Our family of nine, suited up as the Incredibles — always a crowd favorite at our local church’s Fall Harvest Festival.
Dressing up was never the problem.
What we’re teaching our children to celebrate is.
Think about what we ask our kids to do on October 31. It’s the one night a year we tell them to take candy from strangers, dress up in gory outfits, and knock on the doors of the spookiest-looking houses on the street.
We spend the other 364 days teaching them the exact opposite, and then for one evening we hand them a pillowcase and call it harmless fun.
So should Christians celebrate Halloween?
We want to answer that carefully, because we know plenty of Jesus-loving families who land in a different place on it, and we have no interest in shaming anyone.
But we won’t dodge it, either. Halloween as we know it today is demonic, and we don’t say that to be dramatic or to win an argument in the comments.
We say it because when you look closely at what the night celebrates, what it trains our children to love, and what it puts into our bodies, there isn’t one good, wholesome, or healthy thing left in it.
Bible Health has never been only about what’s on your plate, and Halloween is the clearest example we know of a single night that attacks our spirit, mind, and body all at once.
Consider this verse carefully:
“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!” — Isaiah 5:20
What follows is why our family walked away from it, what it does to kids at every level, and the joy-filled harvest celebration we built in its place.
We’ve used that word once before, about seven ideas that slipped past the Church’s filter dressed up as wisdom…
1. It Hands Our Kids a Drug in a Pillowcase
First, let’s talk about the candy, because this is where Halloween goes after the body.
We treat white processed sugar like a drug in our home, and that’s the first of our three Non-Negotiables. No compromise and no cheat days, because a substance that hooks children this easily doesn’t deserve a holiday exception.
So our kids have literally never eaten a piece of candy. That’s our Bible Health conviction, and when they collect candy at a festival, it all goes into a bag and gets handed straight to their grandpa.
:)
The American Heart Association says children between 2 and 18 should get less than 25 grams of added sugar a day, which is about six teaspoons. A handful of fun-size candy bars blows past that before the kids even get home, and the pillowcase usually holds far more than a handful.
Then come the sugar crash, the whining, the bad sleep, and the meltdowns that last all week while the stash sits on top of the refrigerator. If you want your kids to feel better today, the candy haul is the first thing that has to go.
We always hear the same pushback: it’s only one night, so lighten up. The Bible never says “all things in moderation,” and we don’t do a little bit of something God’s Word tells us to walk away from.
“If you have found honey, eat only enough for you, lest you have your fill of it and vomit it.” — Proverbs 25:16
Even honey, which God created and called good, comes with a warning about overdoing it. Bags of processed candy were never in the conversation.
For us, avoiding white sugar is a must — regardless of the Holiday. It’s a key non-negotiable because we know what it really does to our health …
![[LIVE] The Three Non-Negotiables If You Want To Feel Better TODAY](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!8Im_!,w_140,h_140,c_fill,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep,g_auto/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-video.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fvideo_upload%2Fpost%2F194951215%2Fc08d78d4-cf92-4fa6-9836-2fbdb8545e04%2Ftranscoded-1776810353.png)
2. Whatever “All Hallows’ Eve” Was, It’s Gone
We hear this one every year: Halloween started as a Christian holiday, so Christians should reclaim it. There’s a sliver of truth in that, and it’s worth getting the history right.
The name comes from All Hallows’ Eve, the night before All Saints’ Day, which the Church set on November 1 to honor faithful believers who had gone before. It landed on top of Samhain, a Celtic festival at the end of harvest where people believed the dead walked close and wore disguises to ward off evil spirits.
Trick-or-treating as we know it didn’t spread in America until the 1920s and 1930s. So the night has always been a tug-of-war between honoring the saints and entertaining the dead, and if you look at any neighborhood in late October, you know which side won.
If there was ever anything good in the original All Hallows’ Eve, none of it can be found in what our kids are handed today. You won’t find a single saint on the shelves at the costume store.
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” — Romans 12:2
Testing means we look at what a thing is today, not what someone says it used to be. Halloween fails that test, and nothing about its history changes what it has become.
3. It Celebrates What God Calls Darkness
Walk through any store in October and look at what’s on the shelves: devils, demons, witches, skeletons climbing out of graves, severed limbs, and fake blood by the gallon.
None of that is neutral. Scripture names these practices directly, and it doesn’t soften the language:
“There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the LORD.” — Deuteronomy 18:10-12
Witches, fortune tellers, séances, and the dead walking among the living are the whole aesthetic of Halloween. We’ve turned what God calls an abomination into a costume aisle and a front-porch theme.
Paul tells us exactly what to do with it:
“Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.” — Ephesians 5:11
Take no part.
That doesn’t mean we live in fear of October, because the One who lives in us is greater than anything hanging from a neighbor’s tree.
“Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” — 1 John 4:4
We’re not afraid of the darkness, and that’s exactly why we refuse to throw it a party.
