Halloween Scary No. 2

Night walk

One day, in late autumn, relatives from a neighboring village invited me and my younger brother Patrick to their place for Halloween.
Having drunk well, had a great meal, collected sweet spoils from all the neighbors, and also parroted pretty girls to our hearts' content, Pat and I moved back.

It was well after midnight, the full moon was shining with a bright, deathly white light, due to which the shaggy branches hanging low over the road seemed to be cast from silver, darkened in places with time.

The air was saturated with moisture; it had rained heavily the day before, but now the sky had cleared and stretched above us like a bottomless well, entangled in a bright web of stars. It seemed that everything around had fallen asleep; even the usual singing of crickets, those tireless violinists of the night, could not be heard.

The road, rising slightly, led us to a ravine and circled along it, pressed against the cliff by the dilapidated fence of an old abandoned village cemetery.

Laughing loudly and making fun of each other, we tried to drive away the sticky fear that was slowly creeping under our shirts.

You know, they say the blacksmith Jack is buried in this cemetery. The one who was the first to carve a scary face into a pumpkin and put a candle in it, I said.

“Lies,” Pat responded. There was no blacksmith, but this story was invented by a cunning peasant so that his pumpkins would sell better. Look, there’s nowhere to put them in the fall.

And yet, I didn’t stop, they say, I once scared the devil himself with my pumpkin Jack. He was so offended that he placed a curse on him: forever on the night of November 1, he would walk the earth with this stupid pumpkin and scare people.

Yes, there was no Jack, I’m telling you, there’s nothing for me here...

But he didn’t have time to finish, because from around the bend a stranger of average height appeared, easily carrying with both hands a huge pumpkin, from whose terrible grin a bright orange light poured onto the road.

Great, guys, are you scared? Hey red-haired, I see your heart is pounding so much that soon it will punch a hole in your belly and jump out onto the road, the stranger said to Patu, giggling loudly.
I opened my mouth to answer, but then my gaze fell on the large puddle that separated us and the stranger. It reflected the full moon and the fiery pumpkin that the stranger was holding in his hands. But she seemed to be hanging in emptiness: her owner was not reflected in the mirror of the water.

Sobering up, I elbowed Patrick, but didn’t have time.

Shut your damn pumpkin, Pat said.

But you guessed it right. Both about the devil and about the pumpkin, the guy said cheerfully. He made some elusive movement, and his head disappeared, as if it had never existed at all. And in its place, a huge pumpkin shone with evil, suddenly becoming white fire. A searing light erupted from her eyes, and her orange teeth bared in a terrible smile.

And a very loud, muffled wild laugh, coming, if not from a pumpkin, then certainly not from a human throat, echoed over the ravine.

I have never run so fast in my life. We jumped into the ravine and rushed, sliding down the slope and breaking bushes. How our necks remained intact is still a mystery to me. Apparently our death was not part of the plans of the creature that met us on the path.

Having run at least a mile, we collectively tripped over some snag and rolled head over heels across a wet carpet of fallen leaves.

What was that, Pat asked, breathing heavily.

“Didn’t you see it yourself?” I wheezed.

Taking a strong turn to the right, we quickly trotted to where the path should have been. Soon, a gap flashed between the trees and drunken voices were heard.

We went out onto the path and saw a cheerful couple: big Brian, followed by puny Conor, making drunken pretzels.
It’s amazing how glad I was to see those drunken faces.

Yeah, of course, he also had goat hooves and a black tail.

Yes, I'm serious, but didn't you hear the scream?

“Listen, Conor, this is what I call getting drunk as hell,” said fat Brian with drunken profundity, pointing at us.

Knowing his chatty tongue, and not wanting to be branded an idiot, I retreated:
- Well, Brian, nothing can get through you. I wouldn’t be surprised if at the Last Judgment you blurt out to the Almighty: “Hey dad, stop being foolish, let’s go have a drink!”

He burst out laughing, and we, often looking around, wandered after them.

Dead boy

On the way to the hospital I felt sick and lost consciousness. Opening my eyes, I saw that I was lying in a white, well-lit room, with an oxygen mask on my face, and standing next to me was a boy with white hair, about seven years old. He came up to me, took my hand and began to cry. His hand was very cold. Even then I was surprised how a living person could have such cold hands.

The boy, after standing near me for a while and letting go of my hand, stepped aside and a very bright white light appeared above him. He took off from the ground like a feather and flew up and disappeared. I felt bad again and lost consciousness again. I opened my eyes only the next morning; I was in a coma for sixteen hours. The doctor came up to me and asked how I was feeling.

I said that it was better than yesterday and told him yesterday’s story about the boy. After I heard the story, the doctor said that this could not be, since this boy died three days ago.

I told him it could!

Christina. Moscow region.

My Jack

Jack rushed for the ball and also jumped into the hatch. I ran up to the hatch and started calling Jack. In response, I heard only a plaintive squeak. Then I took a lighter out of my pocket, started shining it and saw a terrible picture. My dog ​​was covered in blue mucus and squeaking. As luck would have it, my lighter burned out, and I ran home to get a flashlight, because without light I couldn’t see anything.

Quickly running home, I ran up to the hatch with the flashlight on and began to shine. But instead of my dog, I only saw a collar that was covered in blue mucus. Where did my dog ​​go and what kind of mucus is I don’t know.

I miss my dog ​​very much and I believe that one day he will come running to me.

This all happened one night while I was sleeping in the room where my small children were. I slept with them separately from my husband in order to let him sleep, since he had a hard day ahead of him the next day. When I was sleeping, literally through a dream I heard someone whisper: “Mom.”

I thought that probably one of my children was calling me, but when I looked at them, I saw that they were sleeping peacefully and quietly. Deciding that it was all my imagination, I returned to my bed again and laid my head on the pillow and began to fall asleep. As soon as I closed my eyes, I heard again: “Mom.”

Someone said these words over and over again. I felt a strong cold and opened my eyes. I saw someone short walking quickly in my direction. I screamed out of fear and then I felt something cold pass through me, and I lost consciousness.

When I woke up, I saw that my children and my husband were standing next to me. I didn’t tell them what happened to me, because I was very afraid for the psyche of my children, and my husband had to go to work soon.

Tatiana. Krymsk.

Mysterious sign

We even laughed then, why did the previous residents need it, what a strange decoration for the apartment! Of course, we tore off the old wallpaper along with this sign and pasted new ones. Some time passed and my friend began to complain that something strange was happening in the apartment: things were disappearing, and then they were in the most inappropriate places, at night in the kitchen you could hear someone opening and closing cabinet doors, floorboards creaking in corridor.

My friends and I didn’t really believe in this at first; we advised her to watch less movies at night, etc. But one day something really strange happened; this time it was hard not to believe my friend’s story. It was summer, somewhere a little after midnight, we were sitting in a tent, drinking beer and were already getting ready to go home, when we saw our friend running towards us as fast as she could. At first we decided that something was wrong with her, since she was in a robe and one slipper, her face was distorted with genuine horror. Having come to her senses a little, she told us this.

Her husband was in uniform (he is a military man) on duty, the child was with his mother, she spent the night alone. At about 12 o'clock she suddenly woke up because her cat jumped onto her bed, her fur stood on end, she tried to hide under the blanket towards her owner. Lena, that was our friend’s name, heard some shuffling steps in the corridor, the door opened, and some teenage girl (as it seemed to her then) entered her room, her hair hung down and covered her face. She walked, slowly approaching Lena.

The cat was almost silent under the blanket, only shaking with small tremors. Lena could not move from horror. Only when the girl approached did she peer into her face: it was not the face of a girl, it was the face of an old woman!!! This old woman's lips moved silently, as if she wanted to say something. Lena came to her senses, screamed and threw the first thing that came to hand at this monster: a lamp from the bedside table. The old woman crouched and disappeared.

Lena, in horror, threw on a robe and rushed out of the apartment, even forgetting to lock the door. She came running to us because she knew that we were going to sit here longer today. We reassured her as best we could, even tried to turn it all into a joke: they say, you had a nightmare, and you accepted it as the truth. But Lena insisted that she was not crazy, that she saw everything in reality, and that she would never return to her apartment alone.

We went to her. When we arrived at her door, it was indeed unlocked. Laughing, we went into the apartment, turned on the light and were completely dumbfounded: not only was the lamp broken, everything was turned upside down, the carpet was torn off the wall where this mysterious sign had previously been painted and the wallpaper was torn off!!! Lena herself simply could not have done this, she did not have that much strength!

