Professors at WVU trace Halloween through ancient, cross-cultural traditions

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — From cauldrons to candy corn, favorite Halloween traditions in the U.S. have been brewing for thousands of years, according to two West Virginia University religious scholars.

Aaron Gale and Alex Snow, associate professors of religious studies in the university's Eberly College of Arts and Sciences in Morgantown, West Virginia, say that modern Halloween is far more than a night of costumes and candy: it’s a celebration with deep spiritual and cultural roots that span continents and millennia.

“Halloween’s origins go back some 2,000 years to the Celtic druids, who celebrated Samhain, a fall festival marking the changing of the seasons,” Gale explained.

“The traditional colors of orange and black may have represented the shift from summer’s life and harvest to winter’s death and darkness.”

Avoiding rather than celebrating evil

During Samhain, the Celts believed that the veil between the worlds of the living and the dead grew thin on October 31.

“Out of fear, people left food offerings or disguised themselves so that wandering spirits wouldn’t recognize or harass them — practices that may have inspired modern trick-or-treating,” Gale said.

As centuries passed, Europe’s “witch craze” helped shape Halloween into the eerie celebration we know today. “Thousands of people, mostly innocent women, were accused of witchcraft,” Gale noted.

“Everyday household objects like cauldrons, cats, and broomsticks became tied to the image of the witch. This ‘Golden Age’ of witches and the Devil helped create many of the visual symbols that still define Halloween.”

When European immigrants carried their customs to the New World, the traditions evolved once again. “Practices like England’s ‘souling’ — children going door to door begging for food or money — probably evolved into modern trick-or-treating,” Gale said.

“By the 1920s, Halloween was a fixture of American culture, and by the late 20th century, it had become a multibillion-dollar industry built around costumes, candy, and community.”

Similar celebrations across cultures

But Halloween’s fascination with spirits isn’t unique to the West, according to Snow.

“Aspects of the holiday we know today have comparative manifestations across Asia—in Nepal, Hong Kong, the Philippines, and especially China, where the Festival of Hungry Ghosts is celebrated annually on July 15,” he said.

In these traditions, the living seek to appease restless souls through offerings and rituals. “Many cultures view ghosts as the spirits of dead people that now wander the world of the living,” Snow explained.

“They can be scary and haunting presences — traditionally best avoided or kept at bay. Some try to appease and avoid being haunted by them by making offerings.”

The Festival of Hungry Ghosts, he said, is one of the most vivid expressions of that belief. Rooted in Buddhist mythology, “hungry ghosts,” or egui, are portrayed as endlessly tormented by hunger and thirst.

“During the festival, offerings are made to ease their suffering and to remember ancestors who may have become ghosts,” Snow said. “Much like Halloween, it’s a major cultural and economic event — one of reverence, fear, and celebration.”

Whether through candy bowls or candlelit altars, Halloween’s spirit of remembrance, mystery, and mischief continues to connect the living with the unseen — a global tradition that, as Gale and Snow remind us, has been haunting humanity for more than two millennia.

Laura Jackson, a writer at WVU Research Communications, contributed to this story.