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For centuries the supernatural, and Halloween in particular, have been contested territory. Folklorists have interpreted Halloween as a relic of pre-Christian Celtic beliefs, when the turn of the seasons was thought to weaken the membrane separating the living and the dead. Some Christian evangelicals, especially in the US, view it as a sinister and sinful celebration of the occult. There’s also the perennial complaint that it’s nothing more than a recent, brash American import.
None of these claims is quite true. There may once have been an ancient festival at this time of year, but the evidence is from centuries later and doesn’t support the assertions that any celebrations had a supernatural dimension. Evangelicals’ fear reveals more about their own brand of Christianity than about why Halloween has its ghoulish associations.
I am a curator at English Heritage, and from tales of a rotting revenant rising from its grave at Byland Abbey to a phantom drummer boy at Richmond Castle, almost every one of our sites has a story to make your hair stand on end.
As for Americanisation, most of Halloween’s familiar rituals began on this side of the Atlantic: carving lanterns (traditionally from turnips); “guising” or dressing up; mischief or misrule; and going door to door asking for treats – a form of “licensed” begging that helped strengthen community ties. The small oaty “soul cakes” sometimes offered in return were first recorded in the 1400s, showing that Halloween had long been Christianised, manifesting as the 31 October feast of All Hallows’ Eve, or to use its formal name, the Vigil of the Feast of All Saints.
All Saints’ Day itself, celebrated on 1 November since the eighth century, honours saints known and unknown, including souls believed to have reached heavenly bliss. But only the most virtuous went straight there. Purgatory awaited most Christians, where their souls would undergo punishment to cleanse their sins. Ultimately, souls consigned to purgatory would go upwards to heaven, but the pains endured in the meantime were believed to be every bit as hideous as those inflicted upon the wicked condemned to hell for all eternity.
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In the 11th century, monks came to their rescue. They introduced the feast of All Souls on 2 November – a day for the living to pray and do good works for those enduring purgatory. Alms and soul cakes were given in exchange for prayers, and masses were sung to speed souls heavenward.
Ghost stories soon spread, telling of restless spirits returning from purgatory to beg the living for help. It’s no coincidence that most of these supernatural tales were recorded by monks and nuns, the stories invariably underlining the effectiveness of monastic prayer for the salvation of suffering souls.
The Reformation did away with the monasteries, and purgatory was repudiated as unscriptural. For many Protestants, Catholicism itself was becoming distinctly devilish. Over the centuries ghost stories have continually changed too, with each iteration of these “pleasing terrors” reflecting the spirits and morals of their own age.
However distant we may now feel from the medieval Christian Halloween, the festival still speaks to something deep and human. It reminds us that death comes to us all. It’s a preparation for whatever comes next, be that the netherworld or a place in the hearts of the ones we have left. Before we die well, let us first live well. And that includes having a haunting and happy Halloween.
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Dr Michael Carter is a curator at English Heritage