Our friend’s legs literally gave way from what she saw, she became whiter than chalk. The cat disappeared somewhere, and no one has seen it since. After this incident, Lena and her husband almost never lived there. They left the military camp for the city, to live with Lena’s parents. The apartment was departmental, it was rented out to parts. We don’t know who lives in it now and whether a strange ghost appears to the new residents, because we also left somewhere, to a new place of duty.

But when communicating by correspondence or by phone, no, no, let’s remember this story. What kind of sign was drawn by the previous owners of the apartment? Whether he protected the residents from evil spirits or vice versa remains a mystery.

I can not breathe

I’m not sure that it was at this time that someone was strangling me, it’s just that when I already wake up from suffocation, I look at the clock, and it always shows this time. Two nights ago I saw the face of the one who was strangling me. Although the man's face was blurry, I was able to see him.

This person was my ex-boyfriend who committed suicide a year and a half ago. He couldn't bear to part with us. He was found hanged in his apartment in the morning. He haunts me every night.

I think he wants me to die or to make me go crazy. I already went to church, I was advised to pray for this person and light a candle. But it doesn't help, he still comes to me.

I can't do this anymore. What should I do?

Oksana. Irkutsk

My grandmother

In the house where my grandmother used to live, my aunt also lived with her. My aunt accommodated me and made me a bed in the room where my grandmother used to live. As I fell asleep, I was soon awakened by a very strong floral aroma. This smell was everywhere.

I started looking for where this smell came from, but finding nothing, I fell asleep again. The next morning I told my aunt everything. We went up to my room. She inhaled this fragrant floral smell and immediately told me that she knew where it came from.

It turns out that just before my grandmother’s funeral, my aunt bathed her and anointed her with a special aromatic perfume, from which such a floral aroma emanated.

After these words, I realized that my beloved grandmother came to me at night, she wanted to say goodbye to me.

Artyom. Simferopol.

Bright balls

In my specialty, and I work as a psychotherapist, I have heard many times from people that they are being pursued by bright balls, but of course I myself have never taken seriously what they say. I attributed everything to their fatigue, irritability, etc.

But this started happening to me! The next time I encountered these balls was two days later. When I left the bathroom, I saw a bright light again. There was a bright ball hanging right above me. I decided to look at it, I don’t know why, but at that moment I didn’t feel afraid.

I got the impression that there was something smart inside this ball that controlled it. The ball was completely transparent and small. After some time he disappeared. I decided to call my two friends to witness these balls.

But we didn't succeed. The balls did not appear in front of my friends. And only when I was alone in the apartment did they appear again. They mostly appear in the late afternoon. I watch them with great interest.

I'd like to talk to people who have seen these orbs or have an idea as to where they come from.

Ilya. Ufa.

Human souls

The doctors ran out of the car and headed towards them. A minute later, the doctors, having covered these people with a sheet and placed them on stretchers, loaded them into my ambulance. They told me that we were going to intensive care, and I, knowing that every minute was precious to these people, turned on the siren and drove like the wind. I've probably never driven so fast. Having flown to the hospital, I helped the doctors take the stretchers with people to the operating room. Then, going down to his car on the street, he took a cigarette out of the pack and lit it.

While smoking, I somehow randomly raised my eyes and looked at the sky and saw three luminous white balls fly out from under the roof of the hospital where the operating room was located. They gradually rose to the clouds and soon disappeared into them. Two hours later, I learned that of the three shot down people we brought here, none survived.

I think those glowing white balls were their souls.

Oleg. Kaliningrad.

Magic house

She slept soundly. Having looked around the whole room and not finding anyone, I went back to the kitchen. When I entered the kitchen and approached the table, I did not find my glass. I was dumbfounded. I felt somehow uneasy. I bent down and looked under the table, thinking that maybe when I turned around I accidentally touched him and he fell. But he wasn't there either. And then the light suddenly turned off. I was in the dark, thank God the house was small, I barely made it to my bed, lay down under the blanket and hugged my wife tightly and fell asleep. When morning came, I opened my eyes and saw my sleeping wife, she was also sleeping soundly. After kissing her, I turned over to the other side and saw a glass of water in front of me. He stood before my eyes on the ottoman. I rubbed my eyes, but nothing changed - the glass stood there. I woke up my wife and told her everything. After what I told her, she told me that I had nervous exhaustion and that I needed to rest.

That day only my wife went to work, I was left alone at home. After she left, after lying in bed for another half an hour, I got up and went to wash myself. Turning on the water in the bathroom, I heard something fall in the kitchen. I walked into the kitchen and saw a frying pan lying on the floor. I picked it up and put it in its place. Then, seeing that there was nothing else on the floor, he headed back to the bathroom. Having taken just a couple of steps, I heard a noise behind me. I turned around and saw the utensil drawer open and dishes begin to fly out. I was amazed by what I saw. Without thinking twice, I ran to the box, trying to cover it. But, taking a step, he was hit on the head with a plate and, losing his balance, fell to the floor. Lying on the floor, I tried to get up, but this time the frying pan overtook me. She hit me on the leg, the pain was terrible. I saw a table and crawled towards it. As I crawled towards the table, I was hit on the leg by a bread knife. Overcoming my fear and terrible pain, I finally crawled to the table and climbed under it. The wound from the knife turned out to be not serious; I tore my trouser leg and bandaged my leg. This concert probably lasted for about three hours. Just before my wife came home for lunch, everything stopped. I heard the front door open and the familiar click of heels. My wife shouted to me: “Honey, where are you?” I replied that I was in the kitchen.

When she entered the kitchen, she stood in the doorway and began to look with wild eyes, first at me, then at the floor. Then she ran up to me and asked what happened here. I laughed and said probably nervous exhaustion. My wife bandaged the wound on my leg and asked again what happened here. I told her everything and said that I didn’t want to be in this house anymore. We started renting an apartment again, and the house was put up for sale.

This is the cheerful house we bought. Be careful when purchasing a home.
ANDREY. Barnaul.

In memory of Marina

I put her on the bed, poured water into a glass and gave it to her. When she recovered, she told me a story that shocked me. One day in the summer she and her friends decided to go to the lake. There was a bad reputation around this lake. It was rumored that a drowned man lived in it, who was brutally killed and then drowned in the early eighties, and that whoever swims in this lake at night is grabbed by the legs and pulled to the bottom. So Marina and her friends arrived at the lake, it was already evening. By the time we laid out the tents and lit a fire, it was already dark. It was stuffy outside, so Marina decided to take a dip in the lake. She undressed and swam. The water was very good. Suddenly something grabbed her by the legs and pulled her sharply down. She only had time to shout: “HELP” and went under the water. She opened her eyes under water and saw that some vile creature was holding her legs and saying: “YOU KILLED ME.” Then Marina said that she lost consciousness and that she woke up already on the ground. A guy she knew saved her. He saw her shout something and go under the water, and he rushed after her. She told everyone what happened to her, but no one believed her. They said that she simply choked on water and hallucinated. And after this whole story, this creature began to appear to her at night. So today it came to her. She asked me to come to her again tomorrow, because she was very afraid of being alone at night. She needs someone to be with her every night so that she can get her out of the clutches of this creature. I promised her that I would come tomorrow.

We slept until morning together. Then I got up, washed my face and went home. Evening was approaching, and I began to get ready to visit Marina. My mother came into my room and asked me to sit with my younger brother for a couple of hours while she and my father went to the cinema. I agreed, but warned that I would only stay for two hours. They got dressed and left. I called Marina and said that I would come in two hours. She said she would be waiting for me. Two hours passed, but the parents did not come. I started to get nervous. Another hour passed, but no one was there. I took out a book and began to read it to my brother. Half an hour later we fell asleep. I woke up because someone was opening the door with keys. I opened my eyes and saw that the sun was already shining outside the window. I rushed to the door and saw my parents standing there. They told me that they met friends at the cinema and went to visit them. I said that this is not how it works, and ran to the phone in tears. I dialed Marina’s phone number, but no one answered me. I quickly got dressed and ran to Marina. When I ran to her door, I saw that it was open and that there were a lot of people in uniform in her apartment. I went into the apartment and saw Marina. She was lying covered with a sheet on the floor next to her bed. I rushed to her, but someone grabbed my hand and asked: “Girl, what are you doing here?” I turned my head and saw that a policeman was holding my hand. When I told him everything, what and how, he told me that Marina had died. She was strangled. They took my fingerprints and sent me home.

I ran home, locked myself in my room, lay down on the bed and cried. A few minutes later I fell asleep. In a dream, I saw a pink clearing and Marina was standing on it. I ran up to her, took her hand and told her: “Forgive me for not saving you.” She smiled at me affectionately and said that she was not offended by me and that she felt very good here. She hugged me tenderly, kissed me on the cheek and disappeared. Three days later the funeral took place. I go to the cemetery every day and bring her favorite flowers and still can’t believe that she’s gone.

