Why October Belongs to the Dead

Every culture, it seems, waited for the dark to start talking to its ghosts.

The days shorten. The harvest comes in. The fields go quiet, and suddenly the veil between the living and the dead feels about as thick as old lace. I have spent many an October evening wondering why so many unrelated peoples, across oceans and centuries, landed on the same few weeks of the year for remembering their dead. I went digging. Here is what I found, and a few things that turned out stranger than I expected.

The dark half of the year

Before calendars were printed and pinned to kitchen walls, people lived by the farm year. Autumn meant the end of growing and the beginning of scarcity. It is not hard to see why a season of endings would invite thoughts of other endings, and of the people who were no longer at the table. Autumn has always been about change. And though the trees may be shedding their leaves, they do so with brilliant color. Almost as a last hurrah before the bleak winter days that follow.

Autumn also brings three traditions that cluster around the turn from October into November. Each has its own roots and its own meaning, and they overlap in fascinating ways. None of them is simply "the same holiday in a different hat."

Samhain: when the boundary goes thin

Samhain (an Irish word meaning "summer's end") is an ancient Celtic festival marking the end of summer and the start of winter, celebrated on the evening of October 31 into November 1. The belief was that on that night the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead grew thin, letting spirits, fairies and other uncanny beings wander out into the dark.

Here is the part I love as a history nerd: we know much less than the internet claims. The ancient Celts of Ireland left few records of the holiday. Brief mentions appear in Irish tales from the 10th and 12th centuries, and detailed descriptions of the customs only arrive in the 18th century. Bonfires, divination, feasting and food set out for returning dead are all possible practices, but scholars are careful to say the evidence is thin.

Some of the folk customs that survive are wonderfully eerie. There were "dumb suppers," meals eaten in silence that were said to bring visions of a future husband. In southern Ireland, woven straw crosses called parshells were made to ward off evil. Carving frightening faces into turnips, the ancestors of our pumpkin jack-o'-lanterns, may also have grown from Samhain traditions.

All Hallows, All Saints and All Souls

The Christian calendar answered with its own three-day stretch of remembrance, sometimes called Allhallowtide. It begins with All Hallows' Eve on October 31 (hello, Halloween), moves to All Saints' Day on November 1, and ends with All Souls' Day on November 2.

All Souls' Day is the one for the ordinary dead. In Roman Catholic tradition it commemorates the faithful departed believed to be in purgatory, and the faithful pray for them. The day is credited to Odilo, abbot of Cluny, who died in 1048. By the end of the 13th century the date was nearly universal. In many places families still visit and decorate the graves of loved ones, sharing memories and saying prayers.

There is a wartime footnote I find quietly moving. In 1915, with the world reeling from the loss of life in World War I, Pope Benedict XV allowed priests to celebrate three masses on All Souls' Day instead of the usual one.

As for how all of this connects to Samhain, historians are honest that nobody knows for certain which Halloween customs came from which tradition. Halloween as we know it seems to be a blend of both.

Dia de Muertos: a party for the people you miss

If the first two traditions lean toward solemnity, Dia de Muertos (Day of the Dead) invites the dead back for a reunion. It is observed in Mexico on November 1 and 2, and it traces back thousands of years to the Indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica, including the Aztecs and the Maya, who saw death not as an ending but as a continuation of existence in another realm.

When Spanish colonizers arrived in the 16th century, they brought All Saints' and All Souls' Day. Indigenous communities folded those dates into their own beliefs, and the result is a layered tradition that honors both. It is worth saying plainly: Dia de Muertos is distinct from Halloween in origin and meaning, even though they share a corner of the calendar.

Families build ofrendas, altars of offerings, at home or beside graves. They leave candles, favorite foods and marigolds (cempasuchiles), whose bright color and strong scent are said to guide spirits home. Some celebrations are full of black humor and skeletons in their finest clothes. The point is joy, memory and connection. In 2008, UNESCO inscribed the Day of the Dead on its list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

What the dead have in common

Put these side by side and a pattern appears. Light a candle. Set out something for the departed. Visit a grave, or build a small altar with a photograph. Tell their stories out loud. Different roots, same ache, and the same comfort.

Where my own art comes in

Ask anyone who knows me and they will tell you that Halloween is my favorite holiday. Autumn is my favorite time of year because it continues to be spooky. Though the nights become longer, and the days colder, the colors of fall are spectacular. And there are enough foggy days to warrant the proper mood for a horror movie.

It's only natural my penchant for watching horror movies and reading horror books turned into writing horror stories. And Halloween brings everyone together for a good scare, or just a fun time getting together. Costumes optional always.

Keep wandering

If you like your history strange, I keep a whole series of it: the Incredibly Strange & Completely Random Holidays series, where I chase down the odd, the obscure and the occasionally haunted corners of the calendar.

And if you would like more of this in your inbox, my newsletter lands once a month with new art, new releases and a free downloadable calendar. [Sign up below in the footer of any page. ]

Which of these traditions would you most like to try? Tell me in the comments. I read every one.