Young adults now spend more money on costumes than any other age group.
Michaela Rehle/Reuters
Linus Owens, Middlebury College
The holiday used to be all about trick-or-treating in the neighborhood. No more – and it could something to do with the fact that traditional markers of adulthood have changed.
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Beliefs
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Tok Thompson, University of Southern California – Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
Ghost stories are often about the departed seeking justice for an earthly wrong. Their sightings are a reminder that ethics and morality transcend our lives.
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Meghan Henning, University of Dayton
Hell-themed Halloween attractions play on people's fears. The early depictions of hell were meant to use fear as a moral guide to help others.
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Fear
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Margee Kerr, University of Pittsburgh
Visiting a haunted house or watching a horror movie can be terrifying and enjoyable at the same time. A sociologist explains the psychological benefits of being safely scared.
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Frank T. McAndrew, Knox College
The best haunted houses push buttons in our brains that evolved long before houses even existed.
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Arash Javanbakht, Wayne State University; Linda Saab, Wayne State University
We may pretend that we do not like fear, but Halloween proves otherwise. Many of us enjoy being scared. But why?
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Trick-or-treating
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Jay L. Zagorsky, Boston University
'Trick or treating' typically involves demanding candy under the threat of mischief. But is there a better way to maximize your candy haul on Halloween?
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Regina Hansen, Boston University
Everything you need to know about the history of Halloween.
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History, monsters and folklore
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Joel Zika, Deakin University
The virtual reality rides of the early 20th century are now being documented in digital VR.
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Ashby Kinch, The University of Montana
For medieval cultures, the dying process and death itself was a 'transition,' not a rupture.
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Leo Braudy, University of Southern California – Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
All the popular monsters you'll see out trick-or-treating, from Frankenstein to Dracula, were born out of fear and anxiety about change and technology.
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Michael Nees, Lafayette College
Ghost hunters love to record and parse EVP – electronic voice phenomena – they say are messages from spirits. But perceptual psychology has scientific reasons for why what they're hearing isn't from the other side.
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From our international editions
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Maria Haley, University of Leeds
How Romans overcame their fear of witches by finding them funny.
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Lizzy Lowe, Macquarie University
There are plenty of reasons to love and not hate spiders, but let's start with just eight.
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Ann-Louise Davidson, Concordia University
Maker culture--a worldwide movement of do-it-yourselfers who tinker with disruptive technologies--have come together to build and design a Halloween costume perfect for kids using wheelchairs.
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