MY FRIEND MARINA, I KNOW THAT NOW YOU SEE EVERYTHING AND MAYBE EVEN ARE NEAR ME WHEN I WRITE THIS LETTER. I CAN'T BE WITHOUT YOU, I WANT TO YOU, FORGIVE ME.

Elena. Chelyabinsk region.

Wow fishing!

This was such a force, it dragged me down like some kind of splinter, and at that time I weighed almost ninety kilograms. I screamed and began to resist in vain. And then I heard my father’s voice: “Son, give me your hand.” My father jumped towards me and grabbed my hand. But he was unable to pull me out; the force that was dragging my body was very strong. Then he quickly swam ashore, took a knife from the bag and rushed back into the river. He swam up to me. He took the knife out of his mouth, transferred it to his right hand and dived. A real battle was taking place at my feet. After about five seconds I felt my legs free. Another three seconds passed, and the father emerged with a cut hand. Now I was already dragging my father to the shore. When we swam to the shore and came out onto it, my father showed me what he had left in his hand. It was a sticky piece of some kind of creature, unlike any fish. This piece was so reeking of stench that it seemed like this creature lived in the sewer. I helped my father bandage his hand and we began to get ready to go home. Suddenly we heard the rush of water.

My father and I ran away from the water and hid in some hole. We raised our heads to see what was going on there. You won't believe it, we saw a big turtle. It was about three meters long. Instead of arms and legs, she had tentacles. A white liquid was flowing from one tentacle; my father probably tried this when he saved me. She swam closer to the shore and began to look at us. This all lasted about thirty seconds. Then she screamed sharply, turned her back to us and went under the water. And there was silence. My father and I rushed to run home.

Of course, no one believed us. We lost the piece that my father cut off from this creature in a hurry. We had no evidence. This turned out to be an interesting fishing trip.

Sergey. Rostov region.

Incident in a jewelry store

An hour passed and it became dark outside. As luck would have it, the batteries in the flashlight ran out and we could only illuminate with cell phones. The cashier turned out to be a good conversationalist, so I wasn’t particularly bored. I don’t remember what the cashier was talking about, when suddenly I heard a noise in the utility room. I told the cashier to stay where she was, while I turned on my cell phone and slowly walked to the back room. When I went inside, I heard some rustling coming from the toilet. I walked up to the toilet, clenched my hand into a fist and sharply opened the door. Something strange, sparkling white, jumped at me. I flew to the side and hit my back on the floor. I stood up, turned around and saw that this incomprehensible creature was carefully looking at me. It flew up to me and began to look into my eyes. Surprisingly, at that time I didn’t feel any fear at all. I extended my right hand towards it and my fingers passed through it. There was some kind of white transparent liquid left on my fingers. I decided to take a photo of this creature, turned on the photo function on my phone and just pointed the camera at it, when suddenly a creature similar to this one flew out of the toilet, only twice as large and green in color. It sharply and quickly rushed at its own, I think a relative, and began to bite him with its teeth. A real battle began before my eyes. This all happened in literally ten minutes.

During this time, they managed to break the table, break the glass and dishes that were on the table. They flew into the toilet and disappeared. I went to the toilet. But there was no one there anymore. And then I heard the cashier's voice. She walked towards me and flashed her phone. When she came closer and shined the light on the floor, she said: “What have you done here?” I started to tell her what happened here, but she didn’t believe me. And I had no evidence left; when I wanted to photograph these creatures, I wiped my hands on a towel. And then they turned on the light. From our utility room, only the chair remained intact; everything else was broken. The cashier called the director and said that the lights had been turned on. The director arrived quickly. When she went into the back room and saw what happened there, she told me that I was a security guard and I was responsible for this mess. In short, they deducted from my salary for all this, but I did not grieve, since what I saw that night was worth it.

The only pity is that I didn’t have time to photograph these creatures as a souvenir.

IGOR. KAZAN.

Knocking on the window

She was sleeping, but when she heard that I was crying, she immediately woke up. I told you everything. She said that this had never happened before. She and I went outside and went to my window, but there was no one there. She said that she would sleep with me in my room tonight, and we went to bed. She lay down next to me and we fell asleep. Literally about forty minutes later the knock on the window was heard again. I quietly pushed my grandmother on the shoulder, she woke up and asked what happened. I gestured to her that no matter what she said, she listened. She heard everything and told me: “Come on, get up, let’s go to the window.” It was very scary, but interest took over and we went. Approaching the window, through the curtain we saw a large shadow with horns. We jumped away from the window. And this shadow, sensing that we were somewhere nearby, began to hammer on the window even louder and louder. We screamed. When we calmed down, grandma told me that she had lived almost her entire life, but had never seen anything like this. After some time, we finally decided to go to the window. The knocking on the window disappeared, but the shadow still remained behind the curtain.

We got up and went to the window. I took the curtain, but my grandmother said that she was better. She narrowed her eyes and pushed it away. And we saw, you know who, a COW. It was my grandmother's cow, her name was Murka. My grandmother and I ran out into the street and hugged this cow and laughed. It turns out that this cow got loose and went for a walk around the yard, and when she got tired of walking, she started breaking into the house and knocking on the windows with her horns. This is a funny story that happened to me.

CHRISTINA. BARNAUL.

Double: nonsense or reality?

I decided to approach him and ask how I could help. At this time, the tap began to feed the stove. When the slab began to approach the man, I shouted at him to move away. He turned to me and looked at me. I saw his face and I felt bad. You won't believe me, I saw myself. I started waving my hands at him, and in response he did the same. And then I heard the rattle of the cable, it was breaking. After a few seconds, the cable finally broke and the slab flew towards this man at high speed. I closed my eyes and heard the slab hit the ground. I rushed along with the builders to this place. When we approached, I said that there was a man under the rubble of the slab, and that I saw how he was covered by the slab.

Everyone else said that they were working near this place and did not see anyone. We started scattering the fragments of the slab and, to my great surprise, we did not find anyone. Everyone looked at me like I was crazy and said that it was time for me to rest and scattered to their places. I went home and along the way I kept thinking about what this could mean.

GREGORY. VOLGOGRAD.

Transparent head

When our parents left, my grandmother decided to turn on cartoons for us to have fun, but I ran away from her into the kitchen. She, seeing that I was not in the room, shouted at me to go back to the room.

But without saying anything, I remained standing in the kitchen. Then my grandmother decided to follow me herself. When she entered the kitchen, she saw that I was standing near the drawer in which there were knives, and next to me in the air was the transparent head of her dead mother.

She died when my grandmother was young. I turned towards my grandmother and told her that I had just talked to her and she told me not to open the drawer. And as soon as I said these words, the transparent head of her dead mother disappeared.

At that moment, my grandmother almost lost consciousness from everything she saw. Now that ten years have passed and my grandmother told us everything, I believe that then the ghost of her mother simply saved me.

Because at that moment, if I had taken out a knife, I could have hurt myself or, worse, just accidentally killed myself.

Vadim. Stavropol.

Candyman. Or what's his name?

Of course, we didn’t know who to call or how to do it. But just that evening one of our mutual friends talked about how she summoned a mystical creature. She called him Candyman, but said that it didn’t seem to be his name, but she didn’t know exactly what. She also explained to us the procedure for summoning this creature. You need to go into a dark room, go to the mirror and draw eyes on the mirror with a black marker. Draw pupils in the eyes, but do not paint them over, but leave them empty. Then you say “candyman come” five times. And if everything works out, then the pupils should turn red. This means that a monster has entered our world, and those who caused it will be endowed with superhuman strength. Of course, we didn’t believe all this, but our curiosity was stronger.

So we went into the bathroom, turned off the light, drew eyes, pupils, and did not paint them over as expected. Then they began to say the words “candyman come” five times. To be honest, when they said it the fifth time, it was very creepy. Of course: the lights are turned off everywhere, and you stand in front of the mirror and call someone! Well, we said these “magic” words five times. It seems like nothing happened. We stood there for a couple more minutes and suddenly it began to seem to me that the pupils on the mirror were starting to turn red! “Do you see this?” I asked Seryoga. And he stands rooted to the spot and from his gaze it is clear that I was not the only one who saw this. Then we ran out of the bathroom like crazy and quickly turned on the lights everywhere. Before going back into the bath and checking what was going on there, we drank a glass of vodka (for courage). We walked in and almost died of horror: the mirror was absolutely clean, as if nothing had been drawn on it!!! That day we decided not to spend the night at home and went to a nightclub to unwind. But the worst was yet to come. After having fun at the club, we came home. But upon entering the apartment, it became clear: we had done something terrible. From the mirror in the bathroom to my(!) bed there was a thin stream of red, similar to blood. At first we thought it was paint, but where did it come from?

