance, or ritual
New example: Some psychologists argue that children confront death through play when they act out stories about ghosts.
5. die unidentified
Definition: to die without anyone being able to establish who the person was
New example: Many soldiers in the First World War died unidentified and were buried in nameless graves.
6. give the holiday an unofficial seal of approval
Definition: to show informal but widely recognized acceptance of a celebration
New example: When the president hosted a party for the festival, it gave the holiday an unofficial seal of approval.
7. have no intention of celebrating something
Definition: to be firmly determined not to celebrate an occasion
New example: After the divorce, she had no intention of celebrating the anniversary.
8. launch a franchise
Definition: to start a series of related products, such as films or games, built on one successful original
New example: The surprise success of the comic book launched a franchise of films and video games.
9. placate the ghosts of the departed
Definition: to calm or satisfy the spirits of dead people so that they will not cause harm
New example: In the ritual, villagers leave rice at the shrine to placate the ghosts of the departed.
10. reach crisis levels
Definition: to become so serious that urgent action is needed
New example: By the end of the summer, the water shortage had reached crisis levels.
11. recognize a market
Definition: to see that there are customers who will pay for a product or service
New example: The startup recognized a market for affordable electric bicycles.
12. reinforce the holiday’s association with the dead
Definition: to strengthen the connection people make between a celebration and those who have died
New example: The candlelit procession reinforced the holiday’s association with the dead.
13. remain marginal
Definition: to stay unimportant or outside the mainstream
New example: For decades, the sport remained marginal outside a few universities.
14. set out to tame the night
Definition: to begin deliberately trying to make a wild or disorderly evening safer
New example: City officials set out to tame the night by extending bus services and adding street lighting.
15. stamp out pagan practices
Definition: to eliminate non-Christian religious customs completely, often by force
New example: Some medieval rulers tried to stamp out pagan practices by destroying sacred groves.
16. survive into the present
Definition: to continue to exist from the past up to now
New example: Few medieval manuscripts have survived into the present in such good condition.
17. take over the task of shaping Halloween
Definition: to assume responsibility for influencing how Halloween develops
New example: After the town council withdrew its support, local businesses took over the task of shaping Halloween in the neighborhood.
18. tell ghost stories
Definition: to narrate frightening tales about spirits of the dead
New example: At summer camp, the counselors told ghost stories until the younger children begged them to stop.
Glossary of Prepositional Phrases
1. about people coming home
Definition: concerning people who return to their families
New example: Many of the soldiers’ letters were about people coming home after the war.
2. around a fire
Definition: in a circle surrounding a fire
New example: The hikers sat around a fire and shared their food.
3. beneath these layers
Definition: underneath the additions that have accumulated over time
New example: Restorers found an older painting beneath these layers of paint.
4. between popular customs and powerful institutions
Definition: involving ordinary people’s traditions on one side and influential organizations on the other
New example: Carnival has always revealed tensions between popular customs and powerful institutions.
5. for a long time
Definition: during an extended period
New example: The bridge remained closed for a long time after the earthquake.
6. in colonial New England
Definition: in the northeastern region of what is now the United States when it was ruled by Britain
New example: Town meetings were an important part of political life in colonial New England.
7. in this light
Definition: when considered from this particular point of view
New example: Seen in this light, the failure was actually a valuable lesson.
8. on its way to becoming an industry
Definition: in the process of developing into a large commercial business
New example: By 2010, craft brewing was well on its way to becoming an industry.
9. through ritual and play
Definition: by means of ceremonies and games
New example: Children often process difficult experiences through ritual and play.
10. with more than half a million dead
Definition: with a death toll of over 500,000 people
New example: The epidemic ended with more than half a million dead across the region.
The Domestication of Dread: Halloween and Its Ironies
Level C2. Words: 643 — General English
Pre-Reading
How reliable are the popular stories about the origins of holidays, and why might people prefer a good story to an accurate one?
