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Halloween Stories: The Haunting Season of Allhallowtide

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As well as pagan roots, modern Halloween has its Christian touches as well. The three days of Allhallowtide is an old Catholic celebration of the dead, where its followers are praying for their departed as well as reflecting over their own mortality and coming death. 

“My God,
bestow Thy blessings and Thy mercies
on all persons
and on those souls in Purgatory
for whom I am in charity, gratitude, or friendship bound
and have the desire to pray. Amen.”
– Invocation of the souls in purgatory

Allhallowtide, also known as Hallowmas, is a deeply spiritual and eerie season in the Catholic tradition, encompassing All Saints’ Eve (Halloween), All Saints’ Day (November 1st), and All Souls’ Day (November 2nd). This sacred triduum is rooted in ancient customs that venerate the dead while warding off evil spirits, and its ghostly imagery and rituals have shaped the modern celebration of Halloween.

Read Also: Halloween Traditions Across the World

There isn’t only in Europe you can observe the Catholic Allhallowtide. In Mexico they celebrate it as El Dia de Los Muertos and have a very distinct imagery and customs as it merged with the ancient Aztec traditions honoring Mictecacihuatl, the goddess of the underworld. In the Phillippines they call it Memorial Day. It is not even just the catholics having some kind of celebration during the Allhallowtide as even after the Reformation, the Protestant also took some of the celebration with them. But how did this celebration of the dead start, and how did it end up as the modern Halloween?

Day of the Day: Christian devotee pays respect and offers prayers at the grave of a family member to mark All Souls Day at a Holy Cemetery in Chattogram in Bangladesh. All Souls’ Day, also known as the Commemoration of All the saints departed. //Wikimedia

The Origins of Allhallowtide

The origins of Allhallowtide trace back to early Christian practices that commemorated saints, martyrs, and the faithful departed as early as back as the 4th century. The Christians needed a day to venerate the saints and initially they decided on May 13th in 609, decided by Pope Boniface IV as the Pantheon in Rome was consecrated called Basilica of St. Mary and the Martyrs. 

The Pantheon or Basilica of St. Mary and the Martyrs in Rome

This was a temple built for the Roman Gods and the way it transformed into a Christian Church is perhaps to show how something old and pagan turned into something Christian. Kind of like the same story with Samhain in many aspects.

By the 8th century, Pope Gregory III dedicated November 1st as All Saints’ Day, a time to honor saints who had passed to align more with the European further north. 

As Catholicism spread across Europe, it merged with local pagan traditions like Samhain. Some scholars think that Allhallowtide celebrations arouse to ease the Pagan Celts’s convergence into Christianity. There are also those that think the Celtic Samhain were just as much influenced by the Christian celebration. 

Read More: Halloween Stories: The Celtic Samhain and how it became the modern Halloween

The Celts believed that during Samhain, the veil between the worlds of the living and the dead was thinnest, allowing spirits to roam. This blending created an atmosphere ripe for ghost stories, fear of the supernatural, and rituals to keep dark entities at bay.

Demons, Ghosts, and Gothic Imagery

During Allhallowtide, it was widely believed that demons, ghosts, and lost souls lurked in the shadows, seeking to torment the living. While All Saints’ Day focused on the saints and their miracles.

Memento Mori: The day was often used to visit graves and lighting lights for the dead.//Source: All Souls’ Day by William-Adolphe Bouguereau

Perhaps the dark imagery we know from Halloween comes more from the next day: All Souls’ Day—the day to pray for the souls trapped in Purgatory—who had a more somber, eerie tone. People believed that the dead needed their prayers to be freed from purgatorial suffering, and if they were neglected, their restless spirits could cause mischief or even harm. Lighting candles or visiting their graves serves to kindle a light for the poor souls languishing in the darkness.

Churches often held midnight masses, with the flickering light of candles casting long, sinister shadows over darkened stone walls. The consecrated gothic churces and cathedrals became the very image of these day, and it is not a far stretch to claim the gothic imagery we have for Halloween comes in large from this.