This was our last night in this apartment. We were never able to explain to the apartment owners where this “paint” on the floor came from. We also couldn’t tell them why it couldn’t be washed with anything.

The Thing from the River

I agreed and, having collected all the necessary things, we went to the river. An hour later I was already swimming in the river. The friend remained on the shore to guard things. Our river is good, clean and shallow. Having swam enough, I went ashore and told my friend to go now. She accepted my glory with joy and, running away, jumped into the river. I sat on a towel and watched my friend frolic in the water. Suddenly I noticed a pale hand appear from the river near my friend’s leg and begin to pull her under the water. My friend screamed in fright, I rushed to her aid, grabbing a stick from the ground.

I don’t remember how long this battle took. I just remember hitting the hand that was holding my friend with a stick at about ten o’clock, and a cry for help. Eventually the hand retreated and went under the water. My friend and I flew out of the water like a bullet, without even collecting our things from the ground, we ran to my house in swimsuits. At my house, a friend thanked me for a long time for her salvation. She and I agreed that we would not tell anyone what happened to us.

Because otherwise we would be mistaken for crazy people.

Margarita. Krasnoyarsk

Mysterious cloud

I found a free bench in the park, sat down on it, took out a cigarette and began to savor it. I raised a bottle of beer to my lips and with my peripheral vision I noticed that on my right side a white cloud was rising from the ground. It began to approach me. I became interested in what it was, and I began to watch the cloud. At first it was small and transparent, but, gradually approaching me, it became larger and thicker. Having flown up to me at arm's length, it stopped. I looked at the cloud and was amazed; my face was reflected inside the cloud. After looking for a bit, I extended my hand.

First, my image disappeared, then a few seconds later the cloud, flying up to the sky, disappeared from my view. I got up from the bench and looked at the sky. Yes, there were clouds, but they weren’t what I saw. I think it was either a natural phenomenon or a UFO.

Maksim. Pskov.

Dream

I took someone else's backpack and left the tent. Five steps from my tent was our boys' tent. I went up to her, pulled back the curtain and saw that the boys were sleeping contentedly and snoring. I decided that I would not wake them up and slowly walked towards my room. As I approached my tent, I heard a whistle. I turned and listened. The whistle came from the hill. I thought, probably someone just like me. I probably couldn’t sleep, so I went for a walk at night. I decided to go to the night fornicator and keep him company. Approaching the hill, I realized that the whistle was coming from the depths of the hill. I went inside. I looked around, but didn’t see anyone. I went further into the depths of the hill.

After walking about fifty meters, I decided to sit down on a stone to rest. Approaching the stone, I caught on something and fell to the ground. I raised my head and saw a man in a pea coat standing at the front. I couldn’t see his face because it was in the dark. I backed away. He came completely out of the darkness and walked towards me. I was able to get a very good look at him. It was the skeleton of a man dressed in military uniform with a whistle around his neck. I got to my feet and ran wherever I could. After a few minutes I found myself at a dead end. Deciding to find a way out of the hill again, I took a step and came across a dead man. I backed away and hit my back against the wall. “That’s it, this is the end,” I thought, and squatted down and began to cry. The dead man came up to me, grabbed my shoulder with one hand, and took the whistle with the other hand. Having whistled at it twice, he bowed his face (if it could be called a face) and told me in a hoarse voice to go to work. After these words I lost consciousness. I woke up lying in a clearing. Opening my eyes, I saw that the guys with whom I had arrived were standing in front of me. When I asked what happened, they said that when they woke up, they didn’t find me. They started looking for me. And, in the end, they found me here near the hill.

I turned on my side and ran into something hard. It was a whistle. I told the guys about my night story, but they didn’t believe me. They said she must have been walking near the hill and lost consciousness there. That all this is nonsense and the like. But I know that it was all for real. I hung the whistle around my neck, and now I have it like a medallion. And so far everything is fine with me “pah-pah-pah”.

MARINA. ARMAN, MAGADAN REGION.

Help people!

All this was a nightmare for me, I didn’t know what to do. Mom stopped crying and asked us to come closer to her, since it was very difficult for her to speak. When we approached, she told us that she was very sick and did not know how long she had left to live, but she felt that this was all the end. I said that I would go call an ambulance, to which my mother told me that they were already there. They said that the disease is progressing very strongly and that medicine is powerless here. After these words, I could not stand it and burst into tears. My sister and I hugged our mother. It was a terrible picture, we hugged our mother, knowing at the same time that tomorrow she might not be with us. Out of nervous stress, I went out of the house into the yard to smoke a cigarette. I smoked one after another until I felt someone touch my hand. An elderly woman stood in front of me. She asked me for money for some bread. I reached into my pocket and pulled out twenty rubles and gave it to her. She thanked me and, seeing that I had tears in my eyes, asked what happened to me. I told her everything. After hearing the story, she told me to take her to my mother. Entering the house, the woman immediately approached my mother and asked not to be disturbed.

My sister, having released my mother, came up to me and asked who she was. I said I'll explain later. After a minute of inspection, the woman called me over and asked for a bucket of water and a towel. A minute later everything was standing in front of her. She approached her mother, my sister and I stepped back. The woman put her hands in the water and began to say prayers. After a while she took her hands out. A very bright white ball glowed in her hands. My sister and I were stunned by what we saw. I have never seen anything like this even in a movie. The woman, having read the prayer again, lowered the ball onto her mother. He disappeared inside her. Literally ten seconds later my mother opened her eyes. The woman raised her hand to her mother’s forehead and said: “You will live long.” My sister and I ran up to my mother. She got out of bed and hugged us with a smile. I turned back to thank the woman, but she was no longer in the house. I ran out into the street, but there was no one there either. She disappeared without a trace, leaving nothing behind. And now five years have passed. We are all healthy and happy.

People, I don’t know whether you will believe my story or not, but I ask you, help people, do more good in the world. And maybe someday, when you feel bad, this woman will appear and make you happy.

ANDREY. GERBIL.

Headless horseman

I ran up to the man, he was dressed in a gray suit. On his head he had a helmet, also gray. Since there was not a drop of blood near him, I thought that he was still alive and pushed him on the shoulder with my hand. From my touch, his helmet and head came off his body and rolled along the road. After what I saw, I probably sat down and aged twenty years. I ran to the cafe for help. Running to the entrance to the cafe, I stopped and turned to the truck. It was like in a horror movie, the corpse of a headless man trying to get up hit the bottom of the truck and fell again. I couldn't stand this anymore. Running into the cafe, I screamed for help. After explaining to people what was happening, I sat down on a chair and cried. People ran out into the street. I stayed inside. About five minutes later, people began returning to the cafe, looking at me strangely. I approached one man and asked what was wrong with this motorcyclist.

In response, he told me the shocking news that there was no one on the street except my truck. I couldn’t believe my ears and ran out into the street. I went around and inspected my entire truck, but found nothing. I started the car, thinking to myself that I needed to quit this job, since my nervous system could no longer stand it, and, pressing the gas pedal with my foot, I drove on.

Sergey. Rostov region.

Rat mutant

The rat, seeing us, reacted instantly and rushed to my friend’s neck. She started biting her on the neck. I was shocked by everything that was happening. But after a few seconds I recovered from the shock and began to help my friend. At first I wanted to pull the rat away with my hands, but it didn’t work. She held on very tenaciously with her claws. I took off my shoe and hit the rat on the head with my heel. She finally jumped off and fell to the ground. I ran up to my friend, she was bleeding, and began to help her. As luck would have it, we left our cell phones at home. She started calling for help. A few minutes later a guy ran up to me and asked what was going on. When I brought him to my friend, he immediately understood everything and began to stop the bleeding. Then he called an ambulance and the police and told me to calm down. Thank God, the ambulance and police arrived quickly and my friend was taken to the hospital.

My boyfriend and three policemen and I went to the place where I saw the rat. I didn’t go up to the bushes myself, I showed from afar where and how everything happened. When they approached that place, I began to shake all over, and I burst into tears. The guy came up to me and began to calm me down. The police approached the bush and opened it. But there was nothing there except a hand. They went further and after about twenty meters they found the body of a homeless man without an arm. This creature bit off his hand. No further searches led to anything. Then my boyfriend and I went to the hospital to see my friend. My friend had already been operated on, and everything was fine with her. The hospital told us that this is not the first time such rats have attacked. I asked why she was without a tail and so big. They answered me that time changes and all animals, including rats, mutate at the same time. This is the story that happened to me and my friend.

