"Although Halloween was known to earlier colonists, the Irish brought folk customs including the creation of jack-o'-lanterns: originally hollowed out vegetables with carved faces and candles inside to ward off spirits, with pumpkins later becoming the popular choice in America.
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"Trick-or-treating, dressing up in costumes such as witches or ghosts, and rapping at doors requesting gifts, usually lollies or what Americans call candy, is known from Scottish and Irish folklore."
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As Australians prepare to celebrate Halloween this year, the holiday continues its transformation from imported tradition to distinctly local phenomenon.
Like the rest of the world, Halloween in Australia is celebrated on October 31, but with local twists, such as trick-or-treating happening mostly in daylight hours, and participating houses signalling their welcome with orange balloons tied to letterboxes.
Professor of Religious Studies Carole Cusack explains that while many assume Halloween is an America export, its roots stretch back much further.
"The modern celebration of Halloween on 31 October - All Hallows Eve, the night before the Christian festival of All Hallows' Day or All Saints' Day - is a tradition that dates to the 1840s, when Irish immigrants fleeing the potato famine came to America," Professor Cusack said.
"Although Halloween was known to earlier colonists, the Irish brought folk customs including the creation of jack-o'-lanterns: originally hollowed out vegetables with carved faces and candles inside to ward off spirits, with pumpkins later becoming the popular choice in America.
"Trick-or-treating, dressing up in costumes such as witches or ghosts, and rapping at doors requesting gifts, usually lollies or what Americans call candy, is known from Scottish and Irish folklore."
Jack-o'-lanterns were originally hollowed out vegetables, with pumpkins becoming a popular choice in America. Photo: Adobe Stock
Ancient Celtic origins: why Halloween is celebrated on October 31
"The pre-Christian origins date back to the Irish Pagan festival Samhain, which celebrated the coming of the dark half of the year and functioned as a New Year celebration," said Professor Cusack. "At Samhain, great bonfires were lit, and fires in the houses were extinguished so that new fire could be kindled, the renewal inherent in the New Year symbolised by the lighting of all fires afresh."
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The sacred fires of Samhain eventually gave way to a very different kind of celebration - one driven by commerce rather than ritual.
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"Halloween commercialisation began around 1900 when Hallmark introduced greeting cards for the holiday and confectionary manufacturers caught onto the appeal of sweets and candy for children out trick-or-treating. However, until comparatively recently, children and parents devised homemade costumes and entertainments for Halloween. In the second half of the twentieth century it became increasingly marketised, and is now a consumer orgy of costumes, fake cobwebs, novelty horror items, lollies and chocolates, with entire specialty shops devoted to Halloween merchandise."
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The tradition's origins are even older than the 1840s migration, stretching back to pre-Christian Ireland and explaining why Halloween is celebrated on October 31st.
"The pre-Christian origins date back to the Irish Pagan festival Samhain, which celebrated the coming of the dark half of the year and functioned as a New Year celebration," said Professor Cusack. "At Samhain, great bonfires were lit, and fires in the houses were extinguished so that new fire could be kindled, the renewal inherent in the New Year symbolised by the lighting of all fires afresh."
The sacred fires of Samhain eventually gave way to a very different kind of celebration - one driven by commerce rather than ritual.
"Halloween commercialisation began around 1900 when Hallmark introduced greeting cards for the holiday and confectionary manufacturers caught onto the appeal of sweets and candy for children out trick-or-treating. However, until comparatively recently, children and parents devised homemade costumes and entertainments for Halloween. In the second half of the twentieth century it became increasingly marketised, and is now a consumer orgy of costumes, fake cobwebs, novelty horror items, lollies and chocolates, with entire specialty shops devoted to Halloween merchandise."
Trick-or-treating in Australia often happens during daylight hours. Photo: Joel Carrett/AAP
Does Australia celebrate Halloween?
rn"While store-bought costumes have become more prevalent and less frightening over time, the American tradition of large Halloween parties for teens and young adults has yet to take hold here."rn"}}">
Australia's celebration of Halloween has evolved in ways that reflect local culture and conditions, according to Professor Ellen Garbarino from the University of Sydney Business School .
"Most holidays are shared only with family or friends, but Halloween is a social contract among people who are mostly strangers. There's no explicit coordination, but it only works if everyone plays their role," Professor Garbarino said.
"In Australia, the holiday continues to grow in popularity and has developed unique local quirks: trick-or-treating often happens during daylight hours with people sitting outside their homes, transforming it into an extended social event. In some neighbourhoods, people put orange balloons on their letterbox to signify they're participating in trick-or-treating."
The spread of Halloween in Australia across neighbourhoods is also contagious, Professor Garbarino said.
"There's an observable 'social contagion' effect at work from street to street, where a few prominently decorated homes encourage others to join the tradition. When we moved into our street over a decade ago, we were the only house decorated for Halloween - now the entire street joins in.
"While store-bought costumes have become more prevalent and less frightening over time, the American tradition of large Halloween parties for teens and young adults has yet to take hold here."
Enjoy the Halloween treats, but protect your teeth
"This may include limiting any sugar to mealtimes only, avoiding sticky and chewy treats, drinking or rinsing your mouth out with water if you do have anything sweet, and making sure not to have sugars close to bedtime, alongside keeping to your daily oral hygiene routine of brushing and flossing.
