Woman in a Halloween costume from the Victorian Era.
Some people’s Halloween decorations don’t sit well with me, like the really gory ones or anything with Pennywise the Clown. (Why is Pennywise everywhere? I watched a drawing tutorial for drawing a cute pumpkin Pusheen the other night and Pennywise was in the queue of other cute Halloween drawing tutorials. Suddenly we need to involve Pennywise even in cute Halloween things.) Most haunted attractions don’t sit well with me either. The darkness and gore seems totally unnecessary to me and as someone who has been reading about war crimes and atrocities since the age of 9, I don't feel thrilled by the weird gore and violence and darkness. The people who design things seem to be enchanted by something they think of as being pretend, but it’s all too real.
But on the other hand, the arguments for not celebrating Halloween haven’t sat well with me and the alternatives sometimes leave a bad taste in my mouth. From what I have been able to deduce, the arguments against Christians celebrating Halloween seem to fall into three categories: it has its origins in devil worship, its origins are pagan, and other people do terrible things on Halloween. I don’t feel that any of these are a really good explanation for not celebrating Halloween and some are just outright false.
A Holiday About The Devil?
Cauldron with antlered Celtic god Cerunnos.
The first argument is the one that annoys me the most because it’s so blatantly false. Halloween comes from the Christian holiday All Hallow’s Day, though some of the traditions go farther back into the Celtic festival of Samhain. And Samhain seems to be where the fallacy that Halloween is rooted in devil worship starts. The argument goes that the pagan Celts were worshipping the devil on Samhain.
But Samhain actually had nothing to do with devil worship. First of all, because they were pagans, the Celts didn’t have a concept of God or Satan. They were a nature worshipping polytheistic society (Ancient Celtic Religion). and Samhain was the god of winter, while Bael was the god of summer. The Celts believed they must worship both and Samhain was the time to pay homage to the god of winter. Samhain occurred in fall as the last of the warm summer days were ending. They believed that at this time, spirits—both good and bad—were closer to humans than any other time of year, which is why they dressed in animal skins to try and fool the bad spirits. The bonfires guided spirits back to the world of the living (Smithsonian Magazine). At least we think so. There’s a lot we don’t know for sure. Much of what we have accepted about Samhain as fact comes from Victorian era scholars who didn’t have sources to back up what they published about Samhain and the Celts. It does seem as though they relied on oral and folk traditions from the 19th century when they put together a construct of Samhain as a new year celebration for the dead and All Saints and All Hallows’ Day. but we don’t actually know for sure. These scholars stated that All Saints and All Hallows Day were instituted to root out paganism by the Carolingian emperor Louis the Pious in 835 at the behest of Pope Gregory IV, but the writings of the English monk, Bede, showed that a feast for the dead had already been established in the early 700s in England. The Sanas Mccormaic, which was the foundation for many of the conceptions of Samhain as the Celtic new year and feast for the dead, was added to and changed and eventually edited over the centuries, meaning that it’s information isn’t a firsthand account of the holiday (Hutton, 2024). All Saints Day was originally on May 13 when it started in 732, but Pope Gregory moved it to November 1 in the 9th century because of the many pilgrims traveling to Rome for the day and the reasoning seems to be that November had milder weather for traveling to Rome (Faith Notre Dame, n.d.) All Hallows Day actually bears a resemblance to a Roman festival called Lemuria. Lemuria was celebrated on May 9, 11, and 13th called and it was a time to cast out malevolent spirits that were believed to haunt the living and cause misfortune (Digital Maps of the Ancient World). So while All Hallows Day might have some pagan roots, they’re not Celtic roots, they might be Roman.
Furthermore, for ancient peoples who didn’t have clocks and calendars, natural phenomena would have been the distinctive factor for placing the time of a festival. And in fall the most distinctive natural event that occurs is the autumnal equinox, so it would seem more logical that ancient Celts would have celebrated a feast on the equinox, rather November 1, which isn’t any more distinctive than October 30 or November 2. In fact, the four festivals that are attributed to the Celts and the days they were celebrated (Beltane 1, Lughnasadh (August 1), Samhain (November 1) and Imbolc (February 1), were documented during the medieval period and were speculated by medieval writers to be of a pagan origin (Celtic Religion). We really don’t have any documented date from antiquity about when the Celts celebrated Samhain. So the idea that All Hallows and All Souls Days were ordered by the pope to combat paganism isn’t anything we have proof for. It is possible that rather than All Hallows Day trying to supplant the pagan holiday of Samhain, Samhain might have been the medieval product of blending older (possibly pagan) traditions with Christian traditions by moving equinox festivities to the Christian holiday on November 1. And both Samhain and All Hallows Day may have also been influenced by Roman festivals like Keep in mind that the Celtic period where it was just the Celts without Roman or Christian influences was between roughly 500 BC and 100 AD (Celts). Anything after that, is subject to the influences of Roman culture (the Romans had several festivals related to harvests and the dead) and later Christianity. Even medieval scholars were writing about 500 to 1000 years after the Celts were the predominant group in Europe.