Katya and Lera. Moscow.

How I studied tarot.

A week passed before I read the entire book. Finally the day came when I was able to test everything I had learned in practice! It didn’t start out the way I wanted; a lot of things didn’t work out. And I didn’t really like all this, as fortune telling with tarot cards didn’t grab my attention. In general, I tried, tried to tell fortunes, but nothing worked out for me. Frustrated, I went to bed. Maybe the cards somehow influenced me, or I re-read the book - but I slept terribly that night. I had terrible dreams, and the heroes in them, oddly enough, were tarot cards. I woke up late the next day - around two o'clock. As usual, I went to wash my face, had breakfast, and decided to practice cards again. I went to the closet, opened the door and - I couldn’t believe my eyes. Instead of books and maps there were ashes from them! They burned! It's incredible, but it's true.

After this incident, all desire to engage in tarot cards disappeared. And I practically stopped being interested in everything unusual. There are miracles in the world!

Alexander, Moscow

A trip to my brother

He resisted for a long time, but soon gave in and told. In the morning, after seeing my brother off to work, I went to this house. Half an hour later I was standing next to him. Approaching the house, I didn’t notice anything terrible; everything looked quite peaceful. Having carefully examined everything around the house and not finding anything more or less worthy of attention, I went up to the door and pushed it with my hand. It turned out to be open, and I went inside. Due to the lack of sunlight, twilight reigned here. After walking a couple of steps through the house, I heard something rustling on the left side of me. I turned my head and saw that a girl of about ten years old was sitting in the corner. I approached her and asked what are you doing here. She stood up and walked towards me. She took my hand and, smiling, said: “I WAS WAITING FOR YOU.” I felt her hands begin to warm up. I felt uneasy, and I decided to free my hand, but I couldn’t do it, I didn’t have the strength. I realized that she was sucking all the vital energy from me and, feeling that I was losing consciousness, I knelt down. My life flashed before my eyes, and for the first time in my life I regretted not listening to my brother. I thought it was all over and prepared for death. But suddenly someone grabbed me by the shoulder and dragged me to the exit.

Touching my face to the grass, I realized that I was outside the house and the main thing was that I was alive. I raised my head and saw that a man of about forty-five was standing in front of me. He told me not to come here anymore. Then my savior walked towards the forest. I got to my feet and went to my brother’s house. I didn’t tell him anything so as not to get upset. A day later I went home.

Yuri. Krasnoyarsk region.

Stranger

Now my story. Two years ago I got married and bought an apartment. Having made some minor cosmetic repairs to it, he and his wife soon began to live there. On our very first evening, which will be discussed, my wife and I were very tired, so we went to bed early. Somewhere in the middle of the night I heard inexplicable sounds like the clicking of heels. I opened my eyes and began to listen. The clicking of heels began to intensify. Someone was walking along the landing. Suddenly the knocking disappeared. I thought that it was probably the neighbor who had come home and, having calmed down, turned over on my side and closed my eyes. And as soon as I closed my eyes, I heard this knock again. This time someone was already walking around my apartment. The knocking began to approach my bed.

I felt scared and decided to turn to my wife. But it was as if I was paralyzed. I couldn’t help but move, not speak, just turn my head. Turning my head to the right, I saw that someone was standing next to me. But, seeing the skirt and red shoes, I realized that this was a woman. She came close to me and leaned over my ear. Soon, right next to my ear, I heard even breathing, and then quiet words: “SORRY, I WANTED THIS.” As soon as she said these words to me, although I didn’t understand anything about them, she walked away from me and quickly, quickly ran towards the door, knocking her legs like hooves. It was difficult for me to determine the age of this woman because the room was dark.

After about five minutes, the paralysis left me, I could move my arms and legs again. I got out of bed and walked around the apartment, but didn’t see anyone. Then he went to the bed, lay down on it and fell asleep. Having woken up in the morning, I woke up my wife and asked if she had heard anything strange at night. She said no, because she slept like the dead. Then I told her my story from the night. After listening to her, she told me that it was probably a dream, that this couldn’t happen. Now I'm wondering: was it real or was it just a dream.

Denis. Odessa.

Who walks in our house?

When I sharply turned my head to the side, I saw a strange shadow that quickly disappeared. One day my mother told me a story that shocked me. In the morning, my mother began to get ready for work.

Just before leaving for work, she took out mineral water from the refrigerator, and after drinking a little water, she put the bottle on the table. In her haste, she forgot to put the bottle back in the refrigerator and went to work.

When she returned home, she saw that her bottle of mineral water was in the same place, on the table, where she had forgotten it in the morning, and besides, it was cold, as if someone had just taken this bottle out of the refrigerator. That day I was not at home almost the whole day, I was at school.

A day later, something incomprehensible also happened to me. I woke up at night because I was very thirsty. Getting out of bed, I went to the kitchen. When I entered the kitchen, I was stunned. A woman in a white robe passed in front of me.

She reached the wall and, stepping into it, disappeared. At that moment I immediately didn’t want to drink, I ran to my room and, covering myself completely with a blanket, fell asleep. When I woke up in the morning, I saw that there was a bottle of water in front of my bed. She was cold.

After these incidents, nothing unusual happened again.

Dmitriy. Krasnoyarsk

Well of Memory

I said that of course I wanted to, and she took me by the hand and led me towards the river. Before reaching the river we turned right towards the forest. After walking another ten steps, I finally saw him. It was a simple well, it was no different from the others. I was already starting to think that this was all a joke and wanted to tell my girlfriend about it, when she suddenly told me: “LISTEN.” I listened and heard first a child’s cry, then a woman’s scream. She screamed so loudly that the hair on my head stood on end. A few minutes later everything stopped. I was shocked by what happened, I had never seen anything like this anywhere and ever. I asked what it was. The girl told me that about ten years ago a mother and a little girl were resting near this well. The girl approached the well, tripped over something and fell into it. Mom couldn't pull her out and she drowned. The mother could not stand it and jumped after her and also drowned.

Now, if you come here at a certain time, you can hear the crying of a little girl and the terrible cry of her mother. I asked her where she got such details and how she knew what time to come here. She told me that it was her mother and little sister and, putting her hands to her face, began to cry.

DMITRIY. KURSK.

What was it?

There was no one on the hill and it surprised me; I stood completely alone. As I sledded down the hill, I felt that someone was looking at me. I looked around, but didn't see anyone. My hat fell over my eyes. While adjusting it, I looked at the sky and became numb with horror. The eyes were looking at me. They were very beautiful, blue. I don’t remember how long we looked at each other.

I only remember that I was unable to take my eyes off. After some time, the phenomenon disappeared, and for a long time I stood in a daze with my head raised, thinking to myself: “What was that?”

Sergey. Anadyr.

Ghost music lover

My Alena and I opened the house and went in: the house consisted of 3 rooms. We decided to go to the smallest one. We dismantled the sofa and decided to lie down to rest. I went to the hall, turned on the music on the center and went to Alena. I got into bed with her, we started kissing, but then suddenly the music in the center began to get louder and louder. Alena and I were scared, she asked me to see what was there. But I didn’t want to go - I was scared, but in order not to seem like a coward, I got up and decided to check what was there. I took a knife from the kitchen and went into the living room. When I entered the hall, there was no one in the room.

The center was screaming at full blast. I got scared, turned it down and came back to Alena. As soon as I lay down in bed with her again, the sound in the center began to increase again. Here we got even more scared and this time I didn’t dare to go see what was there, but just called a friend to come. Having waited for him, we told him everything, to which he replied that something strange often happens in this house, and that someone pulled the blanket off his girlfriend when she was alone in this house. She corrected him, but it was repeated until she screamed and cried. After which she had a terrible hysteria.

Then he said that there was probably someone else living here besides him, and we decided that it was a ghost.

Scary stories and Halloween crimes

A trio of Latino robbers who last year broke into one of the American houses and killed the owner dressed up in scary masks, as if for a holiday. 17-year-old Marcelino Pina, the leader of the gang, was sentenced to 45 years in prison for the Halloween crime.

In 1990, two teenagers from different states, 17-year-old Brian Jewell and 15-year-old William Odom, pretended to be hanged, actually suffocated in a noose, the Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times reported.

Last year, a fire broke out at a Halloween disco in the Swedish city of Gothenburg. There were 190 teenagers in the hospital. About 60 people died, suffocated in smoke and in the crush. Later the fire was called “the worst in the history of the country.”

