Autora: Verónica Amaro Bermejo

Welcome back to our English section where we will try to make your learning easier and funnier.

Last month, we talked you about the basic skills we are going to work on in this section; listening, reading, speaking and writing. Well, as you know, we celebrate on the 31 of October, an Anglo-Saxon tradition that is increasingly visible in the rest of the world.

Here you can find some Halloween resources for you to work these four skills, mainly listening and reading, and at the same time you will enjoy learning English very much.

HORROR MOVIES

Ghostbusters(1984)

Three unemployed parapsychology professors open a business as a ghost removal service. Armed with electronic paraphernalia, the team is spectacularly successful, ridding The Big Apple of dozens of ghosts and beasties.

The exorcist (1973)

The Exorcist is a 1973 American supernatural horror film directed by William Friedkin, adapted by William Peter Blatty from his 1971 novel of the same name. The book, inspired by the 1949 exorcism case of Roland Doe, deals with the demonic possession of a 12-year-old girl and her mother’s desperate attempts to win back her child through an exorcism conducted by two priests.

Poltergeist

Poltergeist is a 1982 American supernatural thriller film, directed by Tobe Hooper and co-written and produced by Steven Spielberg. It is the first and most successful entry in the Poltergeist film series. Set in a California suburb, the plot focuses on a family whose home is invaded by malevolent ghosts that abduct the family’s younger daughter.

The shining (1980)

The Shining is a 1980 British-American psychological horror film produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick, co-written with novelist Diane Johnson, and starring Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd, and Scatman Crothers. The film is based on Stephen King’s 1977 novel of the same name, although the film and novel differ in significant ways. In the film, Jack Torrance, a writer and recovering alcoholic, takes a job as an off-season caretaker at the isolate…

Zoombieland (2009)

A shy student trying to reach his family in Ohio, a gun-toting tough guy trying to find the last Twinkie, and a pair of sisters trying to get to an amusement park join forces to travel across a zombie-filled America.

An American Werewolf in London

It is a 1981 horror comedy film written and directed by John Landis. The film starts with two young American men, David Kessler and Jack Goodman, on a backpacking holiday in England. Following a tense visit to a village pub, they are attacked by a werewolf, which results in Jack’s death and David being taken to…

Shaun of the dead (2005)

It is a 2004 British horror comedy film directed by Edgar Wright and written by Wright and Simon Pegg, and starring Pegg and Nick Frost. Pegg plays Shaun, a man attempting to get some kind of focus in his life as he deals with his girlfriend, his mother and stepfather. At the same time, he has to cope with an apocalyptic zombie uprising.

Young Frankenstein (1974)

It is a comedy. An American grandson of the infamous scientist, struggling to prove that he is not as crazy as people believe, he is invited to Transylvania, where he discovers the process that reanimates a dead body.

HALLOWEEN EXPRESSIONS:

Let’s go trick or treating! (¡Vámonos a hacer truco o trato!)

Let’s get dressed up! (¡Vamos a disfrazarnos!)

Where is your costume? (¿Dónde está tu disfraz?)

What are you dressing up as? (¿De qué vas a ir disfrazado?)

Time for some make-up. (Hora de maquillarse)

Have you got your candy bag? (tienes tu bolsa para recoger dulces)

That’s a scary costume. (Ese disfraz da miedo)

Let’s make a Jack o lantern. (Vamos a hacer una calabaza de Halloween)

Ring the doorbell. (Llama a la puerta)

HALLOWEEN VOCABULARY:

There are several words you can use to say that someone is scared (or that you are scared).

Terrifying: Aterrador.

That costume is terrifiyng = Ese disfraz es aterrador 

        You can use it to describe something that really scares you, like a ghost, a costume, a movie.

Terrific: This word can be a False friend, a word that look or sound similar to “terrible”, but it differs significantly in meaning.

Terrifying is terrorífico and terrific is genial, fenomenal.

Horrifying: Terrorífico.
That horror movie was horrifying= Esa película de horror fue terrorífica.
You can use it to describe a particular place or situation that scares you.

Paralyzing fear: Miedo paralizante.

When I saw that monster, I was paralyzed by fear= Cuando vi a ese monstruo quedé paralizado por el miedo.

        You can use it to talk about situations where you are so terrified that you do not know how to react.

Spooky: Escalofriante.
That house have something strange, is spooky = Esa casa tiene algo, es escalofriante.
You can use it when you are feeling insecure in a place.

Goosebumps: Escalofríos.
He was seing me with those weird eyes, it gave me goosebumps = Me estaba viendo con esos ojos tan raros, me dio escalofríos.

        It is used to talk about that rare sensation similar to tickling, which runs your back when you are nervous.