Halloween

Nostalgia, idealism, and the policing of childhood.

Despite the prevalence of tricks and spooky spirits in earlier years, the American commercial holiday didn’t develop until the middle of the twentieth century.

It's a tale thousands of years in the making.

Carving pumpkins, trick-or-treating, and wearing scary costumes are some of the time-honored traditions of Halloween. But why do we do them?

Celtic rituals, tricks of nature, and deals with the devil have all played a part in creating this iconic symbol of Halloween.

Nineteenth-century urbanization unleashed the nation's anarchic spirits.

Halloween's most iconic candy (and its most polarizing) used to be a year-round snack. Then came the candy corn explosion.

Is the cost worth the payoff?

On the occasion of Halloween, an exploration of previous generations' fascination with ghosts, spirits, and witches.

A spectre is haunting houses—the spectre of possession.

Candies of the Halloween season have roots in the sweet treats and real horrors of the Great War.

They’re hip, business-savvy, and know how to cast a spell: How a new generation of witches and warlocks selling $300 wands conquered Salem.

Did mass graves in the influenza pandemic help give rise to the living dead?

The origins of Linus's pumpkin deity, who "rises out of the pumpkin patch and flies through the air and brings toys to all the children in the world."

The heroines of 1970s and 80s teen horror movies were traditionally feminine, tough, and sexually confident.

Though the practice is now more associated with Halloween, spooking out your family is well within the Christmas spirit.

Tourist-driven curiosity about the so-called "haunted asylum" has led many to overlook the real people who once were institutionalized within these hospitals.