Halloween

Ghosts, skeletons and scary monsters stoked the imagination of the library’s Talk Lab English Club on Sunday, Oct. 30, as members learned about Halloween traditions in America.

Halloween is celebrated on Oct. 31, and is mostly a secular holiday, especially for children who dress in costumes and shout out “trick or treat” as they ring the doorbells of neighbors in search of delicious candies and other sweets. Adults, too, get enjoy the fun, holding their grown-up parties or organizing Halloween haunted houses for children. Speaking of haunted places, the Sunday program at the library featured an activity called “fill the haunted house.” Participants had decipher word clues and match the Halloween entity with the appropriate room in the ghost-infested mansion. Other games included “name that monster,” match the idiom with its definition and finish the sentence “I knew the house was haunted because…”

In teams, the club members also were asked to complete the opening lines of scary stories. The participants created many intriguing and hair-raising scenarios. Good job by all. Members learned many Halloween vocabulary words, such as spook, goblin, ghoul, blob and witch’s cauldron. All the talk about ghosts and such prompted one participant, Misha, to tell about a haunted house right here in Kherson. Maybe we’ll learn more details by next Halloween. Several participants donned Halloween masks, including the father-and-son team of Sergei and Stas (see photo). Peace Corps volunteers Barbara and Michael wore their Halloween outfits and played an American Halloween party song,, the “Monster Mash.” All 19 participants were treated to candy.

By the way, while Halloween is a fun holiday in America, it also is a serious business activity. Americans spend $6 billion a year on costumes and related items, including some $1.9 billion in candy. Haunted houses, corn mazes and hayrides generate $300 million to $500 million a year in ticket sales, with large amounts often going to schools and charities. Separately, American children have raised $118 million for the United Nations Children’s Fund since 1950.

In the words of one unknown poet:

On Halloween the thing you must do

Is pretend that nothing can frighten you.

And if something scares you and you want to run

Just let on like it’s Halloween fun.

Happy Halloween!  More photos.