In fact, we know very little about the Celts and their religious beliefs and practices. They didn’t write anything down, so all we have to rely on are accounts of Greeks and Romans (some of which may contain significant bias or even false information— there’s still no archaeological evidence of a wicker man), early Christian commentaries, and archaeological evidence (Ancient Celtic Religion). So any attempt to definitively pin down Celtic religious beliefs, especially before the Romans took over, and practices is shaky at best. And what we have been told about Samhain is largely the result of reverse engineering the holiday from traditions in 1800s Ireland and Wales. So everything we have been told about Samhain should probably include the word “may” in it.
With that in mind, here’s what Samhain may have been like. The Celts may have regarded Samhain as the start of the year and they may have seen it as a time when supernatural creatures and the spirits of the dead were close to the world of the living. They may have lit bonfires to guide the dead. They may have set bread out and kept the doors open to let the spirits of loved ones back in. They may have dressed in costumes or animal skins to ward off malevolent or mischievous beings. So if even the traditions about the new year and spirits and bonfires are questionable, someone who is making further leap to devil worship on Samhain is on very weak ground.
Halloween=Paganism?
There is a movement among Catholics to take Halloween back to its religious roots, even as some Protestants equate it with paganism and the devil.
Many traditions of Halloween aren’t pagan at all though. They’re rooted in the Christian holidays of All Hallows’ Day and All Saints Day. Trick or treating comes from the tradition of collecting soul cakes. The jack-o-lanterns may have also been a way to light the way for souls to get to the afterlife (Faith ND, n.d.).
The historical, archaeological, and anthropological evidence about the origins of Halloween and its lack of devil worship are abundant, especially in the internet age where you can simply google something like “origins of Halloween” and have several articles at your fingertips. This is why the “devil worship origin” story is the most disingenuous to me. If you don’t like Halloween, I think it’s better to cite that as a reason for not celebrating Halloween than ascribing to a false premise.
One step removed from the devil worship origin story, is the idea that because Halloween has pagan roots, it’s un-Christian to celebrate it. Again, we have to refer back to the history that Halloween is not solely pagan in its origins and might be rooted in the Christian holidays of Hallows Day and All Saints Day. But it does have some pagan roots as well, so I will look at that.
The Bible gives several prohibitions against pagan worship. However, it’s important to keep in mind that frequently pagan rituals, especially in the Old Testament, involved cultic prostitution and human sacrifice— a far cry from dressing up as a dinosaur and bobbing for apples and getting candy in a pillowcase. I think it is fair to differentiate between pagan traditions that are harmful and evil (prostitution and human sacrifice) and traditions that are benign (bonfires, bobbing for apples, or carving turnips or pumpkins and lighting them) and traditions that are uplifting and even beneficial (leaving bread out for loved ones who have passed). Perhaps it’s from my background of being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints where we have a worldwide church that has predisposed me to being more accepting of non-Christian traditions that are not immoral or unethical. The subject of cultural traditions and Church membership comes up in many different ways. It’s come up in conference talks where members are encouraged to keep and honor traditions that are in harmony with gospel teachings, but to let go of things that are not. (One example of a tradition that Church members have been asked to let go of in some cultures is a dowry. It needlessly prevents couples from getting married and starting families when the bride’s family demands an exorbitant amount and it’s demeaning to the woman to be priced out like a piece of livestock.) But other traditions I have heard about have held on among members in other countries, like social sauna outings in Nordic countries and painting a bride and groom with turmeric at Indian wedding parties. And so, I personally don’t see a problem with Halloween traditions that may have originated with Samhain or Roman festivals but are benign or even good.
Picture from an Evangelical Christian Hell House.
I also find that some of the alternative celebrations to Halloween are just as disturbing as the haunted houses. “Hell houses” are something of a trend among some Evangelical Christians wanting to get away from Halloween. But these often have all the darkness and scariness of haunted attractions— the type of thing I don’t want in my life. These alternative attractions depict people being punished for sins with things like hemorrhaging from a botched abortion, drunk driving deaths, and dying from AIDS. Some of these would get pretty gory, including using real animal entrails — things that these parents wouldn’t allow in any other setting. Judgement houses are a less gory variation that still emphasize the reality of hell and (Cohen, 2010). Again, the evil and darkness is all too real and we will get plenty of it in our daily life. There’s no need to go creating more and I feel like it drives the Spirit away.
13th century image of costumed merrymakers dancing. They are likely mummers, a common part of many medieval Christmas celebrations.
