Halloween, All Souls, All Saints

Lines between All Saints, All Souls and Halloween blur as more Italians get into the spooky spirit with costumes and Halloween parties.

Halloween isn’t exactly celebrated in Italy – at least officially. But it’s creeping in.

November 1 is a public holiday, All Saints Day, and November 2 is widely celebrated as All Souls Day. Especially in Sicily, it is observed by baking cakes called ossa dei morti, bones of the dead, and visiting graves of family members. Elsewhere masses are said for departed relatives, and graves are decorated with flowers. These customs seem to have evolved from Feralia, an ancient Roman holiday of remembrance.

In the 9th century, the pope declared November 1 as the Feast of All Saints, in hopes of replacing the pagan holiday with something more devout and churchy. He succeeded only to a degree, because although November 1 was duly observed, the night before became All Hallows Eve (Halloween).

Today the Catholic church in Italy still takes a dim view of Halloween, calling in an “American holiday” and fearing that it will take the focus off All Saints Day. But that doesn’t stop Italians from dressing up and throwing Halloween costume parties. They’re not just for children, but a trendy thing for adults, too.

Sales of costumes, masks and Halloween decorations increase by about 20% a year, and some predict that it will overtake the traditional carnival as the most popular time for costume parties.

Church authorities worry about school and public Halloween parties, and in Italy, the church still wields considerable power -- enough to block a Halloween party for children that Vicenza’s city government had planned.

But it appears to be a losing battle. Gardaland, Italy’s biggest amusement park, near Verona, is filled with haunted houses and other spooky attractions for the entire month of October, when it’s open on weekends, and zombies, witches and vampires inhabit the park.