Is Halloween Evil?

Take Back the Night: A Catholic Halloween

Catholics don’t have to hide from Halloween; it can become an evening to share the faith

I grew up in Chicago Heights, Illinois, and Halloween was always done up right at our home!

We didn't just put a pumpkin on the porch and call it a day. We decorated. We turned on the lights. We made our house welcoming. And Mom had the most important detail covered: dinner! She would pop frozen pizzas into the oven, so we could eat quickly and get out onto those sidewalks.

Looking back, that little frozen-pizza tradition was actually the beginning of something pretty wonderful. Today, my husband makes homemade pizza on Halloween, and two of our five adult children still appreciate it so much that they plan their Halloween evenings around it. Apparently, some family traditions are sacred—even if they involve pepperoni!

Now, my husband puts up the legendary Halloween decor that draws trick-or-treaters and spectators from our neighborhood and beyond. 

Then there were the costumes! I loved dressing up as a hobo, a cowgirl, a jeannie, or whatever else I thought was cool and different that year. There was something magical about becoming somebody—or something—else for an evening.

And our house? The hit of the neighborhood. Why? My dad gave out full-size candy bars. Back in the 1980s, this was basically legendary. Kids knew which houses gave the good stuff and our house was definitely on the list!

And then we would head out—without a parent, of course, because that was perfectly normal back then—and run from house to house for hours. We stayed out until the streetlights came on, and often even longer.

It was fun. It was innocent. It was community.

I didn't have a Catholic understanding of Halloween back then. But I also didn't grow up thinking Halloween was about glorifying evil. It was costumes, candy, neighbors, laughter, and a whole lot of running around in the dark.

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Today, however, Halloween can look very different.

Unfortunately, there is a cultural side of Halloween that has become fascinated with darkness, the occult, demons, violence, and glorifying evil. As Catholics, we should never celebrate evil or treat the demonic as something cute, harmless, or entertaining. Evil is real. Satan is real. But neither gets the final word.

And that's precisely where the Catholic understanding of Halloween becomes so beautiful.

We Have a Holy Night to Reclaim

The word Halloween comes from “All Hallows’ Eve,” meaning the evening before All Hallows’ Day—All Saints’ Day.

For centuries, the Church has marked this period as Hallowtide, a beautiful three-day journey:

• October 31 — All Hallows’ Eve: the eve of All Saints’ Day.

• November 1 — All Saints’ Day: when we celebrate the saints in Heaven—the holy men and women who have gone before us and now behold God face to face.

• November 2 — All Souls’ Day: when we pray in a special way for the faithful departed, particularly the souls being purified in Purgatory, that they may enter fully into the glory of Heaven.

  
  

That's not a celebration of darkness. That's a celebration of Christ's victory over darkness.

The Church does not pretend death doesn't exist. We do not hide from it, either. Christianity looks death squarely in the face and proclaims something astonishing: Jesus Christ has conquered death. The saints are proof; the souls in Purgatory remind us that our prayers matter. And Halloween, properly understood within this beautiful Hallowtide, can become an invitation to remember that we belong to something much bigger than this earthly life.

We are part of the Communion of Saints—the family of God that includes the Church Militant here on earth; the Church Suffering, souls being purified, and the Church Triumphant, saints already rejoicing in Heaven. So perhaps those little flickering jack-o'-lanterns have something to teach us, too.

I also found this super insightful: Halloween; Good or Bad?

Let There Be Light!

Think about that jack-o'-lantern sitting on the porch. A light shining in the darkness. For Christians, that image practically preaches itself. Jesus is the Light of the World. And Christians are called to carry His light into places where darkness exists. The answer to a culture that sometimes glorifies darkness isn't to turn off all the lights, close the curtains, and pretend Halloween doesn't exist.

Maybe we should turn on more lights. We could open our doors and welcome our neighbors. Maybe we could hand out the good candy and take a moment to evangelize. We don't have to surrender Halloween to the culture.

Pass Out the Candy—and the Faith

So this year, I am doing what I have always done. Like my dad still does, I am giving out the full-size candy bars. But I'm adding something new. One of my girlfriends gave me a wonderful idea: St. Michael the Archangel prayer cards. I love it! What a great combination. A full-size candy bar in one hand and a reminder of God's protection in the other.

My friend takes it even further. She says “God bless you!” to the children who come to her door. She compliments children who arrive in wholesome, creative costumes and she encourages the good.

And when someone shows up dressed as something decidedly darker—including the devil—she doesn't panic or launch into a theological lecture on the front porch. Instead, she says something like, “I'm guessing you're a good kid who wouldn't do the devil's work!” It's lighthearted, it’s kind, and it plants a little seed. That's evangelization.

A Different Kind of Halloween

Let’s make a difference. We can acknowledge that evil exists without glorifying it. We can reject the occult without becoming fearful of every spooky decoration on a porch. We can be discerning about costumes and entertainment while still allowing children to experience the joy, silliness, and community that can come with a neighborhood Halloween.

And we can make our homes places of light. Put up the decorations. Carve the jack-o-lanterns. Make the homemade pizza. Hand out the full-size candy bars. Put a bowl of holy cards beside the candy.

Say, “God bless you!” Pray for the children who come to your door. Pray for your neighbors. Pray for the souls of your deceased loved ones and theirs.

We know who wins. Jesus Christ has already conquered sin and death. The saints are already rejoicing in His presence. The souls of the faithful departed remain precious to God. And we are called to carry the light of Christ into a world that desperately needs it.

So this Halloween, don't turn off your porch light. Turn it on. And help your family understand  that being Catholic doesn't mean hiding from the world. It means bringing Christ's light into it. After all, the Church has been evangelizing for 2,000 years. This Halloween, let's take back the night.