Article
Few festivals inspire as much confident storytelling as Halloween, and few rest on such uncertain foundations. Each autumn, the holiday is presented as an unbroken inheritance from a distant past; on closer inspection, however, it turns out to be a layered record of borrowings, suppressions, and reinventions, many of which produced the opposite of what their authors intended.
Consider, first, what we actually know about its origins. The Celtic festival of Samhain, celebrated with bonfires on the night of October 31 to mark the beginning of the dark half of the year, is routinely cited as Halloween’s source, and the Celts are said to have believed that the veil between the living and the dead was at its thinnest on that night. Yet historians concede that we know precious little about Samhain itself. Much of what passes for knowledge is reconstruction: it is plausible, for instance, that bats became associated with the night because they hunted the insects drawn to the firelight, but this is inference rather than record. The same caution applies in the opposite direction. “Trick or treat,” which many people assume to be centuries old, is probably less than a hundred years old; the phrase was turning up in print by 1939. Our sense of Halloween’s antiquity, in other words, is partly an effect of the stories we tell about it.
Nowhere are the ironies sharper than in the repeated attempts to suppress or redirect the festival. When church leaders moved All Saints Day to November 1, apparently to drain the life out of Samhain, they inadvertently gave the pagan night a Christian name, All Hallows Even, and their subsequent addition of All Souls Day only deepened the holiday’s preoccupation with the dead. A similar inversion occurred in seventeenth-century England, where the anniversary of Guy Fawkes’s failed plot to blow up the House of Lords in 1605 became an occasion for children to parade, beg, and build bonfires: a thwarted act of destruction was commemorated with chaos. Centuries later, American reformers faced a different problem. By the 1920s, pranks had escalated into a crisis, culminating in the so-called “Black Halloween” of 1933, when cities endured smashed windows and burning buildings. The solution that finally worked was, strictly speaking, a bribe: homeowners paid off would-be pranksters with treats, and prepackaged candy completed the pacification. Trick-or-treating, one might argue, did not abolish the old threat so much as formalize it. Masked children still come to our doors and, half in jest, threaten us; we still pay. The extortion survived, merely sweetened.
The mask offers a final, subtler paradox. Masks once allowed rowdy beggars to conceal their identities; later, they gave children a sense of power and safety, since the monster cannot harm you if you are the monster. Yet the most influential mask of the twentieth century was an accident. Working with almost no wardrobe budget, the crew of John Carpenter’s 1978 film “Halloween” bought a cheap magic-shop mask of a television starship captain, one that scarcely resembled the actor, and spray-painted it, unintentionally creating an icon that shifted the holiday’s focus from ghosts and goblins to human villainy. Parental anxieties show how readily fiction and reality can trade places. Fears of razor blades hidden in apples resurface every year, even though experts regard the story as a contemporary legend, and the handful of cases that may have occurred raise an unsettling question: which came first, the story or the act?
What emerges from these episodes is a festival that domesticates fear and then quietly undoes its own domestication. Each attempt to contain Halloween, whether theological, civic, or commercial, has generated new forms of the very excess it sought to restrain. Perhaps this is the holiday’s most revealing feature: it is less a celebration of what frightens us than an annual demonstration that fear, once invited in, rarely agrees to stay tame.
Reading Comprehension
Post-Reading
Is it possible to tame a tradition without destroying what makes it meaningful? Support your view with examples.
Glossary of Verbal Phrases
1. abolish the old threat
Definition: to put a definitive end to a long-standing danger or intimidation
New example: The peace treaty did not abolish the old threat; it merely postponed it.
2. agree to stay tame
Definition: to accept remaining under control, used figuratively of forces that resist restraint
New example: Market speculation rarely agrees to stay tame for long, whatever the regulators intend.
3. apply in the opposite direction
Definition: to be equally relevant when the reasoning is reversed
New example: If cheap housing attracts residents, the same logic applies in the opposite direction when rents soar.
4. become associated with the night
Definition: to come to be linked in people’s minds with darkness and night-time
New example: Owls became associated with the night long before they became symbols of wisdom.
5. conceal one’s identity
Definition: to hide who one really is
New example: The whistle-blower used a pseudonym to conceal her identity.
