Killing Death: The Cultural Significance of Halloween

By Karen Sternheimer 

If your neighborhood is anything like mine, yards are filled with skeletons, foam tombstones, and other ghoulish décor. Some homes even have orange and black flashing lights and giant inflatable skulls. One house is lit up by strobe lights and has the 80s song "Ghostbusters" playing on an endless loop. 

Our annual embrace of the macabre began as my family and I had to deal with the real thing: the loss of my grandmother. Tombstones aren’t fun and festive when you’ve just buried someone in an actual cemetery, one that doesn’t get put away on November 1st. 

In many ways, Halloween exists as a ritual to confront death during a time when most of us (fortunately) don’t have to deal with death on a regular basis. We fight wars overseas so they seem to happen to “other people,” and when people do pass away they tend to be in hospitals. Before the twentieth century, most people died at home and families were often responsible for preparing their bodies for burial. 

When my grandmother was born in 1911, death was all around her. Born in Russia, she was a child during the battles of World War I. Her father died in the Influenza Pandemic soon after, and her village was attacked and civilians were killed after the Bolsheviks took power in Russia. She hated to remember these times, but in her later years would tell us stories about hiding up on a hill and returning to her village to find bodies everywhere. Once she hid with her family in a neighbor’s home, only to have soldiers find them. “There are only women and children here,” her mother told them, pleading for their lives. 

They later escaped into Romania, crossed a river in the middle of the night, made their way to France, and sailed to Ellis Island. They never looked back, always preferring to focus on happy times in America. After her harrowing escape, my grandmother hated the ocean and rarely went in the water, even when she retired to Florida. 

But she really loved Halloween, and even when she was an adult she would dress up to celebrate. She loved to tell a story about when she and my grandfather dressed up and rang the doorbell of friends, demanding candy. They were so well-costumed that their friends didn’t recognize them and slammed the door in their faces. When they took off their masks, they and their friends were overcome with fits of laughter. 

I don’t think it’s an accident that she took such pleasure in Halloween, a chance to mock death. She cheated death many times in her life; in spite of a heart attack and cancer in her 50s, as well as several serious health complications in her later years, she lived a full 96 years. 

And that’s really what our contemporary Halloween ritual is all about: laughing in the face of death. 

Halloween began as a Celtic holiday to ward off evil spirits. In its early incarnation, instead of giving away candy people would provide gifts in  exchange for the promise that the recipients would pray for their dead relatives. 

The holiday came to the United States courtesy of the large influx of Irish immigrants in the mid-nineteenth century. Far from a celebration for children, it began in the U.S. as a night of mischief for teen boys and young men. According to historian Gary Cross, treats were offered as bribes to assure that property was not the target of pranksters. 

Cross argues that this holiday became infantilized as cities grew and the idea  of young men “blowing off steam” seemed more menacing. According to Cross, it wasn’t until the 1940s that children began wearing costumes and going trick-or-treating. 

Halloween is a night when the boundaries of acceptable behavior are turned upside down. People of all ages dress in costumes, sometimes hyper-sexual, occasionally gender-bending, and sometimes challenging conventional standards of good taste. Children are allowed to dress as powerful and scary creatures, demand candy (often from strangers) and are allowed to roam the streets after dark (albeit usually with a parent in tow). And rather than fearing death or trying to pretend that it doesn’t exist, we laugh at the idea. 

Adults actively try to scare children with haunted houses or by dressing up in a  scary outfit to answer the door for trick-or-treaters. I remember we had a Halloween festival at my elementary school, where we were encouraged to walk through a dark room while scary music played in the background. The teachers were dressed in costumes and tried to scare us (and often succeeded). We were told to put our hands in a box filled with cooked spaghetti and were told it was filled with brains. 

Of course, the people who really get scared now are parents, afraid that their kids will come home with poisoned candy. As sociologist Barry Glassner notes in The Culture of Fear, there is no documented case of a child’s Halloween candy being poisoned by a stranger. But the belief that this is a real threat seems to add a dangerous mystique to Halloween. It’s a bit ironic that Halloween fears run so high that some communities don’t even have trick-or-treating. The truth is, most American children have never been safer: crime in the United States is way down compared to the early 1990s, and children are unlikely to die of disease or in infancy compared with past generations. 

