Halloween: An American Holiday, an American History, Lesley Pratt Bannatyne
This seems to have become one of the definitive historical texts about Hallowe'en in the United States; Bannatyne was interviewed for the History Channel's
A Haunted History of Halloween.
Hallowe'en originated in the combined customs of the Celts, who celebrated
Samhain (pronounced "sow-wen") as autumn turned cold and darkness approached, and of the Romans who invaded the British isles. When Christianity appeared, instead of disposing of pagan rituals, Pope Gregory asked that the church find some way to incorporate the old rituals into the new so that people might be gently persuaded to accept the way of Christ. Both beliefs incorporated the concept of an afterlife; the Celtic philosophy stated that on certain nights (like
Samhain), the barrier between the physical world and the spiritual world was at its "thinnest," allowing spectral figures to come through (Christmas Eve is another of these events, which is why ghost stories like
A Christmas Carol were once popular at the holidays). This combined Celtic/Roman/Christian fall festival was imported to the U.S. with the British colonists, but it was not until Irish immigrants arrived in the 19th century that other elements, like the jack o'lantern, came to the fore. In succession, Hallowe'en became a holiday for divination of fortunes, for costumes and increasingly childlike parties, for pranks that grew increasingly malicious, and finally for trick-or-treating.
Bannatyne's brisk, good-natured narrative is supported by magazine excerpts and illustrations from vintage magazines and books, a great basic primer on the haunted holiday.
Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night, Nicholas Rogers
There is little overlap between the Bannatyne book and this book, which concentrates on certain aspects of the holiday; for instance, was human sacrifice at
Samhain as prevalent in Celtic times as folklore indicates, or was this Roman propaganda (touching on the stories of the Wicker Man)? He also goes into detail on Hallowe'en celebrations among the Irish in which customs later became incorporated into the British Guy Fawkes celebration, keeping Hallowe'en as a latecomer holiday in England; how a night of fortunetelling for girls and women was also a night for "innocent" mischief by boys and men that was instead often malicious and damaging, which communities turned into a less damaging evening of fun by the acceptance of the trick or treat custom (and how scare stories like razor blades in apples almost drove trick or treat away); how horror films taking place at Hallowe'en set the stage for bloodier frights in costumes and haunted houses; about the Day of the Dead customs and how some Mexicans feel that the American Hallowe'en has diluted (or polluted) their Day of the Dead; and how the LGBTQ community has embraced the holiday. Since Rogers is Canadian, he also brings a perspective on Canadian Hallowe'en celebrations. A great companion volume to the Bannatyne text.
The Halloween Encyclopedia, Lisa Morton
This is an A-to-Z history of the holiday, from acorns (a fall symbol and also a means of divination) to zoos (which often incorporate Hallowe'en exhibitions, and everything in between, including cross references between holidays which once had rituals that are now exclusive to Hallowe'en (trick or treat, for instance, resembling the "ragamuffin" custom so lovingly narrated by Betty Smith in
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn where the children dressed in costumes and were given outdated baked goods and old candies by the local merchants, while also tied back to the custom of "souling" for All Souls Day, or the customs shared by both Guy Fawkes Day/Bonfire Night and Hallowe'en in the British isles.
The nice thing about this reference is that Morton doesn't just mention old tales (like "Tam Lin" and "Tam O'Shanter") and rhymes, she summarizes the tales and prints the verses, and she doesn't just briefly chat about all the old fortune-telling methods, but mentions all of them and compares one to the other. The other quarter holidays, like Lammas and Beltane, are given entries, and even Christmas customs like mumming which resemble "guising" on Hallowe'en is included. She also mentions modern customs both good (the gay community's embracement of the holiday) and bad (Devil's Night in Detroit and other cities in which fires are set and property destroyed). The text is liberally illustrated with vintage woodcuts and old Hallowe'en postcards (sadly, however, in black and white rather than in color). This is a great text reference to all symbols and customs Hallowe'en and should be in every spook lover's library!
Here are more items you can read online:
The Book of Hallowe'en by Ruth Edna Kelley is a classic text from 1919.
The first account of an American Hallowe'en party was written by Helen Elliott for "Godey's Lady's Book" (the bestselling women's magazine of the 19th century).
Here is "Hallowe'en" in its entirety.
Here is the story of a boys' Hallowe'en party in
Hallowe'en at Merryvale by Alice Hale Burns from 1916.
