Halloween Lost Its Soul
- The Mary Word
- Nov 12
- 5 min read
By Hannah Hippmann
As our spooky October edges towards the 31st, I question, what are we really celebrating? Costumes? Parties? Decorations? Chocolates and lollies? Halloween, in the US and now Australia, has become a spectacle, rooted in inauthentic cultural transmission and consumerism. As a result, Halloween has lost its soul and rich cultural roots. In its place? An annual holiday that is projected to generate hundreds of millions of dollars, disregarding historical tradition.
Cultural Origins:
American Halloween celebrations derive from three distinct cultural celebrations surrounding death and spiritual reflection: the ancient Celtic pagan festival Samhain, the Christian observance of Allhallowtide, and Mexico’s Día de los Muertos.
Samhain, marked from October 31st to November 1st, signified the end of the harvest season and the onset of winter, when the world began to darken. During this transition, it was believed that the veil between the living and the spiritual realm was thinnest, allowing spirits of the dead to pass into the mortal world. In hopes of warding off the spirits, people wore costumes, lit bonfires and offered food to honour and commemorate their ancestors, laying the groundwork for contemporary costume culture.
Whilst Samhain emphasises the liminal space between worlds and honoured ancestral spirits, Allhallowtide, introduced by the Christian Church in the eighth century, shifted the focus towards solemn spiritual reflection. This observation covered All Hallows’ Eve (October 31st), All Saints’ Day (November 1st), and All Souls’ Day (November 2nd). The name ‘Halloween’ is an adaptation of ‘All Hallows’ Eve’, yet this Christian season is ideologically distinct and far more theologically grounded.
Contrastingly, the vibrant Mexican holiday Día de los Muertos, meaning Day of the Dead, takes place from November 1st to 2nd and celebrates the union of the living and the dead. This joyous holiday is characterised by its bright decorations, assortment of food and drink, skull motifs, music, and a beautiful expression of appreciation for loved ones.
Introduction to the issue
At their core, these cultural celebrations are about commemorating the dead and celebrating community, a dimension conspicuously absent from Halloween. This phenomenon, which can only be described as social amnesia and indifference to tradition, reveals the increasing disconnect with our deeper, historical, and theological roots as we approach a consumer-driven, homogenised global culture. Americanised Halloween certainly features community events, notably the forging of connections between the youth and their neighbourhood. Yet, while this is positive, it is essential to consistently examine societal norms, their derivatives, and their effects in search of a mobilised international community. This article will uncover that Halloween features underlying themes of indulgence and the entrenched propagation of consumerism within society.
Commercialisation is not inherently negative, but this piece intends to reveal and reflect on how commercial influence and media can obscure cultural values and traditions. It is by no means a rejection of commerce or assertiveness that celebration must be grounded in immaterial values, rather seeking a coalition of the market and culture.
Analysis
Did we go too far with Halloween? Contrary to Christmas or Easter, which are more or less equally spiritually and commercially prevalent, I had only heard whispers of Allhallowtide, recalled Día de los Muertos from Pixar’s Coco (2017), and admittedly never heard of Samhain before. When asking someone what they value from Christmas, Easter, and other traditional celebrations, only a child answers with “lollies” or “presents”, whereas a mature individual would say “family and connection”. So why is it now normalised to anticipate material joys in the advent of Halloween? Why, when it used to concern the vivid and simultaneously melancholic celebration of life and loved ones?
Halloween’s social gatherings are neither founded upon community nor commemoration of the deceased. This night of festive parties and intricate costumes has utilised integral, introspective community traditions and proceeded to amalgamate them into an undoubtedly materialistic event. It feels unnatural that Halloween has conveniently forgotten about the mystical allure of these ancient festivals, overshadowed by boundless tides of nonsensical yet scarily necessary Starbucks Caramel Pumpkin Spice Lattes and fake plastic spiders. The national anthem pulses in our veins. Buy. Buy. Buy.
What drives the need for the modern iteration of Halloween? Consumer marketing professor at the University of Sydney, Ellen Garbarino, argues that “the market is more responsive (to Halloween) than driving it”, alluding that social demand, not corporations, commodifies Halloween. Whilst this argument has merit, Garbarino fails to address the intertwined relationship between popular media, marketing, and demand. Corporations can mould the consumerist desire by propagating specific advertisements, often capitalising on FOMO and mob mentality. A particularly susceptible group are adolescents and young adults who are impulsive, feel higher pressure to conform to social norms, and are influenced by the astounding average of 4.8 hours daily on social media (mine goes up to 13 hours…) (Gallup, 2023). For example, a young adult may see mental health and fashion influencer, Sophie Silva and her 31 Halloween costumes for each day of October, which are all gorgeous, and unconsciously emphasise the need to indulge in Halloween. Whilst Silva’s account isn’t an explicit advertisement, it is pushed by the FYP, which is ultimately regulated by AI to maximise the platform’s profits and consumer attraction. Let us not forget the immense sales from Halloween, an extrapolation of $500 million in 2025, an 11% increase from 2024, as the ARA predicts. Essentially, it seems implausible that markets would refrain from exploiting every possible avenue for profit, including the metamorphosis of traditions to annual consumer-driven holidays. Thus, Halloween demand, and indirectly, this cultural amnesia, is curated by the market.
A quintessential flaw of capitalism is that the “acquisition of things displaces more worthwhile activities and priorities”, inhibiting itself in Halloween's displacement of cultural richness and heritage (Richard Reeves, 2019 ). This previously active introspective component of Halloween traditions is psychologically beneficial as it grounds faith in humanity and embraces a deeper appreciation of the cycle of life. Unfortunately, our collective cultural amnesia has facilitated the implosion of traditional resonance. Yet, perhaps with social mobilisation, we can foster change. As a consequence of this movement, national health would be enhanced, and Halloween social functions would shift into more sustainably positive and resonant experiences. Thus, the contemporary social elements of Halloween that are grounded in materialism would shift, leading to where the passion for community would override commerce.
Perhaps it is valid to purely critique the commodification of Halloween, as it has morphed into a symbol obscured by its original themes of spiritual reflection upon morality and the beauty of life. Nevertheless, the amelioration and revival of traditional acknowledgement occur by adding more to the celebration, not indulging a futile attempt at rejection. Engage in conversations concerning quirky historical facts about Samhain, reflect on the elements from cultures that construct contemporary Halloween, and use the period to prioritise reliving memories of deceased loved ones.
Happy Halloween! 🎃
*(American) Halloween is in reference to Halloween celebrated in America and Australia, focused on costumes, parties, trick or treating, and house decorations. It is essential to note that this is what I mean when I discuss Halloween in this article, as I am NOT referring to Halloween celebrations in Europe, Latin America, or other regions, where many of their core traditions remain intact. I am not attempting to critique them.
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Very good article Hannah!!.13 hours is wild… get off that damn phone. Very well written article - Samhain transition period very interesting!
Well done Hannah! Such good research! 💕💕
yess so tru this article ateeee