Tis the season to be spooky! The moment we’ve all been waiting for since Starbucks brought back pumpkin spice has come: Halloween. HoweverI have to acknowledge that I don’t get the hype of it all as an international student.

Growing up in Brazil, October — unless it’s an election year — passes by just like any other month. When arriving in the U.S., I had a bit of a shock when decorations started appearing in dorms, Target suddenly had a whole aisle for Halloween and my friends started talking about costumes the second Oct. 1 came around. I wondered, are there other cultures that celebrate Halloween? Or is it just here? Well, Tigers, there is a whole other world out there, and here is what they do to celebrate this season.

A good deal of cultures that celebrate Halloween do so in the manner it first started— as a time where the barrier between the spiritual and physical world is blurred. I know, spooky right? The holiday’s first name was Samhain, a Celtic festival to celebrate the harvest and mark the start of winter. During the celebration, people would dress up and make bonfires to burn sacrifices, such as animals and food, so spirits wouldn’t cause trouble and damage crops. As time passed and the church came to power, Samhain became All Saints’ Day, also known as All Hallows’ Day. The holiday carried over most of its traditions, only becoming a church-sanctioned event. Therefore, the night before this holiday was known as All Hallows’ Eve, which later transitioned to what we now know as Halloween.

My culture isn’t the only one where this holiday is nothing more than a word. Most of the world doesn’t care much for Halloween, but that is not to say none of them do. In Ireland — the place believed to have started it all — Halloween is celebrated in a similar way, with the addition of bonfires in rural areas in reference to how it was done in the olden days.

Following that, Día de Los Muertos, also known as Day of the Dead,is probably the most well-known international parallel of this holiday. Celebrated in Mexico, Spain and other Hispanic countries, this day is all about family. From Oct. 31 until Nov. 2, families will build altars and feast in honor of their ancestors. Likewise, Italy, South Korea, Japan, Poland, Nepal, Cambodia and Haiti all have holidays around the same time as Halloween to honor the death of their loved ones. Here, they have festivals with parades, food and dances. Some ways they commemorate these holidays are by buffalo racing, and the chanting of priests at night signaling the opening of the gates of Hell in Cambodia, or by placing lanterns in late loved ones’ graves in Poland. In Nepal they will lead a cow through a procession to help spirits cross to Heaven, Filipino children will sing in exchange for candy and in Haiti they drink rum infused with chilies in honor of their ancestors.

All in all, everyone has their own way of welcoming the new season and celebrating those who are no longer with us. Halloween, in its essence, is about spending time with those we care about. Thus, branch out of your comfort zone this year and try out other ways to celebrate, such as going out to sing for candy, lighting a candle for a loved one or even just making a big dinner party with friends to honor those we lost.

There are a lot of Halloween activities throughout Columbia this month. For instance, StuffToDo is hosting a Spooktacular on Oct. 27 at the Student Center and The Blue Note is doing a Brew N’ View of Scream (Oct. 19) and The Rocky Horror Picture Show (Oct. 26). Regardless, get friends to go trick-or-treating even if you’re in college, put on your best costume and watch all the scary movies you can handle.

Edited by Ever Cole | ecole@themaneater.com
Copy Chief: Emily Rutledge | erutledge@themaneater.com