Other people’s traditions don’t have to define a holiday for anyone. We certainly don’t use that logic for Christmas. Certain parts of the 12 days of Christmas in England used to be celebrated in a less than reverent way during the Middle Ages with drunkenness, rule breaking, burning shoes instead of incense, wearing fearsome masks to mass, and cross dressing (Lawrence-Mathers, 2019). In Scandinavia, Yule looked more like Halloween with young men going out mumming, which meant donning costumes and playing pranks. In England a schoolboy would be chosen as a bishop for a day and would marry couples for a day (in a silly voice and manner) in exchange for an offering and if the boy didn’t like what the couple offered, he could hit them with a bag of ashes. Gambling in the form of dice games was another popular Medieval European Christmas activity. And Icelanders believed that trolls were out causing trouble at Christmas time because of the very short days (Seven Medieval Christmas Traditions, n.d.) However, despite the one-night stands, drunkenness gambling and pranking (medieval Christmas looked more like Halloween), no one would use that as a reason to not celebrate Christmas. Instead, we simply celebrate it in a more decorous and wholesome way.
Other People Do Bad Things on Halloween, So That Makes It Un-Christian?
I think the argument that other people do terrible things on Halloween is the most pervasive argument though. The webpage from Focus on the Family acknowledges that Halloween isn’t a completely pagan holiday and that it didn’t originate as devil worship, but the author states that she and her family stopped celebrating Halloween in 1984 after two young girls were brutally murdered that night (Robinson, 2026). DNA evidence linked a serial killer to the case— who had murdered multiple victims at all times of the year (Associated Press, 2009). The girls were out at night without adult supervision, and this gave him the opportunity to act on his impulses, but the fact that it was Halloween wasn’t the determining factor. Had he found the opportunity to take unsupervised children, he would almost certainly have taken advantage of it at any time of the year. Halloween didn’t cause him to commit the horrific crime. His own choices were the cause. I think blaming Halloween for these kinds of crimes detracts from the sick and twisted character of these offenders.
Everybody has the freedom to make that choice. But there’s an illogicality to it, that adherents to this idea don’t really address. There have been brutal murders around Christmas, just like Halloween. The Covina massacre on December 24, 2008 in which the perpetrator wore a Santa suit to gain access to his former in-laws’ house and hide his weapons. He killed 9 people (including a 17 year old and multiple elderly family members) and injured three (including an 8 year old girl) (Covina Massacre, n.d.) Anthony Milan Ross shot and killed his ex-wife and their 11 year old son and 8 month old daughter on Christmas Day 2017 at a custody exchange (Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, 2026). The Dayton Christmas murders in 1992 resulted in several robberies and the deaths of six people between December 24 and 26 that year (1992 Dayton Christmas murders, n.d.) . Lacy Peterson disappeared on December 24, 2002 (Guerrero and Pereira, 2024). In 1909, 35 year old Gwen Ellen Jones of Holyhead, Wales was killed on Christmas Day in murder so brutal her head was nearly severed from her body (Pierce, 2019). The list could go on and on because these are only a few of the murders that have taken place on Christmas Day, yet no one says we should stop celebrating Christmas because people have done horrible things on that holiday. Materialism, debt, and drunkenness are still part of most people’s Christmas celebrations, but that also doesn’t stop anyone from celebrating Christmas. We just don’t participate in those activities and form more wholesome, spiritual traditions.
Halloween sadism tends to feed these narratives about how Halloween inspired or influences people to do violent or vicious acts. Rumors of black and/or white cats being sacrificed on Halloween and poisoned candy and razor blades in apples abound, but most of the Halloween sadism stories about sacrificing black or white cats or increased violent crime against children and especially tampered Halloween candy are urban legends. The real danger to children on Halloween is actually an increased risk of traffic related injuries and deaths (Paul, 2024). Juvenile Type 2 diabetes could also be tied into Halloween as a risk because of the increased sugar consumption. (For a full examination of why you should worry more about cars than cults on Halloween, read my Substack post here.)
The arguments against Halloween are typically externally focused and essentially place the responsibility on others. If other people do bad things on Halloween, then we shouldn’t do fun things on Halloween. I think the more honest choice is to simply say that you don’t like Halloween and don’t want to do anything Halloween related. But I think this where people who don’t want to celebrate and have kids can get into a sticky situation. The kids probably do want to dress up and get candy. The “Halloween is evil/pagan/leads to evil deeds” is a way to get around that with kids, though again, it doesn’t reflect the actual truth.
The Middle Road
A CORN MAZE!!!