In 1974, 8-year-old Timothy Mark O'Brien was killed by his own father, Ronald Clark O'Brien, in Houston, Texas. The boy died on October 31 after eating candy filled with cyanide. The investigation found that the father of a child insured for a large amount went with his children to neighbors' houses on Halloween, begging for treats, and, in order to divert suspicion from himself, slipped poisoned candy into the bags of other children, including his daughter. Fortunately, no one except Mark tried the poisonous "fairy wand". It was the candy that helped find the criminal: in none of the houses visited by the children, accompanied by the elder O'Bryan, were sweets of this variety distributed. Ronald was sentenced to death in May 1975. 9 years later he was executed by injection. Father-murderer I wanted to play on the common superstition that crazy people put needles, razors or pills in their Halloween treats.

Indeed, this happened quite often: it is not for nothing that many American mothers do not allow their children to eat caroled apples and immediately cut the fruit into a pie. In 1967, the New York Times reported on “punctured” apples discovered in Canada, and 13 similar finds in New Jersey. As a result, the state even passed a law providing for prison sentences for offenders.

For an unknown reason, a 7-year-old boy died in Detroit in 1970. After eating a caramel donated by one of his neighbors, he received an overdose of cocaine...

A 7-year-old girl from Santa Monica died of a heart attack during the holiday, but again they suspected candy...

In 1982, a real epidemic of poisoning broke out after Halloween...

Last year in Oklahoma, chocolate bars were stuffed with cloves, and a girl found pills in her chewing gum...

This year, as every time, police are warning parents about the dangers of Halloween and recommend sending their children to school for a party. And if the children do go begging - and of course they will! - try to instill in them the rules of safe behavior.

From October 31 to November 1, one of the most fun, mystical and mysterious holidays is celebrated in different countries around the world. This holiday is one of the most ancient in the history of all mankind, although it became so popular not so long ago. Of course, it's Halloween coming up! A Halloween for kids This is a great excuse to have fun with family and friends!

The modern image of Halloween is imposed on us by American films. They planted a ghostly stereotype of this holiday in people's minds: a cold, damp, foggy night, terrible monsters, witches, ghosts, orange pumpkins with a creepy, mocking grimace, and the like. This is how a very widespread opinion arose that Halloween is an exclusively American holiday. But in fact, this is absolutely not true!

As it turned out, it came from very distant times of Celtic culture and dates back more than 2000 years.

The Celts celebrated the new year on November 1st. This day meant the end of the harvest and the beginning of the bitterly cold winter. The Celts believed that on the night before the New Year, the spirits of dead people return to the world of the living in order to find a body and continue to live. People wore scary, dirty clothes and masks to scare away spirits. This is where the tradition of dressing up in costumes and scary masks comes from, which are still popular during Halloween celebrations.

Pumpkin for Halloween

This holiday has one very unusual attribute - it takes on the most bizarre shapes and images! The orange pumpkin, which is the most common symbol of the holiday, also has its own story. She came to us from Irish folklore. According to legend, there lived a certain Jack, who was very cunning and nimble, he loved drinking. And one day Jack managed to deceive the devil himself. After such a vile act, Jack was not allowed into the underworld, and he did not go to heaven due to his numerous sins. So he was doomed to eternal wanderings in the dark. In order to light his way, Jack used a small coal, which he placed in a small turnip that resembled an oil lamp. The tradition of lighting candles on Halloween began with this legend. They were believed to symbolize the souls of the dead. Later, the Irish began to use pumpkins instead of turnip candlesticks. They cut off the top, took out the insides, cut out the eyes and mouth and inserted a candle into the middle, that’s how easy it is. This creative is called “Pumpkin Jack-O-Lantern” Jack-O-Lanterns honor of the hero of Irish folklore.

History of Halloween. How Halloween came to America

Halloween came to America thanks to the Irish. And here this holiday became very popular, and it began to be celebrated throughout the United States. Over time, it lost its essence and turned into a reason to have fun for everyone: both adults and children. This is a unique opportunity to joke, wear awkward costumes, and sing Halloween songs. , dressed in carnival costumes, go from house to house, sing songs in the hope of receiving a treat from the owners. This action was called “trick or treat”, which translated means “sweetness or nastyness”. The entertainment industry is for adults. A huge number of clubs and restaurants offer their own entertainment program; chefs create original and unique dishes that match the special festive atmosphere. Halloween is one of the most favorite holidays among American children and adults too. Here it is.

Halloween for kids - fun for everyone

In recent years, Halloween has reached and spread quite widely in the post-Soviet space. Of course, children and teenagers loved him. After all, this is a great reason to have fun and fool around. There is absolutely no need for kids to know the history of Halloween. It is quite possible to protect them from everything mystical and terrible and turn them into Halloween for kids in fun, and while preparing for it, do a lot of interesting crafts, cook delicious interesting dishes with mom, play original games, put on costumes. Watch interesting children's films and cartoons, for example, about the very cute ghost “Casper”.

Moreover, this holiday presents all sorts of mystical characters in a comical form. I have already written about this, but I will repeat it again. This is a very suitable occasion. If a child is afraid, for example, of ghosts or some strange creatures in general, then by giving them a funny form, we help free ourselves from all fears. An example from life. My child began to be afraid of something or someone, he didn’t know what. This was at the age of about four years. In one children's magazine I saw extremely simple instructions on how to make a ghost from a paper napkin: cover the paper ball with a white napkin, tie it with thread, draw eyes and a mouth, and that's it, the ghost is ready. So my son and I made such a ghost. He decided that it would be a guard and protector from everything that he fears. The napkin ghost became my son's guardian, and to this day, it hangs above the bed. This is a simple example of how you can present a child’s fears in funny and kind images.

Of course, everything needs to be done taking into account the child’s age. If the child is still small, then perhaps you shouldn’t focus on this holiday at all. But school-age children and teenagers are usually delighted with it. After all Halloween for kids- this is an opportunity to have fun, joke, dress up in funny costumes, put on Halloween makeup, make a Jack-O-Lantern and other decorations out of a pumpkin, play interesting games, the main thing is that it does not go beyond the limits and does not bother others. And parents can join their kids and have a little fun, just like in childhood.

And here you can watch a wonderful film about the good little ghost “Casper Meets Wendy.”

Read about how to make puff pastry pizza with a funny face

Halloween is one of the oldest holidays in the English-speaking world, second only to Christmas in popularity. And although millions of people celebrate All Hallow's Eve without knowing the origins of this holiday, knowing the history of Halloween and the myths and legends associated with it makes this spooky-fun holiday even more interesting.

And this holiday is quite ambiguous: and although some people consider it a wonderful way to have fun and have fun, some perceive it as a time of superstitions and all sorts of devilry.

Halloween is celebrated on October 31st, the last day of the Celtic calendar. Initially, it was a pagan holiday - a day of honoring the dead. Halloween was called All Hallows Eve (All Hallows Eve), and its roots went back centuries, no less than the beginning of our era.

All Hallows' Eve, as its name suggests, is the evening before All Saints Day, the day Christians dedicated to their patron saints and on which pagans were converted to the faith - November 1st.

Origins of Halloween

According to one version, the authorship of the holiday is attributed to the Druids, a Celtic people who lived in Ireland, Britain and Northern Europe. The ancestor of Halloween was the holiday Samhain (Samhain), which was celebrated at the end of October. Samhain meant the end of summer: and on this day they gave thanks for the harvest, burned sacred bonfires, saying goodbye to the old year and welcoming the new one.

The Celts believed that on this day the souls of the dead wander among the living. In order for the spirits of ancestors to contribute to a good harvest next year, they tried to appease them with treats and gifts. It was this custom that transformed into trick-or-treating, “trick or treat” - a children's Halloween tradition of going from house to house begging for candy.

Many also believe that Halloween is in some way a Christian holiday, because it is celebrated on the eve of All Saints' Day.

9 Myths Behind Halloween Symbols

1 - Witches

The witch outfit is the most popular women's Halloween costume, and the silhouette of a witch on a broom against the backdrop of a full moon is one of the typical symbols of the holiday. It is believed that on the night of November 1, the power of witches increases many times over. The image of a crone witch in a pointy hat, stirring her brew in a huge cauldron, was transformed from the pagan image of the goddess known as the Earth Mother or Crone, symbolizing wisdom and the changing of the seasons.

2 - Jack-o'-Lantern, “Jack's Lantern”

According to Celtic folklore, there was once a cunning Irish farmer named Jack who tried to deceive both God and the Devil. As a result, he did not go to hell or paradise, and from then on he was forced to wander in the darkness of purgatory. In order not to wander in complete darkness, Jack made a lantern from a turnip, inserting into it a coal thrown to him by the devil from hell.

