Every year on 31 October, British streets fill up with carved pumpkins, plastic skeletons and small witches knocking on doors for sweets. Halloween used to be a fairly quiet night in the UK, but it has grown hugely, helped along by American films and TV. Here’s everything you need to know, whether you’re dressing up for a party or hiding behind the sofa when the doorbell rings.
Words in the Photo
Four words you can see in the photo at the top of this page, in alphabetical order.
carve (verb): to cut a shape or pattern into something. · In the photo
“We carved a scary face into our pumpkin.”
glow (verb): to shine with a soft, warm light. · In the photo
“The pumpkin glowed in the dark window.”
jack-o’-lantern (noun): a pumpkin with a face carved into it, lit from inside. · In the photo
“There was a jack-o’-lantern on every doorstep in our street.”
pumpkin (noun): a large, round orange vegetable with a thick skin. · In the photo
“After carving it, we made soup from the inside of the pumpkin.”
12 More Halloween Words
The words you will hear all through October, from the shops to the school gates.
bat (noun): a small flying animal that comes out at night.
“A bat flew past the window just as the film got scary.”
cobweb (noun): an old spider’s web, often covered in dust.
“The haunted house was full of fake cobwebs.”
costume (noun): special clothes you wear to look like someone or something else.
“His zombie costume was so good that the neighbours screamed.”
creepy (adjective): strange and a bit frightening.
“That old doll in the corner is really creepy.”
dress up (phrasal verb): to put on special clothes to look like someone else.
“We’re dressing up as ghosts this year.”
fancy dress (noun): the British word for costumes worn to a party.
“It’s a fancy dress party, so don’t turn up in jeans!”
ghost (noun): the spirit of a dead person that some people believe they can see.
“They say a ghost walks the castle corridors at midnight.”
haunted (adjective): visited by ghosts.
“Nobody will go near the haunted house at the end of the road.”
skeleton (noun): all the bones of a body, joined together.
“There’s a plastic skeleton hanging on next door’s front door.”
spooky (adjective): strange and a little frightening, often in a fun way.
“We told spooky stories with the lights off.”
trick or treat (phrase): what children say at the door on Halloween, hoping for sweets.
“”Trick or treat!” shouted three tiny witches on our doorstep.”
witch (noun): a woman in stories who uses magic, often with a pointy black hat and a broomstick.
“My little sister went as a witch, broomstick and all.”
Halloween in Britain and America
Halloween is the same night on both sides of the Atlantic, but the words are not always the same:
- Fancy dress (UK) or costume party (US): in Britain, you go to a fancy dress party. In America, you go to a costume party.
- Sweets (UK) or candy (US): what the trick or treaters are hoping for.
- Turnips before pumpkins: long before pumpkins arrived, people in Scotland and Ireland carved scary faces into turnips. Some still do, and it is much harder work!
- Knock politely: in the UK, many families only knock on houses with a pumpkin or decorations outside. No pumpkin usually means “no sweets here, thanks”.
And it doesn’t stop there. Five days later, on 5 November, Brits head out again for Bonfire Night and its fireworks.
More Spooky English
Looking for more spooky English? Try the idioms a skeleton in the cupboard, speak of the devil and wouldn’t say boo to a goose, or see all our photo vocabulary lessons.
Frequently Asked Questions
Halloween is on 31 October every year. The name comes from “All Hallows’ Eve”, the evening before All Saints’ Day on 1 November.
In British English, “fancy dress” is the general word for dressing up as someone or something else, as in “a fancy dress party”. “Costume” is the word for the clothes themselves, and it is also the normal word in American English.
Yes, and more every year. Children go trick or treating, people carve pumpkins and there are plenty of Halloween parties. Many Brits then celebrate Bonfire Night with fireworks just five days later, on 5 November.
Test Yourself
🎃 More Halloween English: 10 Halloween idioms · dress up · a skeleton in the cupboard · give someone the creeps · jump out of your skin · a ghost town
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