Reclaiming Halloween's Deeper Meaning Through Intentional Family Celebration
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/profile/iman-amrani. "Halloween is looming – this year, I’m ditching my cynicism and getting busy with the pumpkins | Iman Amrani | The Guardian." October 7, 2026. www.theguardian.com
The Gist
The author used to feel cynical about Halloween's commercial excess, but this year she wants to get back to the holiday's deeper roots—old traditions about honoring the dead and the changing seasons—so she can share meaningful stories and rituals with her toddlers. She believes that embracing the pumpkin patch, pie-baking, and folklore will help build family connection and give her children tools to understand big topics like death and the unknown.
Conclusion
The author will set aside her cynicism about commercialized Halloween and instead intentionally embrace the season's older traditions and storytelling with her children, because doing so offers genuine meaning and connection rather than mere consumption.
Premises
- Halloween has historical roots in meaningful traditions like Samhain and Dia de los Muertos that predate and transcend modern commercial excess
- Cultural celebrations around death and the supernatural, such as Dia de los Muertos events and films like Coco, provide valuable storytelling that helps children process difficult concepts like mortality
- As a child, the author suffered from the silence surrounding her grandfather's death, and stories explaining death could have eased her fear
- Engaging in these seasonal rituals with her children creates treasured memories and strengthens family connection
- In difficult or 'scary' times generally, imaginative and cultural traditions can help build resilience and strength
- Her children are already showing genuine enjoyment of autumn/Halloween themes (books, costumes, decorations), suggesting the activities have real value for them
Assumptions
- Meaningful tradition and commercialized celebration are separable, so one can participate in Halloween while avoiding its wasteful/commercial aspects
- Engaging in storytelling and ritual with young children is an effective way to build emotional resilience and understanding of difficult topics
- Personal nostalgia for a parent's traditions is a legitimate reason to revive practices with one's own children
- Children benefit from narrative framing of death and the unknown rather than from silence or avoidance of the topic