Thus, the jack-o'-lantern (namely, a jack-o'-lantern with an ominous face carved on it) was created to guide lost souls. The ancient Celts placed a jack-o'-lantern on their doorstep to attract the spirits of their ancestors to their home.

3 – Black cats

An eternal symbol of misfortune, the black cat is a popular Halloween image. The reputation of black cats was tarnished back in the days of witch hunts: then the furry companions of witches were considered the embodiment of demonic entities. And many believed that sometimes Satan himself took the image of a black cat.

4 - Bats

According to some medieval beliefs, bats, like black cats, were the embodiment of dark forces. Many believed that if a bat flew around your house three times on All Hallows' Eve, death would come to it. Another chilling myth: if a bat flies into a house on Halloween, it is haunted.

5 - Spiders

Everyone is afraid of spiders: a great symbol of the most terrible holiday of the year! According to an old belief, if a spider falls on a candle and burns in its flames, there is a witch nearby. And another, sad, but romantic myth says: if you see a spider on Halloween, you are protected by the spirit of your deceased lover or lover...

6 - Witch's cauldron

According to the beliefs of the pagan Celts, after death a person’s soul fell into the cauldron (cauldron) of Mother Earth, in which the souls awaited subsequent reincarnation.

7 - Trick or Treat

According to legend, on Halloween the dead walk among the living, and if you refuse a treat to anyone who knocks on your door, you may inadvertently offend the soul of the deceased (which is fraught with dire consequences). That's why the children's tradition of trick-or-treating is so popular: no matter what house you knock on, no one will leave you without a sweet gift.

8 – Corn cobs and sheaves of wheat

Halloween is considered the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter, so ripe wheat and corn are also symbols of this holiday (unfortunately, not scary at all).

9 - Ghosts

On Halloween night, it is believed that the spirits (ghosts) of deceased ancestors wander among the living. Therefore, ghosts are one of the typical symbols of Halloween.

5 Facts About Halloween

1 - Halloween generates profits for stores second only to those from Christmas sales.

A holiday that once did not require special preparation is celebrated in the modern English-speaking world on a grand scale, involving significant expenses. Decorative garlands, decorations for the front lawn, elaborate expensive costumes, tons of candy - all this costs a pretty penny (that is, pennies)!

Harry Houdini died on October 2-31, 1926.

The famous magician died on All Hallows' Eve after being hit in the stomach while performing a trick a week earlier. The blow led to peritonitis, but Houdini never went to the doctor, which was the reason for such a sad end.

3 – Halloween phobia

Samhainophobia is a strong fear of Halloween that causes panic attacks in those susceptible to it. Other phobias at this time of year: wiccaphobia (fear of witches), phasmophobia (fear of ghosts), coimetrophobia (fear of cemeteries).

4 - The first Jack-O-Lanterns weren't made from pumpkins.

Jack-o'-lanterns were originally made from scraped turnips, and it wasn't creepy faces that were carved into turnips, but the faces of dead relatives.

5 - A quarter of all candy sold in the US each year occurs on Halloween.

Despite the fact that Christmas and Thanksgiving are considered the main holidays of gluttony in the United States, Halloween confidently holds the palm in the field of all kinds of candies, candies and chocolates. Kids, beware: 90% of parents admit to eating candy from their trick-or-treat basket. And the most popular, both among adults and children, has been for many years... the Snickers bar!

25 Idioms About Halloween

Witches, ghosts and skeletons

witch-hunt - witch hunt

Persecution of people for false reasons. The expression has its roots in the Middle Ages, when thousands of young women in Europe were killed on suspicion of witchcraft.

He was the victim of a witch-hunt and was fired because of his radical ideas for developing the company.

He became the victim of a witch hunt and was fired for his radical ideas for developing the company.

witching hour - dead of night

“Witching hour” is the dead of night, the very hour when witches, ghosts and other evil spirits are believed to gather for the Sabbath.

I would never leave the house at witching hour on Halloween!

I would never leave the house in the dead of night on Halloween!

skeleton in the cupboard - a terrible secret

The expression “skeleton in the closet” has already entered the Russian language, and it means an old and terrible secret.

Mrs Mills has a skeleton in the cupboard: in 2002 she was caught stealing stationery from her employer.

Mrs. Mills has a terrible secret: in 2002, she was caught stealing office supplies from her employer.

skeleton staff - backbone (of a company, team)

The smallest number of people needed to do the job.

My firm only has a skeleton staff at weekends.

At my company, only the core team is present on weekends.

a ghost town - ghost town

An abandoned city where no one lives anymore.

All the young people have left our village and it’s like a ghost town now.

All the youth have left our village and now it looks like a ghost town.

spirited away - mysteriously abducted

Lit. "spirited away" - disappeared without a trace and inexplicably.
Example:

According to legend, she was spirited away by witches in the middle of the night.

According to legend, she was kidnapped by witches at midnight.

Blood

to chill the blood - to scare

Also to make the blood run cold - to frighten, frighten, lit. "to cool the blood"

The screams from the haunted house made my blood run cold.

The screams from the haunted house made my blood run cold.

in cold blood - cold-blooded

Acting cold-bloodedly or ruthlessly.

They killed their former friend in cold blood.

They killed their former neighbor in cold blood.

to make one’s blood boil - to infuriate

Lit. “make the blood boil” - lead to an extreme degree of rage, rage.

It makes my blood boil to think that he was promoted to Manager before I was.

When I think that he was promoted to manager before me, the blood boils in my veins.

out for one’s blood / after one’s blood - seek revenge

Lit. “thirst for blood” (often used in a humorous context).

We beat them at football, and now they are after our blood.

We beat them in football and now they want revenge.

Weapon

to put / stick the knife in - to do something mean, unpleasant

Lit. "stab the knife"

He really put the knife in when he told her that nobody at work liked her.

He literally stuck a knife in her back when he told her that no one at work liked her.

to look daggers at - “look like a wolf” at someone.

Lit. "look at smb. with daggers": throwing evil glances, "throwing lightning."

Her husband’s ex-wife looked daggers at her.

Her husband's ex-wife glared at her.

to stab in the back - betray

Lit. "stab in the back"

We let him stay in our home, but he stabbed us in the back by telling lies about us to everyone.

We allowed him to stay in our house, but he stabbed us in the back, spreading false rumors about us.

Owls, rats, bats and cats

bats in the belfry - “not everyone is at home”

If someone has “bats in the bell tower,” this means that this person is eccentric or a little crazy.

I think my neighbor has bats in the belfry: his house is full of thousands of old newspapers and magazines.

I think my neighbor is a little “that”: there are thousands of old newspapers and magazines in his house.

a night owl - “owl” (temperament)

Lit. A "night owl" is a person who is more active at night than during the day.

I’m a night owl: I do my best work in the evenings and at night.

I am a night owl: I work better in the evenings and at night.

to smell a rat - to smell a catch

Lit. “smell a rat”: feel a catch, suspect deception.

Her new boyfriend said he is a doctor, but I smell a rat: I think he’s lying.

Her new boyfriend said he was a doctor, but I suspect deception: I think he's lying.

a rat - traitor

Lit. “rat” (after all, they are the first to flee a sinking ship).

He's a rat. He sold our plans for the new business to a rival company.

He's a traitor. He sold our plans for a new venture to a competing company.

not a cat in hell’s chance - not the slightest chance

Initially, the expression sounded like this: “No more chance than a cat in hell without claws.” Complete lack of chance, hopeless situation.

We hadn’t a cat in hell’s chance of rescuing our possessions from the fire.
We did not have the slightest chance of saving our property from the fire.

Fear

to be scared stiff - to petrify with fear

To be frightened to the point of complete immobility.

I was scared stiff when I saw the ghostly face at my window.

When I saw the ghost's face in the window, fear gripped me.

to scare the pants off someone - to greatly scare someone.

Scare until you lose consciousness, the hell out of you, until you die (literally, “until your pants drop”).

Halloween scares the pants off me!

Halloween scares the crap out of me!

Madness

a Jekyll and Hyde personality - dual personality

An expression referring to Dr. Jekyll - Mr. Hyde, the character of R. L. Stevenson ("The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde"). A personality that combines opposing character traits, positive and negative.

Everybody thinks he is a lovely old man, but he can be very cruel and heartless: he has a Jeckyll and Hyde personality.

