The color orange has infiltrated the stores, pumpkin beers are on the shelves at the supermarket and that holiday-loving house down the street has even covered their front bushes in cobwebs.
Yes, it's Halloween time again.
While the United States certainly leads the world in Halloween spirit-and Halloween-related spending-other haunted holidays are common around the world.
These festivities are typically centered around the idea that the deceased are able to come back to visit the living world on certain nights each year. The following are a few of the most tradition-rich.
Day of the Dead, Mexico
If you are in Mexico during Day of the Dead (celebrated October 31st to November 2nd), the first thing you are bound to notice is the smell of sweet pan de muerto (bread of the dead) wafting through the air, skeleton decorations everywhere and the presence of colorful "ofrendas" scattered throughout the country's cemeteries.
Families fill ofrendas with vibrant flowers, trinkets and examples of the deceased's favorite food and drinks. They will then typically spend the night "with" their relatives at the cemetery having a somber-but certainly festive-time together.
Some towns even hold lively Day of the Dead fiestas-like Mixquic on the outskirts of Mexico City-where things take on an almost carnival-like atmosphere.
Hungry Ghost Festival, China
In many regions of China-and places where people with Chinese heritage live-restless spirits are said to roam the earth around each year during the Hungry Ghost Festival.
The festival takes place in late August or early September (the precise date changes each year due to the lunar calendar) and offers the chance for the living to connect with the dead.
People will burn incense, have parties, burn fake money for their relatives to use in the afterlife and hold street concerts. At some of the Hungry Ghost Festival concerts, the first few rows will be left completely empty. Why? For ghosts to watch the show.
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Bonfire Night, Great Britain
Roaring bonfires light up the British sky each year on November 5, while people munch on spiced gingerbread-esque cake called parkin.
Bonfire Night is most commonly known as the commemoration of a failed plot to blow up Parliament on November 5, 1605, by a man named Guy Fawkes and a band of co-conspirators.
Two of its traditions, however, have their roots in pagan people's early celebrations of Samhain-the predecessor of Halloween. Bonfires used to be lit on hills all over Britain on November 1 to signify the start of winter, and there are also records of special cakes being served during this time.
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Obon, Japan
Japan's version of the Walking Ghost Festival is called Obon, and it takes place each year from August 13 to 16.
The festival is said to have its roots in a tale about a man who had special powers that allowed him to see his deceased mother. He discovered her in a terrible state and was told by Buddha to make sacrifices in order to help her.
During Obon in Japan, families reunite and pay homage to passed-on family members by stuffing home altars with summer fruits and lighting indoor lanterns. The festival finishes with the awesome sight of paper lanterns being floated down a river to symbolize relatives returning to the spirit world.
In Nagasaki, the Spirit Boat Procession attracts the crowds as this firework-fueled parade shows off meticulously-detailed vessels full of lanterns.
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