History and Culture
Halloween: A Feast of Saints in a Culture Without Saints
Halloween keeps the echo of a holy day emptied of meaning in a culture more comfortable with ghosts than saints.
A plastic skeleton slumps beside the porch, its jaw hanging open, scraps of burial cloth caught between its ribs. Children climb the steps while a neighbor reaches for the candy bowl. One wears a cape; another has a fake ax lodged in a split rubber skull, thick streaks of theatrical blood running down his face and soaking his collar. A child dressed as a notorious serial killer grips a blood-smeared plastic knife. Beside him, a Disney princess gathers her glittering skirt to avoid a severed rubber hand on the step. Nearby, a mother in a witch’s hat cradles a baby dressed as a black cat.
The scene is familiar enough that we rarely pause over its strange contrasts. It is Halloween, when fantasy mingles with the macabre and images that would otherwise horrify us become costumes for our children.