Everyone thinks he's a charming old man, but he's very cruel and heartless: a dual personality.

as mad as a hatter - out of your mind

If someone is “mad as a hatter,” he is absolutely insane. The origin of this expression is believed to have been influenced by the fact that hatters used mercury in their work and this caused them nervous disorders, which made them look like crazy people.

Be careful when you talk to him, he’s as mad as a hatter.

Be careful when talking to him, he is absolutely insane.

bedlam - complete confusion, disorder

The word comes from the name Bethlem Royal Hospital (Bethlem Royal Hospital, St. Mary of Bethlehem Hospital) - a London hospital for the mentally ill.

It’s the school holidays and it’s bedlam in our house.

It's the school holidays and our house is in chaos.

to be driven out of one’s mind - “to go crazy”

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This cheerful and creepy holiday, thanks to its mysterious atmosphere, has managed to fall in love with both adults and children. If you have managed to retain childlike spontaneity and a love of adventure in your soul, Halloween is exactly the holiday that simply needs to be included in the set of your family traditions. Coming to us from afar, it will introduce you and your children to the festive culture of other countries, and joint preparation for it will give you many pleasant moments of creativity and communication.

Children's Halloween Party: Fun Trouble

How to decorate your house for Halloween? There are many options! And if you consider that all children are initially talented, there will be no end to interesting solutions.

Here are a few ideas to consider:

1. Decorate the walls and doors with funny signs and posters, drawn, of course, together with the children. The content of the signs may be as follows: “Door to the fifth dimension”, “Beware of hungry mosquitoes”, “No biting!”, “Don’t scare away the bats”, “Scary room”, etc.

2. Charming ghosts cut out of a sheet of whatman paper will be happy to be placed on the walls and ceilings of your home.

3. Thematic figures – bats, spiders, pumpkins, etc. You can also cut them out of colored paper and hang them around your apartment, or you can decorate the windows with them. By the way, such thematic stickers can be purchased at almost any stationery store.

4. Cut autumn branches will help create a magical holiday atmosphere.

5. A variety of Halloween figurines, purchased in a store (very cute figurines are sold in the Red Cube chain of stores) or made by yourself, will decorate window sills and bookshelves.

6. Pumpkins! The more of them there are at the holiday, the better. From a couple of large pumpkins you can make holiday lamps with funny faces, and use the rest to decorate the room.

7. It's hard to imagine Halloween without the mysterious flickering of candles. Candles create an amazing atmosphere, but be careful - fire safety measures must be observed at a children's party.

8. Autumn leaves, straw and other natural materials are the best you can think of for decorating your home and holiday table.

9. You can easily draw terribly cute tantamaresques depicting all kinds of monsters and ghosts yourself on a sheet of whatman paper, and then cut out holes for the face and hands. The main thing here is not artistic skill, but the love and care that you put into your creations!

10. Decide in advance how much fun your house can handle, and make cute invitations in the form of pumpkins or autumn leaves for all guests.

Children's Halloween party: festive table

“Cheap and cheerful” - a festive table draped with black and orange mesh, which can be purchased at any fabric store, will look very impressive. Make the same one, and secure all the knots and folds with decorative spiders. It is good to additionally decorate the table with a natural composition of pumpkins, leaves and candles and other Halloween paraphernalia.

The holiday menu should consist of healthy dishes from children's cuisine , decorated and named according to the holiday theme. For example: all kinds of pumpkin dishes - stew served in a hollowed out pumpkin, golden pancakes, pumpkin pie; juices and compotes are predominantly red, but you should always have an alternative option for children who do not want to eat red foods due to allergies; salads decorated in the form of shapeless monsters with eyes made of olives or peas; vegetable and fruit slices in the form of eyes, smiling jaws, etc. – there are no limits to imagination here. Sandwiches, pies, and cookies can also be decorated in the most amazing way.

Children's Halloween Party: Costumes

Any themed holiday involves dressing up, and Halloween is no exception. You can purchase ready-made costumes, or you can make a costume yourself. Anything that somehow resonates with our theme will be a suitable option: a vampire robe, a pirate outfit, a witch or ghost costume - all of this is spot on.
Take care of the attire for your guests. Of course, they will probably not come empty-handed, but just in case, prepare some elements of costumes for the invited children and adults - just enjoy the walk!

Children's Halloween: games and competitions

1. Test. When opening the Halloween party, arrange a “test” for the kids to test their knowledge of the habits of otherworldly inhabitants:
- to the most terrible howl;
- to the loudest stomp;
- knowledge of traditional scary dance (dance competition for attentiveness when repeating movements).

These “tests” will help to involve children in the festive process and activate their attention.

2. Repeated horror story. Now the guys move single file behind the leader, repeating the words and movements after him:

We are entering a dark forest ( take a few sneaking steps forward),
Where are the trees up to the sky? pull your hands up)!
Let's wander along the path ( a few more steps),
Let's wander into the thicket of the forest ( spread our fingers out to look like tree branches).
We reach the ravine ( sneaking around),
Oh, we'll be afraid ( we're shaking):
There's a roar everywhere, a howl everywhere ( we stomp and make scary sounds) –
It's time for us to run home ( children run in all directions and hide in all directions, and the leader tries to catch them)!

3. Hungry monster. This charming monster with an open mouth must be drawn in advance on a sheet of Whatman paper and glued to a cardboard base. The monster's mouth is cut off, and a stand is glued to the back of this structure so that the cardboard can stand on the floor. You can also use a tall box, on one of the wide sides of which a monster is drawn and its mouth is cut out. The children’s task is to “feed” the monster by throwing tennis or plastic balls into its open mouth. The one who hits the target the most times wins.

4. Crossing the swamp. For this competition, prepare hummocks cut out of paper or leftover linoleum. Children will need to “go through the swamp”, stepping only onto saving hummocks. One participant is given three bumps, after completing a step, he must move one bump forward and take the next step, etc. The game is a relay race. The fastest participant (or team) wins.

5. “Take care of your eyes!” Another relay game. We will need a tablespoon and a tennis ball painted to look like an eyeball. Participants need to quickly and very carefully bring the “eye” in the spoon to its destination. The team that can complete the task faster and more accurately wins.

6. Dinner for a witch. Under the guidance of the leader, children will need to find dinner ingredients scattered and hung around the room in advance: rubber snakes, lizards, various insects, bats and spiders. The presenter reads the recipe, for example: for the roast we will need 15 bats, 2 cockroaches, 10 caterpillars, etc., and the guys look around the room for the ingredients in the right quantities. A small snack after such a competition suggests itself!

7. Path of Terror. While the children are busy in the hall, quietly lay out in the hallway or corridor several cardboard boxes with different fillings that are unpleasant to the touch: wet moss, crumpled newspaper, rustling bags, a damp rag, a heating pad with warm water. When everything is ready, invite the children to walk along this scary path one by one. The main condition: the participants’ eyes must be closed and they must walk barefoot.

8. Vampires. Before the competition begins, tell the legend that we have entered the domain of a vampire lord and are obliged to follow the rules of the vampires' daily routine. Together with the guys, we remember what time of day they sleep and what time they are awake. We choose a “victim” and place it near the window. And the “vampires” - all the other children - are located on the opposite side of the room in their “crypt”. The children’s task is to move only when the leader announces the onset of night, and freezing in place at the word “day,” to try to catch the victim as quickly as possible. Whoever catches it wins.

9. Little artists. Children are given orange balloons and black permanent (others may smudge) markers. You need to draw a Halloween monster on the ball. The funniest grimace wins.

10. Night rest. Do you remember the indescribable delight and horror that various scary stories caused you in childhood? Light a candle, sit the children around it and announce a scary story competition. The candle is carefully passed from one participant to another, and the one near whom the candle stops must tell his “horror story.” The main thing here is not to overdo it and end too creepy stories on an optimistic note, causing smiles and laughter. Believe me, the amazing atmosphere, fascinating stories and the opportunity to dream a little will bring a lot of pleasure to both storytellers and listeners.

Don’t forget about the festive disco with fun dance competitions: with balloons squeezed between your bellies - for the friendliest couple, with a mop in his hands - for the most cheerful and active witch, with repetition of movements - for care and accuracy and etc.

And finish the competition part at a festively set table, “planting” a pre-cleaned pumpkin with all sorts of sweets suitable for the theme in the center of the table - licorice candies in the shape of worms, “scary” chewing marmalade and figured cookies.

Interesting ideas and happy holidays!

©2011 Attention! The script was developed specifically for the Prazdnodar website: encyclopedia of holidays. Full or partial reprinting of the material and its publication on other websites is possible only with the written consent of its author and the editors of the site. Attempts at unauthorized use of materials for commercial purposes are illegal and will be prosecuted.