Halloween is the night of 31 October. In the United States and Canada, children put on costumes and go from house to house asking for sweets, saying “trick or treat.” Families carve faces in pumpkins, hang paper ghosts, and throw parties that play at being scary. The night is known in Britain and Ireland too, with costumes and gatherings, though the American-style candy walk is strongest in North America. The name is older than the sweets: it is the evening before All Saints’ Day (1 November). Long ago, people believed the souls of the dead could appear that night — which is why the fun still wears skeletons and witches, even though for most families now it is a children’s evening, not a holy day. In Taiwan you will see costumes and shop displays, but it is not a public holiday.