I do think there’s a middle road here though, particularly for families with kids. As I mentioned before, even though many medieval Christmas traditions were less-than-holy, we simply choose to celebrate in other ways. Halloween can be the same. If you don’t like Halloween or feel it creeps you out, but your kids want to dress up and get candy, you could do the costumes and trick-or-treating while they’re young and forgo the decorations and Halloween movies and such. It’s also possible to develop traditions around Halloween that you do feel are appropriate. As my ex husband and I started changing our diet to be healthier, I felt we needed something to replace the candy from trick-or-treating, so I suggested we tell the kids to leave their candy out on Halloween night and then the ghosts would come and take it away and leave them healthy treats instead. My kids loved this! One year they asked if the ghosts would come again the next night! Some years I donated the candy to a charity that sends it to deployed soldiers. Everyone wins! We have some movies that we watch every year like House with a Clock in the walls and Kiki’s Delivery Service. We make healthier caramel apples every year and a low sugar butter beer and chocolate frogs. I don’t agree with every Halloween tradition or the way some people decorate or celebrate. I choose what I want for my family.
The first time I heard about people not celebrating Halloween was when I was 9 or 10 (mid 1990s). I read an article in the paper about some Evangelical churches that had a prohibition on celebrating Halloween because they felt it was evil and pagan. I was disconcerted by the article. For a moment, I wondered if we should be celebrating Halloween. Was it really an evil holiday? And then I had a thought come into my mind very clearly that I believe was a prompting: If God really was against us celebrating Halloween, He would have told us through His prophets not to do it. And that made sense to me. Whenever God has had an important announcement about something we should do (serving missions, keeping civil discourse in person and online, building strong families, scripture study, tithing) or should not do (gambling apps, body piercings, pornography, abortion), He has revealed it through His prophets. He will do likewise if there is something truly dangerous about a holiday.
Celebrating Halloween is not inherently evil. It’s up to us to decide what we want to do on October 31. As with any holiday, we can make choices that are wholesome and build fun family traditions, or we can make choices to participate in activities that invite darkness into our lives. The choice is ours and the responsibility is ours and not anyone else’s.
References
Ancient Celtic religion. (n.d.) In Wikipedia. Accessed 2026 October 20. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Celtic_religion
Associated Press (2009). Police link deceased killer to more deaths. NBC Chicago. https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/police-link-deceased-killer-to-more-deaths-melvin-johnson/1861529/?amp=1
Celts (n.d.) In Wikipedia. Accessed 2026 October 20. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celts
Cohen, S. (2010 October 27). Evangelical Christians reinvent the haunted house. Charleston City Paper. https://charlestoncitypaper.com/2010/10/27/evangelical-christians-reinvent-the-haunted-house/
Covina Massacre (n.d.) In Wikipedia. Accessed 2026 October 6 .https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Covina_massacre
Digital Maps of the Ancient World (n.d.) Roman Festivals. https://digitalmapsoftheancientworld.com/ancient-history/history-ancient-rome/roman-religion/roman-festivals/
Faith ND (n.d.) All Hallows’ Eve. University of Notre Dame. https://faith.nd.edu/saint/all-hallows-eve/
Guerrero, J.C. and Pereira, I. (2024). Timeline: How the Laci Peterson case unfolded. ABC News. https://abc7news.com/amp/post/laci-peterson-scott-murder-trials-in-the-bay-area-trial/2413509/
Hutton, R. (2024). The Celtic New Year and Feast of the Dead. Folklore, 135(1), 69–86. https://doi.org/10.1080/0015587X.2023.2282282 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0015587X.2023.2282282#d1e347
Lawrence-Mathers, A. (2019 December 10). A Very Medieval Christmas: What was Christmas like in Medieval Reading? Reading Museum. https://www.readingmuseum.org.uk/very-medieval-christmas-what-was-christmas-like-medieval-reading
Maricopa County Attorney’s Office (2026 May 7). Father gets death penalty for Christmas Day massacre. https://maricopacountyattorney.org/m/newsflash/Home/Detail/1300
1992 Dayton Christmas murders (n.d.) In Wikipedia . 2026 October 23 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992_Dayton_Christmas_murders
Paul, K. (2024 October 26). Red Cross of Utah offers safety tips
to keep kids safe on Halloween
American Red Cross. https://www.redcross.org/local/utah/about-us/news-and-events/press-releases/halloweensafetyut2024.html?srsltid=AYCX9vIb9xAr3yBlPg5b25do7bigKo3IoQfoWw-0MUDVTAGzNxG5aw4p
Pierce, H. (2019). The Christmas Day murder 1909: Remembering Gwen Ellen Jones. Stephen Colclough Centre for History and Culture of the Book.
https://www.bangor.ac.uk/stephen-colclough-centre/the-christmas-day-murder-1909
Robinson, R. (2026 October 17). Should Christians celebrate Halloween? Focus on the Family. https://www.focusonthefamily.com/parenting/should-christians-celebrate-halloween/
Seven Medieval Christmas traditions (n.d.) Medievalists.net. https://www.medievalists.net/2023/12/medieval-christmas-traditions/
