From the outset, the reader should be aware of the fact that Nicholas Rogers is a historian, not a religious studies scholar. He has collected information documenting Halloween-oriented customs and events, spanning from the time of the holiday's probable origins to the present situation in the American continent. However, in-depth analysis of ritual, image, and collective imagination he has not provided. This being said, the book can, in fact, offer a great deal to the secondary school religious studies instructor and student.

The organization of the text is basically chronological, but the presentation of material within each chapter tends to be more circular and conversational, a style which can be engaging for many students. Rogers has also peppered his text with images, ranging from 17th century engravings of the wicker man associated with druidic ritual to contemporary photographs of subversively costumed adult party-goers in Toronto.

Chapter 1 addresses the Celtic origins of Halloween, bringing to light Rogers' contention that we cannot reduce Halloween to being nothing more than a rehashed Samhain. In Chapters 2 and 3, Rogers discusses beliefs and practices associated with Hallowtide in first the British Isles and then, as a result of Anglo-Celtic immigration, in North America. In these sections, the reader will notice reoccurring themes of divination, courtship, mummery, violence and property destruction, and belief in increased contact between members of the living and the dead. Chapters 4-7 focus on a variety of Halloween-related phenomena during the twentieth century in the Americas, such as commercialization and consumerism, crime and danger, commonalities and conflicts with the Mexican Day of the Dead, Hollywood's influence through horror movies, and the myriad differences between adult- and children-oriented celebrations of the holiday and their implications.

This book can be used a supplemental resource for the educator or as course material reading for the student, in part or in full. An excellent citation source for student paper writing, Rogers' text is packed with historical anecdotes. Students can also practice polemic-finding within this text, as the Introduction and Chapter 6 reveal the author's tendency to focus on Halloween-associated liminality and transgression within the contemporary Canadian homosexual community. Rogers presents the concept that Halloween is a “new site for gender politics” and that it “has been used to reaffirm the values of feminist and gay cultures;” however, his discussion of this topic leans heavily on the latter group while merely giving a nod to the former.

In my opinion, the best use for this book would be achieved through group discussion and essay-writing. The instructor could guide the students in following through with the in-depth analysis at which Rogers merely hints. For example, in Chapter 6 Rogers briefly mentions Victor Turner's theory of “framed play” from The Ritual Process and From Ritual to Theatre: The Human Seriousness of Play. He also alludes to Leigh Schmidt's work Consumer Rites: The Buying and Selling of American Holidays (a text which unfortunately does not include Halloween as a major focus of discussion, but which provides a broad, but conclusive, look at the commercialization of holidays in America from the mid-eighteenth through the twentieth century). In addition, James Frazer's theories relating to Samhain and Hallowmass rituals from The Golden Bough are mentioned in Chapter 2, and Michel Foucault's concept of “heterotopia” from Of Other Spaces is presented on the last page of the final chapter. Just because Rogers makes a minimal attempt to securely fuse any of these theories to the historical data he has presented doesn't mean that the students in our classes cannot do more in this vein. The wealth of documentation on Halloween-related beliefs and practices with which Rogers has provided us cries out for more conclusive discussion and analysis.

All in all, this is an interesting and useful text, especially of interest to those involved in studies including the history of religious imagination in North America, syncretism, ritual transgression, and gender politics. I recommend it for personal, as well as academic, edification for instructor and student alike.



Eden Skowronski
Miami, FL

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