Candy, costumes, haunted attractions, movies, and a night out. These are the things that come to people’s mind when the term “Halloween” pops up in a conversation. Nowadays, if you’re not out and about wearing an expensive costume, getting treats, finding frights, or dancing the night away, then you’re snuggled up at home with store-bought pumpkin-themed desserts, streaming a classic scary movie like Halloween from a paid video app. To properly enjoy modern Halloween festivities, spending money has become a necessity. Despite this, money wasn’t always an essential factor for Halloween celebrations, nor was the holiday even perceived as a festive event to begin with.
The article “Halloween 2025” states that the holiday’s origins date back to 2,000 years ago with a tradition known as Samhain (pronounced sow-in) that was practiced by the Celts in Ireland. They believed that the spirits of the dead returned to earth on the day we know as October 31, since November 1 was considered their New Year’s and marked the transition from summer to winter. In the 9th century, the Catholic church made November 1 All Saint’s Day to honor saints and martyrs, which many believe was done to replace the Celtic tradition of Samhain. So, the night before became known as All Hallows’ Eve and the day after was All Souls’ Day (November 2). Those days were still celebrated with bonfires, parades, and costumes, as it was done by the Celts, but the clothing was now inspired by angels, demons, and saints.
At first, Halloween was mainly recognized in Maryland and the Southern colonies of the U.S. Eventually, European and Native American customs ended up meshing together to create something closer to the Halloween we know today, with public events and gatherings being organized to celebrate the night.
By the 20th century, Halloween had become a holiday known for its community celebrations, and had lost the overpowering religious element of Samhain. Beginning in the 1920’s, the practice of trick-or-treating came into style in the U.S. It propelled the necessity to buy large quantities of quality candy to satisfy the pranksters who would go trick or treating. On the side of entertainment, parades and parties became an essential way of celebrating. The increased presence of young people due to the 1950’s baby boom fed into this dynamic, and events were held in all types of places. The combination of these factors slowly turned Halloween into a commercialized holiday where Americans spend more than $11 billion each year.
Nowadays, Halloween isn’t a cheap event that is celebrated in a community center with kids and family. The holiday has become a big bash celebrated throughout the whole month of October, with different parties each weekend and amusement parks hosting grand events like Halloween Horror Nights, which receives visitors from around the world who spend big bucks and travel exclusively for the haunted houses. In addition, the tradition of trick-or-treating around neighborhoods is slowly being replaced by events hosted in malls where they give out candy to kids while the adults browse the stores. This is partly due to trick-or-treating in neighborhoods becoming unsafe, as there have been past incidents caused by pranks or the manipulation of candy, and this change has impacted the Halloween tradition greatly. There are various debates online about this change in tradition; in online forums like Reddit, many users have agreed that the amount of kids stopping at their houses for candy has gone down from 50 kids to 20 or 10. On the other hand, social media has also greatly influenced the necessity to have a spiffy costume ready for the 31st, and nice outfits usually require spending quite a bit of money.
Halloween has become an expensive holiday, not just because inflation has increased the cost of everything, but because modern ways of celebrating the holiday have embedded overconsumption into it. In addition, social media has encouraged the overall feeling of FOMO, and many people feel pressure to go to Halloween-themed events that aren’t necessary to enjoy Halloween night. Expensive amusement parks, overelaborated costumes, or indoor trick-or-treating experiences weren’t always part of this celebration, and it’s important to keep in mind the roots of one of the most popular holidays of the year.
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