A Special Witches' Brew Trivia Quiz

Answer: Pumpkin

Pumpkin is a very large fruit that grows from a tiny seed. Once the fruit are ripe, they can be harvested and the pulp inside used to make savoury heart-warming soups, or lightly spiced, sweet pastry pies served with fresh cream. Once the pulp has been removed, scary faces can be cut into the outside and then candles placed inside the empty skin to make Jack-o'-lanterns. Make sure you have an adult with you as sharp knives can be dangerous!

Answer: Yes

Yes, there is a real vampire bat and it lives in South America. It got its name because it comes out at night-time and feeds on the blood of mammals and birds living in the wild. The scientific name for this is type of diet is hematophagy. Bats have always symbolised Halloween, as well as black cats, vampires, witches and ghosts.

Answer: Death by chocolate

There was a quote by an anonymous person which said "If I must die let it be death by chocolate". People associate chocolate with intense feelings, especially at Easter, Christmas and Halloween. This is because it has a natural drug called phenylethylamine (pronounced fennel-ethel-ay-meen) which lifts our mood and makes us happy. Most people enjoy eating chocolate, especially in cakes, cookies, brownies or even pieces shaped like ghoulies, ghosties, frogs and vampires.

Answer: Poltergeist

A vampire is a being from folklore who attacks people then pierces their skin with sharp fangs to drink their blood. A werewolf is a creature who comes out during a full moon. A zombie is a dead person who has come back to life. A poltergeist is a playful ghost who throws objects around and makes loud noises.

Answer: Deviled eggs

The devil is a cruel and evil spirit. A deviled egg is a stuffed egg which is very tasty. It is made easily by hard-boiling an egg and then removing the shell. The egg is sliced in half. The yolk is removed, then mashed with mayonnaise and mustard before spooning back into the cooked egg-white.

These can be decorated at Halloween to look like eyeballs, especially if you have food colouring to make the whites of the "eye" look bloodshot.

Answer: False

There are three special days celebrated at the end of October and beginning of November by some Western religions. They can get easily mixed up. All Hallow's Eve (Halloween) is celebrated on 31st October to ask for protection against evil spirits. Hallow is another word for "saint". All Saints' Day is held on 1st of November and dedicated to Saints of the church. All Souls' Day is celebrated on 2nd November to honour the dead.

Answer: Apple

Candy apple, or toffee apple, is associated with the autumn months as this is the time of year when they are harvested from trees. Bobbing for apples dates back hundreds of years, although nobody is sure when they were linked to Halloween. Apples are placed in a bowl of water so they bob at the top.

The aim of the game is to dunk your head in the water, grasping for an apple between your teeth without using your hands.

Answer: Raspberry jam

There are many ways to imitate the look of real blood in food. In sweet foods like biscuits and cookies, strawberry or raspberry jam can be used. In savoury foods, tomato sauce or ketchup can be used. Edible food colouring is another alternative which can be added to sugar icing to decorate the top of celebration cakes and smaller cupcakes.

Answer: Skull

The skull is a bone associated with Halloween. Skulls and skeletons represent the end of physical life, and according to myth, can come back to life if they are taken over by evil spirits. Adults and children who wear costumes at Halloween can sometimes dress up as a spooky skeleton.

They are more effective if the costume is made from black material with a glow-in-the-dark skeleton outline added.

Answer: Autumn harvest

The two colours often seen at Halloween are orange and black. Orange represents the autumn harvest; the time of year when fruit including pumpkins are ripe, orange and rust coloured leaves fall off the trees, and fires burn, sending heady wood smoke plumes into the air. Black is the colour of death. It is also the colour of black cats, witches' hats, iron cauldrons and dark midnight walks through the graveyard at night.

Once you have finished trick-or-treating, there are plenty of scary children's films to watch, such as "Casper", "Hocus Pocus", "The Worst Witch" or "The Witches", a wonderful story by Roald Dahl about a witch's plot to kill children that is foiled by a young boy.

And when they day has ended, go to bed and listen to the creaking floorboards as the rest of the house goes to sleep, while other-worldly beings come to life...bwahahaha!