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Six Reasons Why Christians Shouldn’t Fear Halloween

Six Reasons Why Christians Shouldn’t Fear Halloween

Last updated on: October 28, 2026 at 12:00 pm by Lee Ann B. Marino

Six Reasons Why Christians Shouldn’t Fear Halloween 2026-08-29T19:35:11-04:00 Lee Ann B. Marino

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It’s Halloween! That time of year when kids trick-or-treat for candy, people dress up in costumes, and Christians fight non-stop with one another. Why do they argue, you ask? The fights usually center around Halloween itself. More specifically, if Christians should celebrate it. Like many modern-day issues, Christians across denominations don’t agree about participation in Halloween. From those who are for it, to those who create alternative celebrations, to those who reject it all together, Halloween is a visible example of the way different people view the same issue.

Halloween, at least as we understand it today, is part of a much larger history. One of the major reasons Christians object to Halloween is due to fear: Fear of worshiping Satan, child endangerment, mixing spiritual systems, or inviting unchristian spirits into one’s life. There’s also a major concern about a negative Christian witness if one celebrates Halloween. For me personally, it is this level of fear that is of concern. While I don’t celebrate Halloween myself and we don’t observe Halloween at my church, that doesn’t mean I am afraid of it or of people who celebrate it. As a people called to stand against fear, let’s look at six reasons why no matter what you think about Halloween, you shouldn’t be afraid of it.

Group of people wearing scary masks

Photo by Mario Samuel Chavez Ceja: https://www.pexels.com/photo/crowd-celebrating-halloween-at-night-with-costumes-29209410/

October 31 is the day the Lord has made

The Scriptures repeatedly tell us God is sovereign over all our days. In an oft-quoted Bible passage, we find the following proclamation:

This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. (Psalm 118:24, NLT)

In other words, October 31 is still a day that God has made. He hasn’t surrendered His sovereignty to the devil, not even for one day. It’s still a day to rejoice and be glad, because God still reigns.

Evil is done every day of the year by people of all different spiritual persuasions

If you’re concerned about the amount of evil done on Halloween, take note of this fact. True occultists and Satan worshipers don’t wait for October 31 to cast spells, share viewpoints, or engage in the practice of magic (if that’s what they are into). In reality, the majority of Satanists are atheists. They embody the idea of Satan as an ideology, one that’s opposed to Christianity. While I’m not arguing the intention of such individuals, the truth is that they aren’t cramming everything they believe into one day. While Halloween might be a great chance for a party or to perpetrate the ideas many have about witchcraft on these days, nobody waits for Halloween to practice magic.

Beyond this reality, I think we focus far too much on Satanists and occultists. The perpetration of evil is done by people all over the world, every day of the year. The majority aren’t Satanists and they aren’t occultists. If we step back and realize some of the true horrors perpetrated in this world, there are far more important things to advocate, protest, and engage over than Halloween.

Halloween is not the devil’s birthday

Psssst….come here. Closer. I have something to tell you.

Just like Christmas isn’t Jesus’ actual birthday, neither is Halloween the devil’s birthday.

Just as there’s no historical text nor tradition of the birthday of Christ, neither is there one of the devil. I could get into a long-winded dissertation as to why this is, but the reason why is probably much simpler than we might want to consider. If Satan, as we understand him, is a fallen angel, then he’s part of the spiritual realm. He wasn’t “born” in the sense of a human being. Therefore, there’s no birthday of Satan.

The only references to an actual “devil’s birthday” are found in two instances. The first is June 11 and December 11 in Norway and Denmark. It’s a tongue-in-cheek reference that loan and interest repayments are made on these dates, every year. Such was implemented in 1656. Obviously nothing to do with Halloween or Satan.

The other reference is April 30, known as May Eve or Walpurgis Night. As May 1 was the day for different pagan festivals throughout Europe (think: Maypole festivals), Christians of earlier times conflated pagan ideas with Satan. (A word: pagans don’t recognize Satan.) Because festivals at that time of the year were associated with fertility, the deities were confused with Satan, connecting it to his “birthday.”

Either way, no matter how we spin it, October 31 isn’t Satan’s birthday.

