According to the National Retail Federation, we will see a record spending spree totaling $13.1 billion dollars on this year’s festivities. This is up from $11.6 billion in 2024 and $12.2 billion spent in 2023. Recognizing that candy prices (and prices in general) have likely had a major impact, it is also important to note that we are in the middle of a government shutdown, and consumer confidence is down this October (53.6) compared to last year at the same time (71.8). So why are we spending so much on Halloween?

Halloween History

The quick story on the holiday begins as a Celtic (Irish) festival marking the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter. They believed that this night opened the chasm between the dead and the living, allowing spirits to return to earth. Later (the 8th century) Christians celebrated the festival as All Hallows’ Eve (later shortened to Halloween), a time when we are to remember our loved ones who have passed away. In the 1800s, immigrants from Ireland, Scotland, and other nations brought these traditions to America. German immigrants brought witchcraft, and Haitians and Africans brought voodoo, black cats, and witchcraft as well. Over time, traditions were added to the mix, including:

• Trick-or-Treat – This originated from a term called “souling,” where kids would go door-to-door asking for food in exchange for offering prayers for the dead.
• Costumes – Masks and scary clothing were thought to protect individuals from vengeful spirits.
• Jack-o-Lanterns – Originally turnips or potatoes, pumpkins eventually took over as the vegetable of choice due to their favorable size for carving. This tradition started in Ireland, as it was thought that demonic faces would also keep the spirits at a distance.

A Biblical Christian Perspective

Nothing about Halloween supports a Biblical Christian worldview other than the concept of fellowship. It began as a pagan ritual and remains so today. Like so many things Satan tries to make palatable to our human nature, Halloween, with its focus on spirits and the ghoulish dead, has no place in a Christian home. Yet Christians, including, I admit, our family growing up with kids, even AFTER we were saved, engaged in the costume and candy traditions, regardless.

We are “spending so much on Halloween” … because evil is attractive. It always has been, but is increasingly so today. Satan’s time continues to grow short.

And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver. - Acts 19:19

You shall not permit a sorceress to live. - Exodus 22:18

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. - Romans 12:2