One Culture Haunts while Another Consoles: Differing Responses to the Deceased

Abstract

The shift in the calendar from October to November demarcates a striking difference in how cultures interact with their dead. Halloween is a flashy parade of ghosts, with spooky stories, ghoulish masks and then a comforting pile of candy. We file through haunted houses, watch horror films, don disguises, and in myriad ways remind ourselves that the dead are scary Others to be shunned and shivered at.