Worship of any deity is a deliberate act

The act of worship, which literally means to give worth or value, is a deliberate act. We can’t “accidentally” worship God, Satan, or any pagan deity or spirit. An example of this can be seen in Exodus 32:1-6 (NLT):

When the people saw how long it was taking Moses to come back down the mountain, they gathered around Aaron. “Come on,” they said, “make us some gods who can lead us. We don’t know what happened to this fellow Moses, who brought us here from the land of Egypt.”

So Aaron said, “Take the gold rings from the ears of your wives and sons and daughters, and bring them to me.”

All the people took the gold rings from their ears and brought them to Aaron. Then Aaron took the gold, melted it down, and molded it into the shape of a calf. When the people saw it, they exclaimed, “O Israel, these are the gods who brought you out of the land of Egypt!”

Aaron saw how excited the people were, so he built an altar in front of the calf. Then he announced, “Tomorrow will be a festival to the Lord!”

The people got up early the next morning to sacrifice burnt offerings and peace offerings. After this, they celebrated with feasting and drinking, and they indulged in pagan revelry.

The Hebrews didn’t “accidentally” fall into the worship of another god. This was a deliberate action, taking deliberate steps to ensure they did something to honor a false deity.

Likewise: nobody can accidentally worship Satan. Dressing up as a Disney or Marvel character, asking for candy, or going to a party are not actions of worship. Worship is about our hearts and intentions.

Much of the conjecture around Halloween is false

About 25 years ago, I did a deep-dive into the origins and history of all the holidays. I came away with three main points. The first is that the origins of all holidays – whether we want to deal with it or not – are mostly pagan. They’re all part of the same ancient calendar of pagan worship, celebration, and observation based on the seasons. The second is that modern versions of these different holidays are often not as interconnected with their pagan roots as we might like to think. Most have their own unique modern spins based on centuries of lore and contemporary ideas. The third, therefore, is that holidays today are often a mishmash of different perceptions of things. Most of those perceptions are quite a bit more modern than we assume.

When it comes to Halloween, much of the conjecture is false. Modern-day versions of Halloween are often concoctions what we know about ancient festivals mixed with modern society and sensibilities. Kidnappings are not higher on Halloween than other days. There have only been a few instances of poison-laced candy, and it was usually perpetuated by relatives. There’s no instance of any child being harmed by a razor blade in an apple. No child has ever died from poisoned Halloween candy. There’s no increase of violent crime on Halloween over any other day.

Crimes that do increase on Halloween are breaking and entering and drunk driving. Drunk driving spikes with all holidays, including New Year’s.

God tells us not to be afraid

I’ve heard it said that “be not afraid” is found in the Bible 365 times – once for every day of the year. It turns out this is a myth. Depending on translation, it’s closer to 80 to 140 times. Still, the call to be not afraid includes Halloween. There’s no exemption or exception that allows fear for that one specific day. It’s still a day within the scope of the divine, and still a day for Christians to be Christian. Speaking of which: being afraid all the time isn’t a good witness for the Christian life. Neither is hostility, if you’re arguing back and forth over the veracity of Halloween. Taking a step back and doing some self-examination can go a long way in your witness on Halloween – and every day thereafter.

Also, don’t forget that Halloween isn’t the only thing observed on October 31. October 31 is also Reformation Day, which marks the start of the Protestant Reformation. As All Hallow’s Eve in high Christian traditions, it marks a series of days devoted to honoring the deceased in Christ, martyrs, the faithful dead, and the persecuted church. In more lighthearted observances, it’s also Girl Scouts Founders Day, National Caramel Apple Day, and National Knock Knock Joke Day.

Bottom line: being afraid of something doesn’t count as Christian devotion or witness. Whether you choose to observe Halloween or opt to refrain, fear doesn’t look good on a believer, regardless of the day.

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About Lee Ann B. Marino

Dr. Lee Ann B. Marino, Ph.D., D.Min., D.D. (”The Spitfire”) is “everyone’s favorite theologian” leading Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z as apostle of SAFE Ministries. Her work encompasses study and instruction on leadership training and development, typology, Pneumatology, conceptual theology, Ephesians 4:11 ministry, and apostolic theology. She is author of over thirty-five books, host of the top twenty percentile podcast Kingdom Now, and serves as founder and overseer of Sanctuary International Fellowship Tabernacle - SIFT and Chancellor of Apostolic Covenant Theological Seminary. Dr. Marino has over twenty-five years of experience in ministry, leadership, counseling, mentoring, education, and business. You can read more about the author here.

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