As the faithful prayed for the dead, the feeling of unseen presences lurking around them was palpable. This led to an association of Allhallowtide with not only the holy but also the haunted.

The fear and reflection of death was important, as was the saying Memento Mori, or remember you shall die. The fear of demons also played a significant role. With the dead in close proximity, malevolent spirits were believed to take advantage of the liminal period to break through the spiritual barriers.

Many customs, such as lighting candles, dressing in costumes, or placing offerings of food at doorsteps, were meant to ward off these dangerous entities. Gargoyles, grimacing and monstrous, were commonly carved into the architecture of Catholic cathedrals, serving both as protectors and reminders of the evil that lurked.

Read Also: Halloween Stories: The Ancient Origins of Trick-or-Treat 

Even the tradition of wearing costumes on Halloween has roots in Allhallowtide. Medieval Christians would dress as saints, angels, or even demons to personify the cosmic struggle between good and evil. Today, Halloween costumes range from the terrifying to the playful, but the theme of disguise—to ward off or confuse malevolent forces—remains.

Remembering the dead: An elderly woman stands alone holding her walking stick. She looks down in thought, presumably reflecting on her dead husband. To the left of the woman is a lantern on which hangs a commemorative wreath; behind that is a stone monument. //Image: All Souls Day by Jakub Schikaneder 1888.

Rituals and Superstitions

Souling: In England, a popular tradition associated with All Souls’ Day is souling,were they went round to the houses of the well-to-do on Souling Day, as they called it, begging money, apples, ale, or doles of cake.

Bonfires, another ritual carried from Samhain into Allhallowtide, were lit on All Hallows’ Eve to keep away evil spirits. The fire symbolized light and protection, guiding the souls of the faithful dead to peace while scaring off the demonic. Much like the tradition of lighting candles in church for the departed. People would also carve turnips into grotesque faces, mimicking the Jack-o’-lantern of today, to frighten away wandering spirits.

Read Also: Halloween Stories: The Legend of Stingy Jack and the origin of the Jack-o’-Lantern 

Another thing that Samhain and Allowtide had in common was leaving food on the table for the departed, keeping the room warm for them and the likes. Examples of regional customs include leaving cakes for departed loved ones on the table and keeping the room warm for their comfort in Tirol and the custom in Brittany, where people flock to the cemeteries at nightfall to kneel, bareheaded, at the graves of their loved ones and anoint the hollow of the tombstone with holy water or to pour libations of milk on it. At bedtime, supper is left on the table for the souls.

There was also a belief in divination during this time. Just as the Celts used Samhain for fortune-telling, during Allhallowtide, prophetic dreams and omens were thought to hold sway. It was believed that the spirits of the dead could offer glimpses into the future or warnings about dangers ahead.

The Dark Legacy

While Allhallowtide’s focus on saints and the dead is deeply spiritual, it also carries a dark undercurrent of fear—fear of lost souls, malevolent spirits, and demons unleashed upon the world. This duality of honoring the dead while fearing the unknown reflects humanity’s deepest existential anxieties. It is this legacy that transformed into the eerie, chilling celebration of Halloween, where ghosts and monsters, the sacred and the profane, come together in a night of unsettling mystery.

In modern Halloween, the echoes of Allhallowtide remain, even though the Halloween celebration has become a controversial one. The pagan influence as well as the demonic and dark imagery connected to venerating Satan instead of the dead has made many Christians to depart from the celebration their religion helped shape. 

The prayers for the dead have become a night for ghost stories, the saints have transformed into costumes, and the bonfires have morphed into jack-o’-lanterns glowing in the dark. But beneath it all, the core idea remains the same: the borders between the worlds of the living and the dead blur, and on this night, something lingers.