Yet the fact that we have come so far in “curing death” means that we need Halloween even more. This is the same reason that every other network drama takes place in a hospital, police station, or crime lab. For most of us, this is the only way we deal with the idea of mortality on a regular basis. Rather than “desensitizing” people, as critics sometime suggest, these rituals are a way of allowing us to face death from a safe distance on a regular basis. 

Laughing at death can be very cathartic. My grandmother had a wonderful sense of humor, and recounting the funny things she said was a tremendous comfort in the days following her death. Likewise, Halloween gives us a chance once a year to poke fun of death.

Of course, no matter how clever we think we are, death always has the last laugh.

Comments

[J Turley]

Halloween to me isn't a holiday, although it is very fun as a child! I personally don't look at it as laughing in the face of death. It is a time for children to get dressed up as their favorite charecter and get way too much candy!

[sunnie norris]

I believe that the reason that Halloween has such a significant impact on the American culture because the of the traditions such as dressing up, trick or treating, and the scary movies. I believe that kids have a lot to do with it, it they are the ones who are the driving force behind the tradition. I do believe that the contemporary Halloween ritual is laughing in the face of death. It's all about cheating death and in turn, laughing in its face.

[Tristen Loyd]

I think Halloween is pretty significant to some people. However, in some opinions, Halloween is a holiday that is based on a tradition that is passed down from generation to generation. I think that people like the idea of "free candy" so they dress up their children and take them out trick-or-treating. Halloween was once a revered day a long time ago. It was a day to, not celebrate death, but to acknowledge the dead, and what is associated with it. I think that Halloween doesn't laugh in the face of death, but makes us realize that death is inevitable and it is coming. Back then, death was more respected on Halloween than it is now. Now, Halloween is just a holiday to dress up on and get free candy, and to do whatever a person sets their mind on doing.

[sean goodman]

Halloween has always been one of my favorite holidays. As a kid growing up in a middle-class home we weren’t always promised a big Christmas but we always managed to have fun on Halloween.

[Npatty1291]

we continue the celebration of halloween because our youth of today wants too. No, because when was the last time you seen dress up as a grim reaper, you havent. Instead they dress up as batman or superman, or some other fantasy character.

[Seth Cardwell]

I believe the celebration of Halloween continues to be a significant aspect of American culture do to the attraction towards evil and all that it represents. Halloween represents the opposite of life, goodness and purity. We, as people, tend to view Halloween as very innocent to celebrate; and yet, it represents nothing that is innocent.

I do believe that the contemporary Halloween is about laughing in the face of death. We must all face death on the basis of how we lived our life. Death is final; there is no turning back. The celebration of Halloween definitely makes light of how each of us will face eternity.

[Jody Nixon]

Lot of facts that I didn't know about Halloween in this article especially its origin. The Irish immigrants having a hand in the creation of the holiday. Kind of shocking to see that it is looked at as a day to mock or laugh at death. Kind of disturbing and makes me not want to celebrate anymore but it's interesting nonetheless.

[Cathy McKinnon]

I dont think that many people these days dont even think of cheating death when they are looking forward to Halloween. Many think of getting to dress up in various costumes, children get to have fun with costumes and get candy( which are two things they love), many adults dress up and go out and have fun. Regardless of how the celebration was brought to America as long as I can remember, this has been most peoples view of Halloween.

[Chase Cotton]

Halloween remains to be a significant part of American culture, in my opinion, because businesses know that they can make tons of money on costumes, decorations, and candy during the month of October. Kids love to dress up for this holiday and love to get a truckload of candy. I do not believe that Halloween is about laughing in the face of death because it is intended to be a joyous celebration. I can see where some people would take offense to the holiday in the wake of losing a family member, but Halloween seems to be mostly for kids in this nation. I just dont think we are making fun of death. It is just a theme.

[joshua wade]

i love Halloween but i can see how it could disturb some people... but i think its too big of a tradition to try and change it now

[Jaleesa Watkins]

I think we still celebrate Halloween because it's a chance to be something that we're not and it's fun. I've never looked at it as laughing at death because this is the first time I've really read about Halloween!

