ESL Halloween Writing

A good way to learn vocabulary is by doing exercises, such as these ESL Halloween writing activities, as they give you time to work slowly, think about and then use the best option. It is often best to start with writing exercises and then move on to speaking or listening ones.

This page has 4 Halloween writing exercises to help you learn the ESL Halloween vocabulary. The exercises are as follows:

• Various topics for you to write about.
• Reading a passage and writing a summary of it.
• Describing some data that is presented in graphs.
• Writing role-plays.

Scroll down to find the ESL Halloween writing exercise you want to do, or even better, just do them all starting from the first one.

ESL Halloween Writing Exercises

Exercise 1 – Writing Topics

Below are 3 writing topics. You should choose one and then write as much as you can about it. Use full sentences and try to use the new vocabulary you have learnt. If you need to, search for information on the Internet before starting to write.

• Describe what you think the best Halloween costume would look like.
• Describe the sort of decorations that people use at Halloween.
• Explain the Halloween celebrations that happen in your home country, or why they do not happen. 

Exercise 2 – Writing a Summary

Below you have a written passage about different types of scary costumes that people might wear at Halloween. Write a summary of the passage so that it is shorter than the original but still has all of the important information.

Summary Passage

There are many different types of costumes that you can wear to a Halloween part. Some people like to make their own, while others will buy something from a supermarket that is quite cheap or alternatively some people hire their costumes from a shop. 

At Halloween most people want to either dress-up as a scary creature or as something funny. The best Halloween costumes are the frightening ones as they are what Halloween is all about.

Some of the most common scary Halloween costumes are of ghosts. There are many different types of ghosts from poltergeists to spirits. The most basic Halloween ghost costume is to use a big white sheet. You cut two holes for your eyes so you can see out and then cover yourself with the sheet. Alternatively you can wear old style clothes and make them look a bit white to be a ghost. If you do this you will need to use face-paint to make your face pale.

You could also go as a vampire, which is a monster that lives in a coffin and comes out at nighttime to drink the blood of people. Traditionally vampires would be expected to have fangs, long teeth, dark black hair and smart but old fashioned clothes. Again people would use face-paint to make it look like they had been drinking blood.

Another common type of monster for people to dress up like is a werewolf. This is a person who looks like a wolf, so the costume would normally have lots of extra hair on the person’s hands and face. Again face-paint might be used to paint the face of the person so it looks more like a dog. 

There are also a lot of other ideas for you when you are looking for a Halloween costume.

Exercise 3 – Describing Data

For this ESL Halloween writing task there are two graphs with data and information about Halloween. The first shows what percentage of people take part in different activities related to Halloween. The second shows the types of costumes that children wear at Halloween. You should explain what each graph shows.

Exercise 4 – Writing Role-plays

In this ESL Halloween writing exercise you have been given two situation and you need to write a role-play of what might happen in each of the situations. You should write what each of the participants would say. Think about the location and situation carefully so what is said matches the situation.

Role-play 1

• Participants: 2 children, children’s parent, home owner
• Location: At the front door of a house
• Situation: A parent is taking their two children trick-or-treating and they knock on the door of a house.

Role-play 2

• Participants: Shop owner, 2 customers
• Location: Costume shop
• Situation: It is Halloween and two people want to hire costumes from a costume shop for a party, but nearly all the costumes have gone and there is not much left for them to choose from.