Halloween: where it came from

When: Every year on October 31

The word Halloween comes from “All Hallows' Eve”, the evening before All Saints Day. Its Christian roots are clear. Where its older customs came from is less clear, and historians disagree.

Where it came from

“Hallow” is an old English word for “holy” or “saint”. “All Hallows' Eve” was the evening before All Hallows, or All Saints, on November 1. Like other Christian feasts, it began with a vigil, a night of waiting and prayer. “Hallowe'en” is the short form of the name.

Over the centuries, the days around November 1 became a time to remember the dead. In parts of medieval England and Ireland, poor people went from door to door on this season and said prayers for the dead in return for small “soul cakes”. This was called souling. In Scotland and Ireland, children went “guising” in costume, and people carved lanterns from turnips.

A popular story says that the Church picked November 1 to replace an old Celtic festival called Samhain. Some historians, such as Ronald Hutton and Steve Roud, say there is not enough evidence for this. Samhain was a real autumn festival in Ireland, but we know little about it, and the earliest writing about it is from much later. Other scholars think old customs and Christian ones may have mixed over time. A direct link has not been proven.

Irish and Scottish families took these customs to North America. Pumpkins, which are easier to carve than turnips, and trick-or-treating became common there in the 1900s.

How it is kept around the world

• United States and Canada. Children wear costumes, carve pumpkins and go trick-or-treating. Many churches hold fall festivals, “trunk-or-treat” nights in the parking lot, or “light parties”.
• Ireland and the United Kingdom. Families have bonfires, play games such as apple bobbing, and bake barmbrack, a fruit loaf. Some families keep the old custom of souling.
• Catholic parishes in many countries. Some parishes hold saint parties on October 31, where children dress as saints and learn their stories.
• Protestant churches. Many remember the Reformation on October 31 instead. See the page on Reformation Day.
• The Philippines. Children enjoy costumes and trick-or-treating, and the same week families go to cemeteries for Undas. In some villages children go house to house singing for the souls of the dead (pangangaluluwa).
• Mexico and Latin America. Halloween is also kept in cities, but the older and more important days are Día de Muertos on November 1 and 2.

Christians differ

Christians do not agree about Halloween. Some families join in with costumes and candy and see it as harmless fun. Some prefer saint parties, harvest festivals or Reformation Day. Some avoid the day because of its scary images, or because they worry about its possible old roots in older religions.

A family can decide together. Many families choose to keep the fun, leave out what frightens a child, and use the season to talk about gratitude, kindness to neighbours and remembering those we love.

Do it together

Ages 0 to 2

• Look at a pumpkin together. Feel it, shake it, name its colour. Keep scary masks and sounds away.
• Say “goodnight” to the moon and the stars from a window.

Ages 3 to 5

• Draw a friendly lantern and tell a grown-up what makes you feel safe at night.
• Practise saying “thank you” to a neighbour when you get a treat.

Ages 6 to 8

• Make a paper lantern or a turnip-style lantern with a grown-up, and learn why people carved them.
• Pick a saint and dress as them, or tell their story to a friend.

Ages 9 to 12

• Look up what “hallow” and “eve” mean and find other holiday names that start with an eve, such as Christmas Eve.
• Read about souling and write a short rhyme you could have sung at a door.

Ages 13 to 17

• Look at two accounts of where Halloween came from. Which gives evidence? Which just repeats a popular story?
• Talk with your family about how you want to take part, and why.

A short prayer

God, you are with us in the day and in the night. Keep us safe, make us kind to our neighbours, and help us remember those we love. Amen.

Mark as done

Where this comes from

• Ronald Hutton, The Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain (Oxford University Press, 1996), on Hallowtide
• Nicholas Rogers, Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night (Oxford University Press, 2002)
• Steve Roud, The English Year (Penguin, 2008), on 31 October to 2 November
• F. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone, eds., The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, 3rd ed. (Oxford University Press, 2005), entry “Hallowe'en” and “All Saints' Day”

Written with AI assistance and checked against the sources listed. Please read it before sharing it with a child.