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"At Halloween many of us treat ourselves to some snacks but it's important to be conscious of what we're eating and the effects that it may have on our bodies. Research shows that a higher sugar intake is not only linked to tooth decay, but to other serious problems for our health, including weight gain, high blood pressure and cholesterol, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and fatty liver disease."
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Associate Professor Rahena Akhter from the Sydney School of Dentistry offered practical advice for those indulging in Halloween trick-or-treat sweets and lollies.
"We don't have to take the candy out of Halloween. We just have to be mindful to keep our teeth safe during this time," she said.
"This may include limiting any sugar to mealtimes only, avoiding sticky and chewy treats, drinking or rinsing your mouth out with water if you do have anything sweet, and making sure not to have sugars close to bedtime, alongside keeping to your daily oral hygiene routine of brushing and flossing.
"At Halloween many of us treat ourselves to some snacks but it's important to be conscious of what we're eating and the effects that it may have on our bodies. Research shows that a higher sugar intake is not only linked to tooth decay, but to other serious problems for our health, including weight gain, high blood pressure and cholesterol, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and fatty liver disease."
Fake spider web decorations can be harmful for wildlife and should be avoided. Photo: Esther Linda/AAP
Make your Halloween decorations safe for nature
The risks aren't limited to birds, Dr Price warned.
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"These decorations can be a risk to most species living in and around urban areas such as lizards, possums, and bats, including flying foxes and microbats," she said. "While not a huge issue compared to other threats such as habitat clearance, we can easily avoid this problem, while also reducing waste going into the environment."
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Dr Catherine Price from the School of Life and Environmental Sciences , raised wildlife concerns about popular Halloween celebration decorations.
"Fake spider webs on vegetation can entangle small birds, including fairy wrens and fantails, but also larger birds such as magpies and lorikeets that might inadvertently try to collect the material for nest building or feed around the decorations," Dr Price said.
"Research suggests about 30 percent of birds' nests may include human-made materials, posing a risk to nestlings. Halloween in Australia coincides with bird nesting season and birds are often looking for nesting material at this time of year, so there is the potential for these types of decorations to have a bigger impact here than in North America and Europe."
The risks aren't limited to birds, Dr Price warned.
"These decorations can be a risk to most species living in and around urban areas such as lizards, possums, and bats, including flying foxes and microbats," she said. "While not a huge issue compared to other threats such as habitat clearance, we can easily avoid this problem, while also reducing waste going into the environment."
Australian actor Jacob Elordi as The Creature in a scene from new horror film Frankenstein. Photo: Netflix/AP/AAP
Horror's cultural moment
The genre has also matured in its approach, with modern horror also grappling with contemporary anxieties and continuing to expand across streaming platforms.
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"Younger studios such as A24 have redefined horror as something more than shock and gore. A24 films are psychologically rich, visually striking and culturally resonant, and Australian horror is part of this shift," said Dr Howard.
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"Bring Her Back (2025), a new film directed by Australian twins Danny and Michael Philippou, the duo behind the wildly successful film Talk to Me (2022), is a strong example: it's unsettling, emotionally complex and distinctly local.
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"Horror is also a genre that's well suited to exploring the ethics and anxieties of emerging tech, with sci-fi horror films such as M3GAN (2022) reflecting our growing unease with artificial intelligence. Even the new Frankenstein (2025), with Australian actor Jacob Elordi as the monster, feels new and relevant to today's audiences - the monster of today's world might be algorithmic rather than stitched together.
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"Finally, the popularity of the Ed Gein series on Netflix suggests a growing appetite for extreme content, even when it's controversial or confronting. Streaming platforms are giving horror room to push boundaries, and audiences seem willing to follow."
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Happy Halloween 2025! 🎃
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Halloween 2025 also marks a high point for the horror genre, which Dr Alexander Howard from the School of Art, Communication and English said is experiencing a renaissance.
"Horror is no longer a niche genre in cinema. In 2025, it's a billion-dollar industry, with major studios investing heavily in reboots and sequels. Franchises like Final Destination and I Know What You Did Last Summer are being revived for a new generation, and audiences are loving it."
The genre has also matured in its approach, with modern horror also grappling with contemporary anxieties and continuing to expand across streaming platforms.
"Younger studios such as A24 have redefined horror as something more than shock and gore. A24 films are psychologically rich, visually striking and culturally resonant, and Australian horror is part of this shift," said Dr Howard.
"Bring Her Back (2025), a new film directed by Australian twins Danny and Michael Philippou, the duo behind the wildly successful film Talk to Me (2022), is a strong example: it's unsettling, emotionally complex and distinctly local.
"Horror is also a genre that's well suited to exploring the ethics and anxieties of emerging tech, with sci-fi horror films such as M3GAN (2022) reflecting our growing unease with artificial intelligence. Even the new Frankenstein (2025), with Australian actor Jacob Elordi as the monster, feels new and relevant to today's audiences - the monster of today's world might be algorithmic rather than stitched together.
"Finally, the popularity of the Ed Gein series on Netflix suggests a growing appetite for extreme content, even when it's controversial or confronting. Streaming platforms are giving horror room to push boundaries, and audiences seem willing to follow."
Happy Halloween 2025! 🎃