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References:

Allhallowtide – Wikipedia

All Souls’ Day – Wikipedia

The dead are welcome on All Souls’ Day in Ireland 

The Origins of Halloween and Allhallowtide – Reflections Ministries 

Allhallowtide Days Of The Dead Triduum – Mad Halloween

The Secrets of Halloween and the Lost Triduum of the Church – Good Catholic

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Halloween Traditions Across the World

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In this wide world we have countless customs, holidays and traditions. But the tradition of honoring, and at times, fearing the dead around the dark autumn time, seems to be something we do in all corners of the earth.

Through the modern media we have all grown accustomed to this specific type of Halloween traditions. Carving pumpkins, go trick or treating and dressing up is now a global phenomenon. But the concept of celebrating the dead, souls and spirits during the harvest season has always been something people have done, and probably will continue to do for a while. But although the American style Halloween have monopolised a lot of the celebration, there are still both old and local variation of celebrating this kind of festivity. Here are some of them:

Samhain — Britain

Samhain: Bonfires, offerings to fairies and feasts for the dead was a tradition in the old Samhain celebrations.

The Samhain celebration is probably were the modern Halloween traditions has borrowed most customs and ideas from. It is a Gaelic festival marking the end of harvest season and the beginning of winter. it was usually celebrated from 31. October to 1. November. It was celebrated all throughout Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man, with many similar festivals held around the same time around the rest of the Celtic Islands.

According to tradition, bonfires were lit as they were seen to have protective and cleansing power. Offerings to the Aois Sí, the spirits and fairies was made to give them a good harvest and making them last through the winter. There was also held feasts where they made place for the dead at the table, as it was believed that the souls of the dead would visit.

The festival was held because the time was seen as a liminal time, were the boundary between the living and dead were minimal and the crossing between this world and the otherworld were more easily done. A part of the festival also included people dressing up in costume to recite verses for food, called mummers play, or mumming.

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All Saints Day — Catholic Church

All Saints Day: This Christian holiday is celebrated many places were there is a Roman catholic or Anglican church.

Within the Catholic Church the celebration of All Saints’ Day or All Souls’ Day is marked November the first and second. It is also called Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed and Day of the Dead. The All Saints Day is a day for celebrating all Saints and Martyrs in the Christian Church. The All Souls Day is mostly for the people still in purgatory to atone for their sins before entering heaven.

This together with Samhain turned into what we now call the modern Halloween with its traditions. Most often, the All Saints’ Day is celebrated within the western christianity, while in the eastern christianity they have celebrated somewhat the same in Saturday of Souls celebrations. It is mostly celebrated by Roman Catholics and Anglicans.

The feast itself is celebrated on November 1. and is mostly a day of prayer and remembering the souls of the dead. On the day there are many ways the practitioners remember the dead, and the traditions vary from church to church, but it generally include lighting candles and praying.

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Allantide — Wales

Allan Apples: Apples are important for Allantide as they are a token of good luck.

A Cornish version of Halloween traditions is the Allantide, or Kalan Gwaw, meaning the first day of winter. In the sixth century, Cornwall had a bishop named St Allan, and therefore it is also known as Allan Night and Allan Day. Traditionally it was celebrated on the night of October 31 and the day after.

A lot of common traits with Hollantide celebration in Wales and Isle of Man as well as Halloween itself. To celebrate they rung the church bell to comfort Christian souls on their journey to heaven. They made Jack’o lanterns from turnips. But the most important fruit this feast was red apples. Large, glossy Allan apples were polished and given to friends and family as gift for good luck.

Divination game to read the future was also a part of the festivities. They ere for example throwing walnuts in the fire to predict the fidelity of their partners, or poring molten lead in cold water to find out the job of their future husband. Also some parts of Cornwal, they lit ‘Tindle’ fires to the Coel Coth of Wales.

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Day of the Dead — Mexico

Día de Muertos: This day is often recognized for the costumes and makeup.

The Day of the Dead or Día de Muertos in Spanish is a Mexican holiday, well known for their distinctive costumes and face paint. Before the Spanish colonization in the 16th century, the celebration was in the beginning of the summer in Mexico. But it became intertwined with the Christian church and European Halloween traditions and moved to the end of October and beginning of November.

