Seven Reasons Orthodox Christians Should Never Celebrate Halloween
by Bill Giannopoulos · Greek City TimesAs Halloween falls on Saturday 31 October 2026, many Orthodox parents are again asking whether their children should join in. Every year, Greek City Times shares one priest’s clear answer on why Christians should not celebrate Halloween.
The reflection below was written by Fr Irinaios Koikas while he served the Greek Orthodox Church of St George the Martyr in Hobart, Tasmania. We first published it in 2022, and it has been lightly edited for 2026.
The name Halloween comes from All Hallows’ Eve, the night before the Western feast of All Saints on 1 November. The Orthodox Church honours All Saints on the first Sunday after Pentecost instead, so 31 October has no place in the Orthodox calendar.
For Fr Irinaios, the costumes, carved pumpkins and “bit of fun” hide something far darker. He gives seven reasons.
Read more: Study Asks What Josephus Really Wrote About Jesus’ Resurrection
1. Halloween is rooted in a pagan festival of the dead
Fr Irinaios describes Halloween as a demonic pagan celebration. Many believe it is the night when evil spirits are free to roam among the living.
He notes that 31 October is treated as a “holy day” by Satanists, witches and occultists. They give it the weight Christians give to Pascha, when Christ trampled down death by death.
2. To celebrate Halloween is to oppose the Resurrection
In his view, Halloween is the spiritual opposite of the Resurrection of Christ. The Resurrection celebrates life and victory over death, while Halloween glorifies death, fear and darkness.
He warns that occult groups use the night for rituals aimed against the Church and Christian communities.
3. It passes on harm to the next generation
Fr Irinaios warns that the enemy delights when families take part. Children who grow up with the festival tend to pass it on to their own children, so the harm spreads from one generation to the next.
4. Costumes deny who we truly are
The costume, he says, is a pretence: to pose as something you are not. In doing so, people open their lives and families to spiritual attack.
Satan is the great identity thief. In the wilderness he challenged Christ’s identity: “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread” (Matthew 4:3). Scripture also warns that “Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14).
5. Celebrating Halloween betrays God
To celebrate Halloween is to betray the Most High God, Creator of heaven and earth and of all things visible and invisible. As St Paul writes:
“You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons.”1 Corinthians 10:21
6. Its symbols invite evil into the home
Fr Irinaios calls the carved pumpkin an open invitation to evil. Spider webs, goblin figures and other dark decorations are, in his words, symbolic invitations for demons to enter the home.
Scripture is clear about the customs of false gods: “Do not bow down before their gods or worship them or follow their practices” (Exodus 23:24).
7. The father of lies comes to steal and destroy
Christ calls the devil “a liar and the father of it” (John 8:44). He also warns that “the thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy” (John 10:10).
St Paul adds a direct warning:
“Rather, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons.”1 Corinthians 10:20
A plea to Orthodox parents
Fr Irinaios closes with an appeal to families: protect your children from rituals that are dressed up as “a bit of fun”. This “bit of fun”, he warns, can harm a child’s growth and draw them away from God and the Church.
Families who choose not to celebrate Halloween can turn to the feasts and saints of their own tradition. This week alone, the Church marked the Protection of the Theotokos, Agia Skepi on 28 October.
For daily guidance, read our Orthodox Gospel reflection for 30 October. You can also see why Greece skips Halloween for its own carnival, and how the Hobart Greek Orthodox community keeps its own feasts alive.
Fr Irinaios Koikas, then parish priest of the Greek Orthodox Church of St George the Martyr, Hobart, Tasmania.
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