Customer Reviews

The Halloween Handbook

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2 star:		(1)
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okay, here is another guy who is getting his information from incorrect places. Samhain(pronounced Sow-en) is Celtic for Summers end, which Halloween is. It is the Celtic new Year. There is no Celtic God of the dead! Feralia was celebrated in February, if your going to write a book or spread around information it might do you well to actually research a bit on your chosen topic. Also going to the Catholic Herald to check on the dates of a PAGAN festival probably isn't the smartest idea in the world. They may have appropriated all of our holidays and twisted them into something Christian, but that doesn't mean theyknow anything about them.

This book is well written and entertaining, but so erroneous it's almost fiction. It would be impossible to note all the historical errors here, but just a few examples: The author tells us the Roman festival of Feralia was celebrated in October (it was celebrated in February); that Pope Gregory added All Souls' Day to the calendar (he died more than 200 years before the first celebration of All Souls' Day); and of course that Samhain was dedicated to the "Celtic Lord of the Dead" (the Celts had no such god). The mistakes just go on and on. If you're buying this for decorating tips or sheer fun, it's fine - but if you want real history this isn't the book.

This is a comprehensive treatment of Halloween, its history, the creatures associated with it such as witches, ghosts, bats, etc., and all sorts of suggestions for celebrating the day with costume ideas, party ideas, decoration suggestions, and creepy foods. If you love Halloween, you'll love this book.

I liked this book. It's a popular history not an anthropological tract. The errors cited below were trivial--the Pope Gregory given has the wrong number, for example. As for the Celtic Lord of the Dead, there are two schools of thought. The older one, citing folktales, says yes while the newer one favored by neo-pagans says no. Since the Celts left no written records of their beliefs, an argument can be made for both sides. I prefer the folklore. As for the rest of the book, I enjoyed the section on ghosts and staging a haunted house.

Love this book-it is the ultimate book in giving the reader a vast knowledge of the history, traditions and fun of Halloween. There are a few black and white illustrations but even the lack of pictures cannot take away from the brilliance of this book. It's my favorite Halloween resource!

Historians credit Pope Gregory III with setting All Saints Day on Nov. 1. In the early 700's, he dedicated a chapel to all saints in St. Peter's on that date, associating Nov. 1st with All Saints Day. By the 800s, the date was fixed throughout Western Europe. Church records aren't as complete as one might think but there's good reason to give the credit to Greg 3 for making Nov. 1st All Saints Day. All Souls Day, to pray for the more ordinary dead, was commonly linked to All Saints Day, so by establishing the date for the former, Gregory can be credited with positioning the later even though it took centuries to make it official.

As for Feralia, CatholicHerald.com also places it in late October. So, if this is an error, it's a common one.

The rest of Morrow's book is full of interesting stuff about magic, bats, pumpkins, etc. I enjoyed it. The only criticism I can make is that the illustrations, while interesting, are rather small.