Halloween: Rebranding “Delicious Autumn”

By Debra Mullins

October 18, 2025

“Delicious Autumn”

Poets depict autumn as “a mosaic” announcing “nature’s last beauty saved up all year for its grand finale.” Flashing the year’s “last, loveliest smile,” every fluttering leaf “speaks bliss.” No wonder Mary Ann Evans (aka George Eliot) wished her very soul to be wedded to what she extolled as “delicious autumn”!

Regretfully, the beauty, smiles and bliss of “delicious autumn” are popularly supplanted with grave stones, coffins, skeletons, ghosts, demons, witches, black cats, vampires, massive spider webs and jeering Jack-o-lanterns. All attend October 31st when Halloween’s ghoulish emblems find place in neighborhoods, schools, businesses and, yes, even Christian churches.

This autumn an estimated 73% of Americans will pay homage to Halloween by decorating their homes, exchanging spooky greeting cards, costuming up & stocking up on candy—this, to the tune of over $13 billion in 2025 alone!

“Christian” Roots of Halloween

In fact, some academics contend that Halloween began independently as a Christian holiday. Remembering the dead (including saints, martyrs and faithful departed), the Christian triduum begins with Halloween (October 31), followed by All Saints’ Day (November 1) and All Souls’ Day (November 2).

In the 5th century, Pope Boniface moved the celebration to May 13 as a day for celebrating saints and martyrs. Thereafter, in the 9th Century, Pope Gregory restored fire festivals and established All Saints’ Day (November 1) with All Souls’ Day following (November 2).

In ancient Ireland, Christians were lured, even constrained by weighty incentives. Failure to engage this “dark half of the year” resulted in “punishment from the gods” (usually illness or death); and to use one’s weapon or to commit a crime during the celebration occasioned a death sentence.

Given its dark, death-centric themes, coupled with biblically-forbidden associations, Halloween was rightly banned among pious, early-American colonists. However, by the mid-19th Century, a flood of immigrants (Irish included) propelled its prominence to that of a principal U.S. holiday.

Nefarious Roots of Halloween

Fast forward: With meagre mention of the liturgical calendar, complicit churches today host costume parades and “Trunk or Treats” featuring generous hand-outs of candy &/or Halloween trinkets. Old-fashioned taffy-pulling and apple-bobbing venues delight the young and old alike!

Problem is, the Christian triduum is nowhere mentioned in Scripture. To the contrary, believers are commanded to entertain things that are honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous and praiseworthy—a far cry from trappings of Halloween. (Phil. 4:8)

For example, in God’s economy, death is the ultimate enemy; and Jesus Christ abolished it. Through the gospel, and for all time, He brought to light both life and immortality. In contrast to LIFE, scholars report that, over two thousand years ago, Halloween sprang out of the Celtic/Gaelic harvest festival of Samhain (pronounced /SOW-wen/). Samhain is the “lord of DEATH.” (Isa. 25:8, 2 Tim. 1:10)

With harvest work complete at the close of summer, deceased ancestors in ancient Britain and Ireland were believed to return to their homes through doors and windows intentionally left open for them. The tradition of “dumb supper” involved parents regaling the dead with the year’s news while children played games for their entertainment.

It’s true, “an hour is coming” when the deceased will resurrect, but certainly not at the bidding of the so-called lord of death, nor on his terms. (John 5:28-29)

Myths and Legends, Trappings and Ghoulish Emblems

Considered highly conducive to demon activity, Halloween is one of eight major festivals in witchcraft. Today, Halloween is first listed and preeminent among eight Wiccan Sabbats.

Halloween myths and religious practices feature demon-worshiping Druid priests who lit community fires to frighten away unwelcomed evil spirits. Their charge was to discourage fairies from kidnapping unsuspecting victims and to prevent the “unforgiven dead” (called Sluaghs) from stealing souls.

To avoid being recognized, Halloween celebrants wore masks and, to ward off evil, they dressed as animals and monsters. Historical documents reference gluttonous feasts and six days of drinking alcohol to excess [typically mead (honey wine) or beer]. In Wales, some revelers engaged in violent games. While setting off fireworks, carousers tossed burning wood at each other.

Added to wine-making and noisy owls (thought to be guardians of the underworld), the celebration became well known for magicians and soothsayers/diviners. Add to these the damned souls symbolized by jack-o’-lanterns. According to Irish legend, Stingy Jack was a drunkard who bargained with Satan, then roamed earth with only a hollowed, candle-lit turnip (i.e., jack o’lantern) to light his way.

Ungodly myths attending Samhain include shape-shifting and night-wandering death omens—e.g., The Lady Gwyn (accompanied by a black pig) and the Dullahan who carried his own head while riding a flame-eyed horse. Contemporary practices mimic the Irish tradition of “mumming” (donning costumes and going door-to-door to procure payment of cakes for singing songs to the dead).

Hardly the stuff of Christian virtue.

Fittingly, Bible-honoring Christians are commanded to separate from (not engage) “unclean things” associated with ghoulish emblems that persist in schools, businesses and, as earlier mentioned, Christian churches.

