Why I Love Halloween and Why I Don't Believe It's Evil

By Ivee

I'm seeing Bible thumpers criticizing Halloween on my Facebook feed. "It's evil," they say. Personally, Halloween is one of my favorite seasons. I have great memories of it and i love seeing and taking part in all the creativity involved in  coming up with costumes and decorations.

When we were kids living in a typical barangay  in Quezon City (Bgy. Nayong Kanluran, then Bgy. Pinyahan), our parents would drive us all the way from QC to Alabang (or Elebeeeeng) so we could have a taste of Trick or Treat and how the richest of the rich do it. Ayala Alabang opened its doors to the meek middle class and it was a dream: an overflow of chocolates, candies, and Whammos (!), houses and mansions decorated in ways I've never seen before, and perfectly-thought out costumes. By the end of our Trick or Treating, my siblings and i would check our candies and chocolates and trade or share with each other. Yes, it was a time of sharing and generosity; we'd often look into our own overflowing treat bags and see what the other failed to score, and we'd give some.

Each year, we would look forward to Halloween as much as we'd look forward to Christmas. There was nothing "evil" about it. For me, the opposite of "evil" is "divine," and the Halloween experience was exactly that-- both as a kid and up to now.

After Halloween Trick or Treat, our parents would then take us to November 1 mass the next day.

It just makes me cringe how people impose their beliefs on others. It's one thing to raise our opinions, it's another thing to flat-out judge others and tell them they're immoral for enjoying something that's customary to them. What's hell and more evil, celebrating a time loaded with good memories, a time that brings people together, or ignoring the actual hell created by the real-life demons around us? I wonder why the very people who lambast Halloween, complete with Bible verses, can't seem to lambast politicians saying rape and killings are okay? Isn't the Bible filled with rules saying these are flat-out wrong? If only these Bible verses and the "morality" stance surface when discussing these topics too. How interestingly ironic.

People saying Halloween is wrong argue that the symbolism of ghosts, skeletons, witches, vampires are celebratory of evil. Is it? Or are we dressing up in these said images to mock evil, to say to its face, "We're so over you, we ridicule and make fun of you."

Why are we so afraid of these symbols anyway? Maybe because ghosts and skeletons remind us of the dead, witches of non-conformity, and vampires of blood suckers. But death is our truth, non-conformity is a risk we have to take sometimes, and being sucked by metaphorical vampires is something we all have to deal with at some point.

I think it is human nature to be fearful of things that are said to bring us closer to our mortality, to reject activities that seemingly pull us away from our suppposed purity and divinity.

Yet, what keeps us close to our goodness is not being fearful or dismissive, but leaning in to joy and oneness, which for many people, is what Halloween brings.

We believe what we believe, and no amount of Facebook memes can sway other people, unless of course they're actively choosing to change beliefs.

But that's just what I think. Don't take it too seriously, because this is just a blog post written by a girl thinking of her Halloween costume. 🤣