I used to participate in Halloween as a kid and a teenager. We loved to get candy. When I was in high school, I made a dummy out of a long sleeved shirt and long pants. I stuffed the arms and legs with pine straw and newspaper. I tied off the ends of the sleeves with rope and tied a rope around the waist for a belt and tied a rope around the neck. On Halloween night a friend and I climbed up on the roof and when kids came to the house, we would throw that dummy off the house and the kids would jump. They spilt their candy across the yard and we thought that was fun!
Back then, Halloween was a little more innocent than what it is today. Today, it has become very dark and often very evil, where occult practices are practiced and evil prevails. Should Christians participate in this holiday? Let us look at what Scripture says about evil and darkness.
“And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.” — Ephesians 5:11 (NKJV)
“Abstain from every form of evil.” — 1 Thessalonians 5:22 (NKJV)
These two passages work especially well together when addressing a Christian’s relationship to practices associated with spiritual darkness.
Ephesians 5:11 (NKJV) emphasizes separation and discernment: believers should not participate in works of darkness but instead live in a way that exposes them through the light of Christ.
1 Thessalonians 5:22 (NKJV) emphasizes avoidance of evil. In context, Paul tells believers to test everything, hold firmly to what is good, and reject what is evil (vv. 21–22).
Together, they give a helpful principle:
The Christian question should not simply be, “Is this harmless fun?” but, “Does my participation honor Christ, reflect His light, and keep me separate from practices that glorify darkness or evil?”
That principle can be applied to Halloween without claiming that every person who hands out candy or wears a costume is intentionally participating in the occult. The concern becomes much clearer when Halloween activities celebrate witchcraft, demons, séances, divination, death, or other explicitly occult themes.
Written by Joseph T. Lee. Copyright 2026 Marketplace Evangelism Ministries Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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