It is a holiday, stretching over several days gathers families and friends to pray for their lost ones and help their way to heaven. According to the Mexican culture, the death is viewed as a naturally part of the human cycle and should therefor not be seen as a day of sadness, but a day of celebrations.

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Pchum Ben — Cambodia

Preparing to open the gates of hell: Monks praying and people gifting food and flowers to the ancestors.
Prayers during Pchum Ben. Credit: Maharaja45

The holiday is a fifteen day celebration on the 15th day of the tenth month in the Khmer calendar, at the end of the Buddhist Lent, Vassa. And would in the Gregorian calendar, mostly be in September and October. The translation of Pchum Ben is Ancestor Day, and its a time were many Cambodians pay their respect to the dead family and relatives up to seven generations.

Monks chant the sutta in Pali language without sleeping overnight to prepare the gates of hell opening. This occurs once a year and is a time were manes (spirits) of the ancestors come back. Therefore they put out food offerings that can help them end their time in purgatory.

People give foods like sweet sticky rice and beans wrapped in banana leaves, and visit temples to offer up baskets of flowers as a way to pay respect to their deceased ancestors. It’s also a time for people to celebrate the elderly.

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Pangangaluluwa — Philippines

After sundown: In Philippines they light candles and camp out in the cemeteries to honour the ancestors.
Photo by Alexandr Chukashev on Pexels.com

The name of the holiday is from the word kaluluwa, meaning soul or spirit. It is an event that lasts three days at the cemetery with food stands and pop-up stores around the cemetery as the people celebrating the festivities, camp out.

On the first of November people gather in cemetaries to light candles and put flowers on the grave to respect the ancestors. some places in the north they have this old tradition of lighting pinewood next to the graves. In the cemetery there is a priest walking through it to bless all the tombs.

Outside of the emetaries, there are carollers singing through the night, all draped in white blankets. The same tradition is for children as they go door to door and singing hymns to get money.

Today, the local tradition is slowly fading out, merging more and more with the modern Halloween traditions, but out in the provinces, mostly, the old practices is still upheld for now.

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Saint Andrew’s Day — Romania

Night of the Wolf: During this night wolves have special powers and can speak.
Photo by David Selbert on Pexels.com

This day is today connected to the Christian saint, but it also have some pagan origins with the Roman celebration of Saturn. In the Dacian Ney Year was an interval when time started up again. On the turn of the night, wolves were allowed to eat the animals they wanted and it was also believed that they spoke as well, although, if you heard it, it meant an early death.

Early on the day, the mothers went into the garden to get branches, especially from apple, pear, cherry trees and rose bush branches. They made a bunch of these branches for each family member, and if a branch bloomed by New Years day, it meant they would be lucky and healthy the following year.

There was also a tradition of girls hiding sweet basil under their pillow to have dreams about their wedding. It was also customary for girls to put 41 grains of wheat under their pillow, and if they dreamt someone stole them, it meant they were going to be wed the next year. This premonition was also done by bringing a candle to a fountain at midnight and ask Saint Andrew himself if he could give them a glimpse of their future husband.

This day was especially good for revealing the future husband by magic, a superstitious belief that was also in Ukraine, Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Poland, Russia as well as in Romania. This was also the day were vampiric activity was at large, all until Saint George’s Eve on the 22. of April.

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Dziady — Poland

Dziady: Cemetery on dziady night by Stanisław Bagieński from 1904.

The Dziady is a slavic feast to remember the ancestor long passed. It is sometimes translated to Forefathers Eve. It used to be celebrated both in the spring and in the autumn, but today, it is usually held in the end of October like .

In the feast they eat ritual meals to celebrate the living and the souls. It was either held at the house or at cemeteries, were poring directly on the grave was and still is a thing. In some areas the ancestors also had to bathe, and saunas was prepared for them. They also lit up candles and lights to guide the souls so they wouldn’t get lost and wander off.

There was also a special kind of begger, a beggars-dziady, people thought to be connected to the other words. They were given food and sometimes cash to make them pray for their loved lost ones.

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