Dark Halloween Decorations: How to Guide Your Kids Biblically

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A parent recently sent us this question: "It seems that over the past few years, Halloween decorations have gotten a lot darker. They make me not even want to take walks with my kids in our neighborhood. However, I know that seeing these decorations to some degree is unavoidable. How can I guide my kids biblically other than telling them not to look at these decorations?"

That's such a great question, and it's something I have noticed too. For decades now there have been Halloween decorations. However, over the past few years, potentially even a decade, the decorations have gotten a lot darker. There's a lot more blood and gore. The decorations tend to stay up longer, and they tend to be more focused on death and the occult than on fun things like jack-o'-lanterns or cats. So let's think through how we can guide our kids as we encounter these darker decorations in our neighborhoods.

What This Is (and Isn't) About

Up front, I want to make clear that this is not a discussion of whether or not Christians should participate in Halloween. Here at Foundation Worldview, we do have other episodes that discuss that question. If that's the conversation you're looking for, you can find it here.

I also want to make clear that we are not going to be addressing all types of Halloween decorations. We're specifically going to be talking about those that are more dark and gory. This is not meant to be a criticism of more innocent decorations, such as when you and your family carve pumpkins together, place candles inside them, and put them out on your steps. Jack-o'-lanterns are vastly different from the extreme blood-and-gore kind of decorations that we see.

So the purpose here is to think through how we can guide our kids biblically as they encounter these more dark, and sometimes even satanic, Halloween displays.

Why Shielding Our Kids Isn't the Goal

I think most of us already know that completely shielding our kids from these types of decorations is impossible. They're up in our neighborhoods, they're up in the grocery store, and they're up in the craft store.

And even if we could completely shield them, it may not be the most healthy thing to do, because what we want to do as Christian parents is to equip our kids to think critically and biblically through every idea they encounter. We are training them to live in this world as followers of Christ. So what we want to do is help them think biblically through these decorations.

A Lesson From a Sunday School Class

I actually saw this recently in my own life. I recently started volunteering as a helper in the twos and threes Sunday school class at my church. A few weeks ago, the teacher was asking the kids, "What are holidays where we celebrate Jesus?" Obviously, she was looking for the answer Christmas and Easter. One of the little girls raised her hand and said, "Halloween!"

The teacher did such a good job of taking that response, responding positively, and pivoting from it. She said, "Well, Halloween is not a holiday where we celebrate Jesus. Halloween is a holiday that focuses a lot on death. But you know what? Jesus came to defeat sin and death."

And I thought, wow, what a brilliant way, right there on the spot, to pivot and show how Halloween can point to Jesus. That's what we want to think through: how can we get our kids thinking critically and biblically as we encounter these more gory Halloween decorations? I think there are several questions we can ask our kids to help them begin.

Question 1: What Are These Decorations Celebrating?

The first question we can ask is, what are these decorations celebrating? The obvious answer is probably Halloween. However, we want to go deeper than that and ask, okay, if these decorations are celebrating Halloween, what specifically is this part of Halloween focused on?

As we think through these more gory or darker decorations, what they are mostly focusing on is death. Death is what they are celebrating.

Question 2: What Is the View of Death Presented in the Bible?

Once we've narrowed it down and seen that these decorations are celebrating death, the second question we want to discuss with our kids is, what is the view of death presented in the Bible? We want them to think critically and biblically about this.

There are many passages in the Bible that talk about death. I'm going to walk us through five that I think we can take our kids to, to help them see the biblical view of death.

Romans 5:12: Death Is the Result of Sin

The first verse is Romans 5:12:

...sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned. (Romans 5:12)

We can read this verse several times with our kids and ask, what truth is revealed about death in this verse? This verse reveals that death is the result of sin. Death was introduced into the world because Adam and Eve sinned. Their sin spread to all mankind, and so death spread to all mankind.

Romans 6:23: Death Is the Just Punishment for Sin

The next passage we can take them to is also in the book of Romans:

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23)

We can ask, what does this verse reveal about death? It reveals that death is the just punishment for our sin. Sin and death are always linked together in Scripture.

