Where does Halloween come from? And how to keep it positive.

Every October 31st we put on costumes, forego our “don’t talk to strangers” rule, and pile in more chocolate than Augustus Gloop from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

But is it just me, or does Halloween seem to be getting weirder—and more gruesome?

As we think it through, let’s probe where Halloween came from the first place.

Turns out, it’s a curious tale. I didn’t really know much about it myself, so I’m thankful to my friend and fellow-pastor Alex Douglas for some of the research he did. Here’s what he says:

“Halloween began in Ireland and Scotland around 2000 years ago – right around the time Jesus’ adult ministry began actually. On October 31 the ancient Irish and Scots celebrated the end of the summer and began preparing for winter. This day was also the ancient Celtic New Year – the day that was neither last year, nor…