Recognizing that “bad company ruins good morals,” Christ followers take no part in unfruitful works of darkness except to expose them. (2 Tim. 3:8, Lev. 19:31 and 20:6, Micah 5:12, Eph. 5:18, Pr. 23:20-21, Ro. 12:2, 1 Cor. 15:33, 2 Cor. 6:17, Eph. 5:11, 1 John 2:15-17)

Halloween Fallout

Among Protestants, the Reformation essentially put an end to the religious holiday of Halloween; however, in Britain especially, it persisted as a secular holiday. Later, with growing popularity of Wicca in the 1980s came a broad revival of Samhain accompanied with traditional fire ceremonies, nature- and/or ancestors- worship—all strictly forbidden in Scripture. (Deut. 4:19, Ro. 1:25, Ex. 20:3-4, Deut. 18:10-12)

Concurrent with the Wiccan revival of Samhain, contemporary Pagan Re-constructionists practice Celtic traditions. Placing juniper decorations around their homes, they create an altar for the dead and, then, feast in honor of deceased loved ones. American pagans hold music and dance celebrations called Witches’ Balls.

Far from “delicious,” the autumn “grand finale” of Halloween exacts the price of rampant crime.

Property crimes like vandalism and theft are notably increased; and compared to other days of the year, violent crime rates increase by about 50% on Halloween.

It’s no wonder Satanists call Halloween “All Demons Night.”

Kill-Joy Naysayers

Although the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has attempted to pair Halloween with collection of money for its humanitarian programs, pious naysayers refuse to rebrand evil as good. Instead, they repudiate Halloween for dangerous dabbling in fleshly indulgences (Witches’ Balls, gluttonous feasts, drinking to excess, horror movies, violence), superstition (black cats thought to be reincarnated humans, haunted houses, omens), mischief (pranks, vandalism, violence), extortion (treat, or threat of trick) and Wiccan paganism, attended by hobgoblins and demi-gods.

For eschewing macabre facets of Halloween, spiritually-sensitive, Bible-honoring Christians are thought to be “kill-joy naysayers” and “party-pooping legalists.” Even so, principled Christians maintain absolute allegiance to unambiguous text of scripture.

Meaning “hallowed or holy evening,” Halloween is anything but holy. Its central theme is death; its central figure, the Lord of Death (Satan). Importantly, the thief (Grim Reaper) comes only to steal, kill and destroy, but—Good News!—Jesus came to impart life in abundance. For His sake and in His Name, believers do well to “touch not the unclean thing” (John 10:10, 2 Cor. 6:17), as delineated below:

♦ Re.: Abominations [Vampires, diviners, magicians, witches, sorcerers, hypnotists, psychics, necromancers, soothsayers: All are abominations to God (Deut. 18:9-12, Gal. 5:19-21)]
♦ Re.: Compromise [inappropriate partnerships (2 Cor. 6:14), influence of Godless foreigners (Dan. 1:8), rebranding evil as good by calling darkness, light—and light, darkness (Isa. 5:20)]
♦ Re.: Death (Deu. 30:19), the wages of sin (Ro. 6:23) not to be celebrated; [Samhain (“Lord of Death”), altar for the dead, engaging the dead, death omens, feasting in honor of deceased loved ones, grave stones, coffins, skeletons, ghosts, apparitions]
♦ Re.: Deception (masks to disguise, deceive—Mt. 6:2, 5, 16 & 23:27-28)
♦ Re.: Extortion (treat, or threat of trick—Amos 5:11, “exacting tributes …”)
♦ Re.: False worship [Nature worship, Ancestor worship, traditional fire ceremonies
(Ex. 20:4-5, 1 Cor. 10:14)]
♦ Re.: Fear (Isa. 41:10, Ps. 23:4, 1 John 4:18)
♦ Re.: Fleshly indulgences and excess [Witches’ Balls, gluttonous feasts, drinking to excess (Eph. 5:18)]
♦ Re.: Mischief [pranks, vandalism, violence, crime, horror movies (Ezek. 11:2, Psa. 26:11, 28:3, 36:4 & 119:150, Pr. 4:16)]
♦ Re.: Myths [fairies, night wanderers, underworld dwellers, demi-gods, hobgoblins (Psa. 96:5)]
♦ Re.: Occult and occultic practices [Witchcraft, Wicca, paganism, shape-shifting creatures (1 Sam. 15:23, 2 Th. 2:9)]
♦ Re.: Satan, Demons [Satan blinds believers (2 Cor. 4:4); fellowship with demons is forbidden (1 Cor. 10:20); we’re not to give place to the devil (Eph. 4:27), but rather we’re to resist him (Jas. 4:7)]
♦ Re.: Superstition [black cats thought to be reincarnated humans, omens (Prov. 19:21)]
♦ Re.: Symbology [dark symbolism of black pig, massive spider web, jeering Jack-o-lanterns (2 Th. 2:9)]
♦ Re.: Unclean associations [interaction between humans and Otherworld creatures (Isa. 8:19)]