17 Questions Britain Has For America About Halloween

Who is Jack and why is he a lantern?

1. Why do you dress up as non-spooky things?

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Isn't the idea to dress as something scary?

2. And why exactly are animals such a popular costume choice?

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Black cats I can understand, they're BFFs with witches, but why would anyone dress up as a Bernese mountain dog?

3. Do your haunted houses stay up all year, or are they a Halloween-only type deal?

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The closest we have to haunted houses in the UK are "ghost trains", because what other country thinks, You know what would make this even more fun? If we turned it into a commute.

4. What exactly is candy corn?

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They look kind of look like teeth, which is a little creepy, at least.

5. And why do you only eat it at halloween?

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It's not like corn can only be harvested in October.

6. Speaking of seasonal food, why are pumpkins an October-only thing?

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OK, so pumpkin spice has kind of bucked the trend a little, but the general pumpkin flavour definitely reaches its peak in October.

7. And why do you call them jack-o'-lanterns?

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Who is Jack and why is he a lantern?

8. Also, how are you all so good at pumpkin carving?

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Seriously, do they teach you how to do it at school?

9. Are babysitters terrified on Halloween?

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They should at least charge double during the month of October.

10. Why do you go so overboard on decorating your houses?

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Hats off to you, it's very impressive.

11. What the deal with the throwing toilet paper rolls over people's houses?

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Such a waste of good toilet paper.

12. Or even worse, throwing eggs?

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Even sadder waste of good eggs.

13. Isn't trick-or-treating at the houses of complete strangers just a little dangerous?

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We also trick-or-treat in the UK, but generally speaking we stick to the houses of people we know.

14. Why does the celebration seemingly last ALL of October?

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So many days of horror and fright.

15. Does every street have that one place you get in the movies where all the kids are scared of?

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You know the place: the overly-wooden looking house with the dilapidated porch and curtains that you swear you saw move that one time.

16. And are the parties as good as they seem in TV shows and movies?

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Halloween parties in Britain involve awkwardly chatting in a circle and wearing a witch's hat while Michael Jackson's "Thriller" plays for the 67th time that night.

17. Is all of the effort worth it in the end?

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Honestly, it kind of seems like it is.