Boo! Did you know that in Mexico people bring food to the dead during Halloween? Did you know that people make their own altar? Halloween has many names and is celebrated differently around the world.

Mexico is known for its distinct celebrations. In Mexico, Day of the Dead or El Día de los Muertos is a 3 day celebration. Mexican families put food and gifts on decorated altars so their ancestors can enjoy the treats.

Similarly, in Sicily, people do not celebrate Halloween, but they have the Day of the Dead, just like Mexico. The celebration is a little different than in Mexico.

“During the Day of the Dead children get presents from their parents, and they think those were from their family that died before them,” said Spanish and Italian teacher Mrs. Rosemary Castellucci.

In the other side of the world, countries in Asia have another way of celebrating Halloween.

“In Korea, children do not really celebrate Halloween, but those who study in English academies do,” said freshmen, Mary Park.

In these schools, many kindergarten children and after school groups at private academies, have parties. Halloween is mostly for the little children and for foreigners. There are also amusement parks that have spooky celebrations and haunted house experiences for the people that go there.

In China, they do not call this celebration Halloween, they call it Teng Chieh. The people there, put food and water in front of picture of those people in their family who have left them. People also light up lanterns to show the paths of spirits as those people travel back to the earth on that Halloween night.

“My teacher’s teachers will bring the students candies and the students can wear costumes on that day, but the people really are not celebrating,” said freshmen, Rickie Gao.

Hong Kong’s Halloween is called Yue Lan. This name means the festival of the hungry ghosts. This day, people think that there are spirits going around earth for 24 hours. The people burn food or money to comfort those ghosts thinking that they will reach into the spirit world.

Halloween began 2,000 years ago with the Celts, which was originally celebrated on November 1. They wore costumes made out of animal heads and animal skins. Today, Halloween is a day to have fun but to also remember those who died before us. With many cultures at school, Halloween is an enjoyable holiday for many, but also to respect the way others celebrate.