[Abell4570]

I think that Americans continue to celebrate Halloween because they are looking for a way to escape from the sadness and seriousness of death. For that time, they can dress up and be whatever they want to be and "laugh in the face of death" and enjoy themselves.
My family and I do not celebrate Halloween because of the things that take place on that day and the spirits that come out. I remember this guy who told his story. He and this girl were Trick-or-treating and these satanists kidnapped them and put him in the back of a van. They tied the girl to a podium, slit her wrists and feet, and drank her blood. She died and I forget how he said he got away, but I just saw more bad than good in the celebration of the holiday.
I think for some people, Halloween is about laughing in the face of death. But for others it is not. Some religious people argue that it is an evil day and evil spirits come out and evil things happen. Others argue that its a day that people can go out and be anyone they want to be and just have fun. Not very many people know the origin of Halloween and they act out what they see other people doing.

[cecile]

i don`t know much about Halloween, because I come from a different culture. However, through what I have learned about, I think we should be more opened and realistic toward the death thing. Halloween may be a way to make it funny... but I`m not sure that all those who celebrate it guess the real impact of this idea . I think the idea of death should be more naturally though, like the notion of family or love or whatever other concept.
thanks.

[Mitzi Sims]

I like halloween because I like to dress for the hoilday and dress my kids up in they costumes. For as laughing at death I think it that is crazy. Everybody got they on feeling about halloween.

[Cholt3011]

I like Halloween because it gives a you day to be whoever you would like to be. Every culture celebrate Halloween different, but it is the Day of Dead. I don't think we are laughing at the face of death when we celebrated Halloween, everyone has their way of dealing with death.

[bmabry3509]

I never read how Halloween came to be or what is ia all about until I read this articile I really do not see howit is laughing at the face of death. I think it is something for people to dress and have a lot of candy.

[Jamie Liner]

Halloween can be fun for little kids until they get older and start understanding the meaning and start gettin curious. It is just a fun day to not be afraid of death and to enjoy. Yes to some it is not something to celebrate but many ppl enjoy having a day to choose what you want to be and hide behind the mask and it brings familys together.

[Bionca Murray]

Well i feel that Holloween is a tradition and kids just LOVE this paticular Holiday. Growing up Holloween was my favorite Holiday after Chritmas. I don't believe that Holloween is laughing death in the face it's just a once a year event that people find entertaining.

[Angela Mundy]

Halloween has come a long way since it first started. It is celebrated by almost everyone in one way or another which makes it an aspect of American culture. I do think to some people it is a way at laughing at death, we dress up as ghosts and goblins without realizing what we are really dressed up as and we are mocking it in a way.

[Taylor Stacks]

Part of the reason Halloween continues to be so celebrated and widely recognized is the fact that it is SO commercialized. As early as August, you see Halloween merchandise being displayed in department stores.

I don't believe Americans laugh at death, when it comes to Halloween. I just think it's an exciting night for young kids to dress themselves in things that represent the imaginative ideas they have for themselves to fulfill. It's just that simple.

[bedgeworth4976]

I think for some, Halloween is about mocking death. However, for the vast majority, it is nothing more than a tradition. People are always looking for an excuse to have fun, and this is just another example.

[dmoore0832]

Many peopl view things in a different way. Haloween to me is a harmless kids holiday. It is about having fun and eating candy. We habe observed it so long that I believe that is why it is still around today. Halloween is not about laughing in the face of death. I do not even associate death with Halloween. Halloween has been so commercialized that it no longer deals with deaths and murders aside from the horro movies that are produced every year. No one purposely sets out to harm themselves or others on Halloween.

[Jean McCurry]

I think Halloween is just a time for kids to have fun, but I don't like the idea of begging for treats. That is how it appears now. I don't believe it to be about fighting death. If this was so why do children wear little Tinkerbell, and Tommy the Train costumes?

[Amanda Daugherty]

I think that this holiday is no worse than the others. All holidays are based on the same biased principal. I think that holidays are fun and good to have something to look forward to, however, why pick only one day out of the year to have a reason to dress up in costumes, and party? Halloween is no different than Christmas. They are both one day a year and for religious purposes. The only difference is that no one goes to church on halloween. Holidays are only for the retailers to make more money for that occasion than for no occasion. Every holiday, especially Christmas is only about the money. True Christians should celebrate the death, burial, and resurection every day of the year, not just Christmas and Easter. If a holiday is going to be clebrated it should be stricktly for traditional purposes. That's just my opinion.

[Tiffany Sandiford]

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays, even though I did not get to go trick-or-treating as a child. I enjoy taking my daughter trik-or-treating on Halloween because it is a time where she can look cute in her costume and also eat candy and not get in trouble for it. I don't personally think it is laughing in the face of death. When I think of Halloween I do not even think about death.