October 31 is a very special holiday for children called Halloween. 
In old times the night of October 31 was the last night of the year when all the witches and ghost were out. It was a celebration of dead souls.
Now Halloween is a holiday for children. Children make faces on pumpkins and put a candle inside. These pumpkins are called jack-o’-lanterns. All children are dressed in costumes of ghosts, clowns. Many of the costumes are witches in white sheets, trying to scare the winter spirits. Many wear masks. They do not know who is who and try to guess who is behind the masks.
There are Halloween parties in many schools. Children begin to prepare for the party long before, sometimes weeks before the holiday. During the holiday there is usually a parade of costumes, and the participants and the guests of the holiday choose the most original costume. They have some special things to eat and to drink: apple juice, popcorn, caramel apples, candies, oranges.
The party is always fun, with jokes, games, mysteries, witches, scarecrows, black cats, and bats and other characters who try to frighten the others.
Dressed in costumes children go to the different people’s home, ring at the door saying, “Trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat”. This means that if people do not give them candies or apples or other tasty things, the children may play a trick on them (shaving cream on the car or on the door, for example).
A favourite game at Halloween parties is ducking for apples. Apples swim in the water in a big bowl. Children are to get one. Each child holds a fork in his (her) mouth and tries to stab an apple. The children get very wet but enjoy themselves greatly.
Vocabulary
Halloween — название осеннего праздника
witches and ghosts — ведьмы и привидения
dead souls — мертвые души
to scare — пугать
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