Last October, I was making small talk with a man and his daughter whom I’d met at an outdoor arts installation. He was visiting from Australia and wanted advice about good places in our city to visit with his child. As we chatted, I asked him what he thought about American Halloween—after all, pumpkins, ghosts, witches, and orange decor seemed to be everywhere! He responded, “I am a Christian. We do not celebrate Halloween—it is a night full of evil.”
It became clear to me, in that moment, how unique our American celebration of Halloween is—and how vastly different it is from the ways Halloween may be viewed in other parts of the world. (South African writer Bronwyn Lea penned some thoughts along these lines for CT in “My First American Halloween.”) Here in the States, devoted Christians have various responses to Halloween. For many Christians (including my family), Halloween is viewed primarily as a cultural or folk holiday—an opportunity to participate with friends in fun activities like dressing up, sharing candy, welcoming neighbors, and showing kindness to others in one’s community. Other Christians approach Halloween quite differently—abstaining from it entirely or participating in alternative events such as church fall festivals geared toward games and family activities.
The controversy around Halloween is nothing new; in this article from our CT archives, Harold Myra unpacks some of Halloween’s history and practices, examining various Christian responses. And in this piece, Elesha Coffman takes us back even farther, looking closely at the original history of the celebration. While Christians today may approach the holiday differently, we all unite around our acknowledgement that the devil is real—and that we must stand strong against the forces of evil. In this article, Chris Pappalardo looks at the reality of spiritual warfare and how it relates both to Halloween and our faith in Jesus’ ultimate victory over the Evil One.
I’ve selected some additional featured articles below that put forth various views on how Christians can respond to Halloween as well as a story of how one church reacted when evil was done to them (and how a life was radically changed in the process!) and an article looking at confusion young people may face as they interact with our culture. Whether you and your kids celebrate Halloween in your neighborhood tonight or you focus on other expressions of family fun, may we all warmly share the light of Christ to those who are living in darkness.
