Acrostics—A popular early twentieth-century American Halloween event, presented as either a party GAME or part of a school presentation (along with PLAYS, RECITATIONS, MONOLOGS and EXERCISES). In an acrostic, each letter of the word Halloween is used to spell out a Halloween activity (if presented onstage, each letter would be carried by a different child, entering one at a time until the name was spelled out across the stage). Here’s a typical Halloween acrostic by Alice Crowell Hoffman:

H appy children pranking,
A pples bobbing, too,
L ively little brownies
L ooking straight at you.
O wls with mournful hooting,
W itches riding sticks,
E lves and cats and goblins,
E ach one up to tricks.
N ow it can be plainly seen

That at last it’s Halloween!

SOURCE:

The Halloween Encyclopedia Second Edition written by Lisa Morton © 2011 Lisa Morton. All rights reserved