Halloween origins and how the world marks the season.
Tonight’s selection — check back for a different corner of the world each night.
The Vietnamese counterpart to Zhongyuan. Families burn paper offerings — including paper cars, clothes, and money — to send to ancestors in the afterlife. The wandering souls without descendants are also fed, so no one is left hungry.
The Manx tradition that predates Halloween itself. Children carve lanterns from turnips (not pumpkins), sing songs door to door, and eat "mrastyr" — a mash of potato, parsnip, and fish. The turnip lanterns still glow every October 31 on the Isle of Man.
Long before trick-or-treating crossed the Atlantic, Scottish children walked door to door in disguise, performing a song or a poem in exchange for treats. The costume was the ticket. No performance, no candy. That tradition rode the boat to America with the immigrants and became what we know today.
The Orthodox day of remembrance held the second Tuesday after Easter, not autumn — but the tradition runs deep. Families picnic at cemeteries, leaving food and painted eggs on graves. The dead are said to celebrate alongside the living.
The Hungry Ghost Festival. On the fifteenth night of the seventh lunar month, the gates of the afterlife swing open and spirits walk the earth. Families burn joss paper, prepare feasts, and stage operas — leaving the front row empty for the unseen audience.