Similarities & Differences Between Halloween & Day of the Dead
- Halloween occurs on October 31st. The Day of the Dead actually spans two days. November 1st is the day where deceased children are honored; this is referred to as the Day of the Innocents. November 2nd is the celebration to honor deceased adults, known as the Day of the Dead. Both days are combined to form the celebration which collectively called the Day of the Dead.
- Both Halloween and Day of the Dead use costumes as a way to express the celebration. Halloween costumes can range from scary to. To dress for the Day of the Dead, children don masks to represent the deceased, in an honorable way, sometimes wearing the masks in a parade held in celebration of those who have passed on.
- Both Halloween and the Day of the Dead use food as part of the celebration. Halloween involves trick or treating where children knock on doors to receive candy, sweets and treats. Though food is also used during the Day of the Dead, the food is placed on alters at the grave sites of those being remembered during the holiday. In the days and weeks before the Day of the Deed, graves are cleaned and prepared for the festivities. In contrast, graves are avoided by the faint of heart during Halloween.
- Both holidays use ghosts and spirits in celebrations. Halloween tends to use a more morbid and ghostly approach to the dead when it comes to celebrating with costumes and decorations centered on skeletons, zombies and monsters. Skeletons are also used in Day of the Dead activities, though usage is based more in honor of the departed. Both traditions share an emphasis on the deceased, but Halloween uses the departed as a means to scare while the Day of the Dead use the dead as a form of remembrance.