6. deepen the holiday’s preoccupation with the dead
Definition: to intensify the extent to which a celebration focuses on those who have died
New example: The new requiem mass only deepened the holiday’s preoccupation with the dead.
7. domesticate fear
Definition: to make fear familiar, manageable, and safe, as if taming a wild animal
New example: Horror films arguably domesticate fear by confining it to two hours in a comfortable seat.
8. drain the life out of Samhain
Definition: to remove the energy and significance of the Celtic festival
New example: Critics claimed the bureaucratic regulations would drain the life out of Samhain celebrations in the village.
9. escalate into a crisis
Definition: to grow gradually worse until it becomes an emergency
New example: What began as a minor accounting error escalated into a crisis that toppled the board.
10. face a different problem
Definition: to have to deal with a difficulty of another kind
New example: Having solved the funding issue, the researchers faced a different problem: recruiting participants.
11. give children a sense of power and safety
Definition: to make children feel both strong and protected
New example: Predictable routines give children a sense of power and safety during periods of upheaval.
12. know precious little about Samhain
Definition: to have very limited reliable knowledge of the Celtic festival
New example: Despite the confident claims online, scholars know precious little about Samhain rituals.
13. pass for knowledge
Definition: to be accepted as established fact although it may be speculation
New example: On social media, repetition often passes for knowledge.
14. pay off would-be pranksters
Definition: to give money or gifts to people who intend to play tricks so that they refrain
New example: The landlord paid off would-be pranksters with pizza on the last night of term.
15. raise an unsettling question
Definition: to provoke a disturbing issue that demands consideration
New example: The leaked emails raise an unsettling question about who knew of the risks.
16. regard the story as a contemporary legend
Definition: to classify a widely told tale as modern folklore rather than verified fact
New example: Folklorists regard the story of the vanishing hitchhiker as a contemporary legend.
17. resurface every year
Definition: to reappear annually after a period of absence
New example: The same tired arguments about daylight saving time resurface every year.
18. shift the holiday’s focus
Definition: to change what a celebration mainly concentrates on
New example: Aggressive marketing has shifted the holiday’s focus from family gatherings to shopping.
19. trade places
Definition: to exchange positions or roles with each other
New example: In the novel, the prince and the beggar trade places for a week.
20. turn up in print
Definition: to appear in published writing, such as newspapers or books
New example: The slang term was turning up in print long before dictionaries recognized it.
Glossary of Prepositional Phrases
1. at its thinnest
Definition: at the point where it is least thick or least substantial
New example: The ice was at its thinnest near the mouth of the river.
2. between the living and the dead
Definition: separating, or connecting, people who are alive and those who have died
New example: Many cultures imagine a river that flows between the living and the dead.
3. by 1939
Definition: no later than the year 1939
New example: By 1939, the company had opened branches in four countries.
4. for instance
Definition: as an example
New example: Some words, for instance “algebra,” entered English through Arabic.
5. from a distant past
Definition: originating in a time very long ago
New example: The ruins seemed to speak from a distant past.
6. from ghosts and goblins to human villainy
Definition: moving away from supernatural creatures toward evil committed by people
New example: Crime fiction of the period moved from ghosts and goblins to human villainy as its source of dread.
7. in jest
Definition: as a joke, not seriously
New example: He said it in jest, but several colleagues took offense.
8. in other words
Definition: used to introduce a clearer or simpler restatement
New example: The proposal was deemed “premature”; in other words, it was rejected.
9. in seventeenth-century England
Definition: in England during the 1600s
New example: Coffeehouses became centers of political debate in seventeenth-century England.
10. on closer inspection
Definition: when examined more carefully
New example: On closer inspection, the antique turned out to be a clever reproduction.
11. with almost no wardrobe budget
Definition: having hardly any money available for costumes
New example: The student theater staged a convincing period drama with almost no wardrobe budget.
12. with chaos
Definition: by means of complete disorder and confusion
New example: The team’s surprise victory was greeted with chaos in the streets.