4. It Trains Our Kids to Love Fear
Here’s the part most Christian parents never think about. God designed our children with a stress response, the “fight or flight” system that floods the body with adrenaline and cortisol so they can run from real danger.
Halloween is built to trigger that alarm on purpose. Haunted houses, jump scares, horror masks, and screaming animatronics are all designed to convince a child’s body that it’s in danger, and then we tell them it’s fun.
That alarm doesn’t always switch off when the night is over. When researchers at the Universities of Michigan and Wisconsin asked college students about scary movies and shows from their childhood, 90 percent remembered a fright reaction, and roughly a quarter said they still carried that anxiety years later.
Fifty-two percent said the fear disrupted their normal eating or sleeping. Any parent who has had a little one climb into bed at two in the morning after a haunted hayride already knows this.
“For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” — 2 Timothy 1:7
Fear is not a gift God gives our kids, so we refuse to hand it to them as entertainment. Instead, we fill their minds with what God tells us to dwell on:
“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” — Philippians 4:8
A child’s nervous system learns what is normal from what it experiences over and over. We want ours to learn peace, and Halloween teaches the opposite.
We have young kids, and in our opinion, they don’t need to see that stuff.
The spooky music, the screaming decorations, and the horror masks are not something we want to expose them to, and we’re at peace with that decision.
Fight or flight is part of the body God designed, and here’s what happens when the alarm keeps running long after the threat is gone…
![[LIVE] Your Nervous System is Not Broken. You Were Trained.](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!TCUW!,w_140,h_140,c_fill,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep,g_auto/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb3ce75df-7bfb-433b-802c-816201927186_1672x941.png)
“I’m grateful to be here, receiving encouragement, recipes, and whole-body transformation. Even after trying times, I trust you and Mama Z. The spiritual aspect completes the system: body, soul, and spirit.”
— Ellen D.
5. It Colors Their Candy With Petroleum
Look at the bright red, blue, and green candy in the average trick-or-treat bag. Much of that color comes from synthetic dyes made from petroleum, and they’ve been under a cloud for years.
A double-blind trial published in The Lancet in 2007 found that mixtures of artificial food colors increased hyperactive behavior in both 3-year-olds and 8- and 9-year-olds. In 2021, California’s environmental health agency reviewed the research and concluded that synthetic food dyes can cause or worsen neurobehavioral problems in some children.
The FDA has now banned Red No. 3 from food, but that ban doesn’t take effect until January 15, 2027. The plan to remove Red 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, and the other petroleum dyes is still voluntary, which means plenty of them will be sitting in this year’s candy bowls.
Daniel faced the same choice with the king’s menu, and he didn’t wait for the palace to change its policy:
“But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king’s food, or with the wine that he drank.” — Daniel 1:8
Ten days later, Daniel and his friends looked healthier than every young man who ate from the king’s table. God honored a resolve that was settled before the food ever showed up, and that’s the kind of resolve we want our kids to carry.
Candy dye is only one place the culture has discipled us faster than the Word has. Here are twelve more…
6. It Fills the House With Fake Pumpkin Spice
October doesn’t only go after what our kids eat, because it also goes after what they breathe. This is the month of pumpkin spice candles, cinnamon plug-ins, and “harvest” room sprays in every aisle.
Artificial fragrance is our third Non-Negotiable, and for good reason. In a 2016 national survey, about a third of American adults reported health problems from fragranced products, and one in five reported problems from air fresheners and deodorizers alone, including migraines, asthma attacks, and breathing trouble.
No law in the United States requires companies to disclose every ingredient hiding behind the word “fragrance.” So that cozy candle can be releasing chemicals into your child’s lungs that you’ll never see on a label.
God gave us a better picture of what our homes should smell like:
“For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.” — 2 Corinthians 2:15
Real cinnamon simmering on the stove, apples baking in the oven, and a house full of people who love Jesus smell better than anything that comes in a glass jar. We don’t need a synthetic version of the season when God already made the real one.
“Thank you so much for everything you all do, and especially today for the Scriptures. I really needed those today.”
— Mary G.
7. So We Celebrate the Harvest Instead
Here’s the good news, and it’s the part we want every parent to hear. Walking away from Halloween doesn’t mean our kids miss out, because Jesus didn’t come to give us a smaller life.
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” — John 10:10
Long before anyone invented a costume aisle, God built a harvest celebration into the calendar of His people. He commanded them to throw a seven-day feast and to rejoice:
“You shall keep the Feast of Booths seven days, when you have gathered in the produce from your threshing floor and your winepress. You shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow who are within your towns.” — Deuteronomy 16:13-14
Instead of trick-or-treating, we celebrate Fall Festival at our church, and we did it again just last weekend. It’s games, friends, and fun dress-up costumes only, with nothing gory or scary in sight.
