Trick or Treat: A History of Halloween
Lisa Morton
Halloween has spread around the world, yet its associations with death and the supernatural as well as its inevitable commercialization has made it one of our most puzzling holidays. How did it become what it is today?
Trick or Treat is the first book ever to both examine the origins and history of Halloween and explore in depth its current global popularity. Lisa Morton reveals how holidays like the Celtic Samhain and Catholic All Souls’ Day have blended to produce the modern Halloween, and she shows how the holiday has been reborn in America -- but there are also related independent holidays, especially Mexico's Day of the Dead. Lisa Morton explores the explosion in popularity of haunted attractions and the impact of events such as 9/11 and the global economic recession, as well as the effect Halloween has had on popular culture through literary works by Washington Irving and Ray Bradbury, films such as John Carpenter’s Halloween and Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas and television series, including Buffy the Vampire Slayer and The Simpsons.
Trick or Treat takes us on a journey from the spectacular to the macabre, making it a must for anyone who wants to peep behind the mask to see the real past and present of this ever more popular holiday.
Product Details
About Lisa Morton
Reviews for Trick or Treat: A History of Halloween
Award
Winner of the 2012 Halloween Book Festivals Grand Prize
Award
If you want to know anything at all about the subject, you ought to find it in Trick or Treat . . . Mortons interesting account of Halloween is at its best when it comes up to date and there are many entertaining illustrations.
Susan Hill, The Times
Trick or Treat covers the history of Halloween from its ancient Celtic roots to its stunning growth in global popularity in the 21st century. Morton is an accomplished horror short story writer, and her ability to draw readers in quickly and keep them turning the pages shines through in her nonfiction as well. Lavishly illustrated, this solidly researched and concise work is fun to read and a great choice for readers who want to know why we seek out the scary each October.
Library Journal
Morton offers the first comprehensive history of themisunderstood festival of Halloween. She playfully sets the record straight on the origins of Halloween,explores its migration from the Old World to the New and back again, discusses the role of consumer culture in establishing supposedly ancient traditions, and concludes with an observation that Halloweens ever-changing nature has allowed it to be adapted for countless purposes around the globe . . . This book is an excellent example of the scholarship on holidays as a means of accessing many facets of history. Highly recommended.Choice
Choice
full of historical nuggets and strange folklore, Lisa Mortons Trick or Treat: A History of Halloween is the perfect bible for all devoted disciples of the holiday.
Michael Dougherty, Writer & Director, Trick r Treat
With Trick or Treat Lisa Morton gives us a charming, creepy, insightful and thoroughly fascinating history of Halloween. Its a delicious blend of cultural history and pop-culture savvy that is a true delight to read
Jonathan Maberry, New York Times best-selling author of Flesh and Bone and Assassins Code
This is an excellent survey of the Halloween scene, informative and accessible, far more treat than trick.
Kim Newman, author of Nightmare Movies and Anno Dracula
In a modern world, increasingly filled with pop culture fads and gimmicks, Lisa Morton reveals much of the underbelly history and unknown facts regarding the biggest pop culture event in history Halloween. Her sheer delight and well-researched enthusiasm in tackling many of the unrecognized aspects of this monstrous topic makes one wonder what we dont know about everything else that should be as commonplace to our psyche as a bag of candy.
Del Howison, Bram Stoker Award-winning editor of Dark Delicacies and Book of Lists: Horror