How do you sign ‘Halloween’ in BSL? Or any other spooky sign? Well, read on to find out the signs that will make any Halloween fun and super scary! Trick or treating is a favourite time of year for lots of children. In fact, many Deaf communities get together at this time of year to enjoy the spooky festival. Learn the signs so you can have frightening fun too!
The clip (below) from YouTube shows you how to sign a number of Halloween related BSL signs. The video by Ashlee is from MeSign BSL, a BSL course provider based in North East England.
Our BSL tutors chose this video as it includes most of the relevant BSL signs for Halloween. The BSL signs in the video include:
Ghost – 0:19 Pumpkin – 0:25 Vampire – 0:30 Blood – 0.36 Dress up/ costume – 0.41 Spider – 0.47 Spider Web – 0.54
Bat 1:00 Werewolf 1:09 Film 1:16 Frightened 1:23 Sweets 1:28 Trick or treat 1:34 Funny 1:41 Food 1:48 Witch 1:54
Pirate 2:00 Dead 2:06 Party 2:12 Devil 2:23 Dark 2:29 Strange 2:35
An alternative video by Beckyyhelen has signs for: Happy Halloween, vampire, bat, ghost, full moon, Frankenstein, werewolf, zombie, mummy, witch, black cat, pumpkin, trick or treat, costume, skeleton, blood
Regional variations of BSL signs for Halloween
There are regional variations for a number of BSL signs including the signs for Halloween. For example, we have added two signs for vampire to this post. We found another two signs for vampire on SignBSL.
There are historical reasons for regional variations. The most important point to take away is that all the different signs are correct. The key is to know which sign is used in your region. The best way to find out is to connect with your local Deaf group and interact with native signers from your area.
Other Resources for Halloween in BSL
If you need other (paper-based) resources, there are Halloween related books and downloadable sign lists:
Let’s Sign have free BSL Halloween resources you can download. Alternatively, you can buy a BSL Halloween signs* book from Amazon or directly from the Lets Sign website. They also have a Halloween number quiz with signs and pictures.
Signature also have Halloween flashcards that you can download for free.
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