And we dress up, all nine of us. Our whole-family Incredibles costumes have become a tradition the kids look forward to every year, and when a family of nine walks in wearing matching red suits, we get a lot of attention.
The pumpkins get painted or decorated with markers and stickers instead of carved into scary faces. When they’re past their prime, we take them out to the back 40 for the deer and wildlife to enjoy.
The treats are ours too. We make our own gluten-free, dairy-free, sugar-free cookies, snacks, and even cinnamon rolls, and trust us, they are not free of flavor, so the kids get something special without a single compromise on our Non-Negotiables.
Mama Z here… One of our favorite fall traditions is Sloppy Joes, the same meal my mom made for our family, and now I make it for mine.
It’s simple, and that’s exactly why it matters, because a tradition doesn’t have to be extravagant to become part of your children’s story.
“You crown the year with Your bounty; Your wagon tracks overflow with abundance.” — Psalm 65:11
If watching something grow from seed to harvest stirs something in you, Mama Z is teaching everything she knows right here…
8. And We Bless the Neighbors Who Knock
Saying no to Halloween doesn’t mean turning the lights off and hiding from the neighborhood. If kids come to your door, that’s an opportunity to bless them.
Hand out glow sticks, stickers, pencils, bubbles, or small toys instead of candy. Tuck a Bible verse card into each one, and send them off with a smile and a simple “God bless you.”
“In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” — Matthew 5:16
We know Christian families who see October 31 differently than we do, and we love them. This is our conviction for our home, and we would much rather explain it with kindness than argue about it.
Calling Halloween what it is doesn’t give us permission to look down on the family down the street. The enemy is never people, so we stay salty about the darkness and gracious toward our neighbors at the same time.
Being salt was never about being harsh, and the comments on this one taught us more than the numbers did…
What This Looks Like a Year From Now
If nothing changes, you already know how it goes. Another October of spooky decorations and a sugar-crashed week, another candle burning on the counter, and another year of telling your kids that darkness is fun for one night.
The other version looks like this:
Kids who can tell you why your family doesn’t celebrate Halloween, and who say it with confidence instead of embarrassment.
A child who sleeps through the night in October because nothing on the front porch was built to scare them.
A kitchen that smells like real cinnamon and homemade cookies, and a treat bowl with no petroleum in it.
A family that looks forward to the harvest festival, the matching costumes, and the neighbors at the door, because that’s what October has always meant in your home.
“Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” — Proverbs 22:6
You get to create the traditions your kids will carry. A year from now, one of them could already be what your family is known for.
When it keeps getting harder to tell what is real from what only looks good, we wrote this prayer for you…
A Prayer for You. 🙏
Father God, thank You for the harvest and for every good gift You have poured over my family this year.
Give me eyes to see darkness for what it is and the courage to choose light in my home, without fear and without pride.
Guard the hearts, minds and bodies of the children in my life, and let them grow up knowing that joy is found in Your presence.
Make my home a sweet aroma of Christ and my front door a blessing to every neighbor who knocks.
Amen.
Upgrade and learn what God’s Word says about every area of life
and how to live it. That’s what Bible Health is all about.
Walk each 6-week live group study the day it opens.
Get the Blueprint and every weekly Swap.
Follow Jesus, not trends, in every area.
As always, our hope and prayer is that you experience the abundant life.
~ Dr. Z & Mama Z
References
Harrison, K., and Cantor, J. “Tales from the Screen: Enduring Fright Reactions to Scary Media.” Media Psychology, 1999.
Vos, M. B., et al. “Added Sugars and Cardiovascular Disease Risk in Children: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association.” Circulation, 2017.
McCann, D., et al. “Food Additives and Hyperactive Behaviour in 3-Year-Old and 8/9-Year-Old Children in the Community: A Randomised, Double-Blinded, Placebo-Controlled Trial.” The Lancet, 2007.
Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment. “Health Effects Assessment: Potential Neurobehavioral Effects of Synthetic Food Dyes in Children.” California Environmental Protection Agency, 2021.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration. “FDA to Revoke Authorization for the Use of Red No. 3 in Food and Ingested Drugs.” 2025.
Steinemann, A. “Fragranced Consumer Products: Exposures and Effects From Emissions.” Air Quality, Atmosphere & Health, 2016.
This is one of the best arguments against Halloween that I’ve ever read. Thank you for its succinctness.
October 31, 1517, was the day Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of the Wittenburg Chapel. So our family, along with several other families from church, had a Reformation Day celebration including games, (modest) medieval costumes, worship time, learning about one of the reformers, and a chili cookoff. It was a wonderful, wholesome family time, and there was no candy involved!
I used to avoid taking my children out as much as possible during the month of October because of the yuck everywhere. Unfortunately, we're now seeing Halloween decorations in stores in July, and yard decorations around here started going up in early September. There is now more time of the year dedicated to Halloween than to Christmas, and Thanksgiving gets almost completely overlooked!