I don’t know about you, but over the last few years, I’ve noticed a massive uptick in Halloween decorations, makeup, and celebrations (and candy prices, but that’s another story). Some decorations are fun, campy, and family-friendly — others, not so much.
Sure, we see the inflatable jack-o-lanterns, cute ghosts, and the like, but there are also more menacing decorations. Some of them are graphic and legitimately scary; others are demonic. Skeletons are one thing, but the animal skeletons are creepier than human skeletons. And what’s with the giant (10-foot? 12-foot?) Nephilim skeletons that people are putting in their yards?
Driving around town recently, I saw some interesting yards. There are the families who go overboard with the inflatable decorations, of course. One 19th-century mansion I saw had tentacles coming out of various places on the porch, windows, and roof, which I thought was clever and fun. I even saw a pro-Trump Halloween display last night that made fun of Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and Tim Walz.
And then there’s a house that I’ve seen multiple times this season. This family has gone all-out to cover the yard in decorations, and you’ll see some of it in the featured image. Some of them are campier, while others invoke ‘50s horror characters. Two mannequins even suggest the Lizzie Borden story. It’s all funny, outrageous, and somewhat disturbing.
We can chalk some of this up to how much easier it is to buy or make convincing decorations. Technology gives us more opportunities to create décor that’s more realistic.
But I also can’t help but wonder if the Halloween obsession — especially the graphic, scary, and downright demonic elements — has something to do with our society drifting further away from biblical faith. As society moves away from God, something takes His place, and I wonder if this obsession with a different aspect of the supernatural is taking God’s place for a lot of people.
Don’t get me wrong; Halloween can be fun. We didn’t go trick-or-treating as kids because we lived out in the middle of nowhere. The plus side to this was that my parents bought us all the candy we wanted, and sometimes we’d go trick-or-treating from room to room with my mom and dad dressed in different homemade costumes. I knew people then and know people now who avoid Halloween like the plague because it was “of the devil.”
There’s a fine line between fun and campy Halloween and dwelling in the occult-influenced supernatural. We can enjoy candy and funny decorations without leaning toward the demonic and evil. Then again, we can also womp-womp all over the day and miss out on some of the fun.
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Halloween has its origins in the Christian tradition of All Saints’ Day (no, not the girl group), generally celebrated on Nov. 1. The day before believers celebrate the saints of the past was first called All Hallow’s Eve, and it became Halloween.
For Christians, Halloween can be a reminder of the ultimate story of good triumphing over evil and darkness giving way to the light. It can help us rejoice that we know the ending to the story.
Scripture reminds us of this:
The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.
Psalm 121:7-8 (ESV)
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
John 1:5 (ESV)
For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
1 John 5:4-5 (ESV)
Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!”
Revelation 12:7-12 (ESV)
“The Christian message, at this and every time of the year, is that evil does not have the final say, either in the world or in our own hearts,” said John Stonestreet on the Breakpoint podcast. “Evil is a real foe, but because of Jesus Christ, evil is a defeated foe. So, fear not.”
When you’re tempted to despair at the evil in the world or when you see Halloween decorations that don’t sit well with you, remember these truths. And rejoice in the knowledge that good triumphs over evil.
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