Halloween’s Evolution: From Ancient Rituals to Modern Party
Syracuse, NY – Halloween, a holiday synonymous with costumes, candy, and spooky fun, boasts a history far deeper and more complex than many realize. The annual October 31st tradition evolved from ancient Celtic festivals to a family-friendly commercial phenomenon over centuries, according to Syracuse University anthropologist Chris DeCorse.
Originally known as Samhain, the Celtic festival marked the end of summer and the harvest and was believed to be a time when the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead blurred. celebrations involved bonfires and dressing up in costumes, likely to ward off spirits, and to enjoy during the festival.
the rise of the Roman Empire and the spread of christianity led to samhain’s transformation into All Saints Day, with October 31st becoming All-Hallows Eve – eventually shortened to Halloween.
Early european settlers in America initially resisted Halloween, but Irish and Scottish immigrants reintroduced the holiday’s traditions, including the belief that it was a “liminal time when spirits might walk the earth.” This led to the practice of dressing in costume and going door-to-door asking for food or money, the precursor to modern trick-or-treating. The pumpkin also gained prominence, particularly through the adoption of the jack-o’-lantern ritual.
Washington Irving‘s 1820 story, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, featuring a headless horseman wielding a pumpkin, substantially boosted the pumpkin’s association with Halloween’s spooky imagery.”For Washington Irving to write that story at that time, he was tapping into emerging popular cultural beliefs,” DeCorse explains.
The mid-20th century saw a shift towards a more family-oriented Halloween, driven by efforts to reduce vandalism and the post-World War II suburban migration. Candy manufacturers began producing individually wrapped candies specifically for trick-or-treating, replacing earlier offerings of money, small toys, or fruit, and fueling the holiday’s commercial growth.
DeCorse, who studies fringe archaeology, notes that despite its modern trappings, Halloween retains a core element of embracing fear. “we all want to be scared-that’s part of the strangeness of this holiday,” he says. “while Halloween today is about getting treats, wearing fun costumes, and putting up decorations, there’s definitely still a spooky undercurrent that connects modern Halloween with its distant origins.”