This verse also reveals the next part of the story: the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. So death is not the only option we are left with. Because of Jesus, we can have eternal life through him.

1 Corinthians 15:26: Death Is an Enemy

The next passage we can take our kids to is 1 Corinthians 15:26:

The last enemy to be destroyed is death. (1 Corinthians 15:26)

I love this verse because it is short and it really packs a punch in explaining what death is. We can read it a couple of times with our kids and ask, what truth is revealed about death? The truth revealed is that death is an enemy that is yet to be destroyed. Death is our enemy.

Hebrews 2:14–15: Jesus Came to Destroy the Power of Death

The next passage we can take our kids to is Hebrews 2:14–15. This passage is specifically talking about Jesus and what he has done:

Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. (Hebrews 2:14–15)

This is a little bit of a longer passage, so we'll probably have to read it several times with our kids before we can identify what truths about death it reveals.

The first truth revealed is that Satan is the one who holds the power of death in this life.

This passage also reveals that death is something we as humans naturally fear. It talks about those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. We all naturally fear death. If appropriate, we can even tell our kids that this is one of the reasons Halloween is celebrated. It's a way that humans make themselves feel a little more comfortable with death and make light of it, because naturally we all fear death.

The last truth this passage reveals about death is that Jesus came to destroy Satan and death. Jesus came that he might defeat sin and death, and through that, defeat Satan. So we no longer have to be in lifelong slavery to the fear of death, because death is something Jesus came to defeat.

Revelation 21:3–4: Death Will Be No More

The last passage we can take our kids to is Revelation 21:3–4:

[VERIFY BEFORE PUBLISH: this reading is missing from the transcript (8:45 to 9:07). ESV text inserted; confirm against audio, then delete this note.]

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away." (Revelation 21:3–4)

This passage reveals that death will be destroyed forever when Jesus returns. We know this because Jesus has already partially defeated death through his own death and resurrection. He showed that he has started to defeat death, and death will be completely destroyed. It's that last enemy to be destroyed, and it will be completely destroyed when Jesus returns.

If you have appreciated this walk through what the Bible teaches about sin and death and God's plan for redemption, this arc of creation, fall, and redemption is covered multiple times in our God's Good Design curriculum. If you're interested in immersing your kids in that biblical story arc, I highly recommend checking it out. It's created primarily for children between the ages of four and eight, so if you have children in that age range, or just a little above or below it, God's Good Design is a great fit.

So far, the first two questions we've asked are, what are these decorations celebrating, and what is the view of death presented in the Bible? We saw that death has spread to all because of sin. It's the payment for sin. It's an enemy yet to be destroyed. Satan is the one who holds the power over it, but Jesus came to destroy that, and death will be fully destroyed when Jesus returns.

Question 3: Should We Celebrate Death or Make Light of It?

The third question we can ask our kids is, should we celebrate death or make light of it? Based on what those passages say, we should not celebrate death or make light of it. Death is our enemy. Jesus came to defeat death, and he will get rid of it forever when he returns.

So if your family has chosen to participate in trick-or-treating, or if you've chosen to decorate your house for Halloween, I highly recommend that you be very careful as a family not to choose any decorations or costumes that would be celebrating death. We see from Scripture that death is not something to be celebrated. Death is the last enemy that Jesus came to destroy. We want to make sure we're not misguiding our children by allowing decorations or costumes in our household that actually celebrate death.

Question 4: How Can We Help Ourselves Remember What Is True?

The fourth question we can ask our kids is, how can we help ourselves remember what is true when we see Halloween decorations celebrating death? When you see those really gory, really dark, or really satanic or demonic decorations, what can you do to remind yourselves of what is true?

I highly recommend that you open up this question to your kids, because they may have some really good, creative ideas of things you can do as a family.

If you're struggling for creative ideas, here are some suggestions. You could memorize one of the verses we just read. Then, as a family, when you're going for a walk through the neighborhood and you come to a really dark display, you can quote one of those verses.

I think two great ones to memorize are these. The first is 1 Corinthians 15:26, "The last enemy to be destroyed is death." As you're walking down the block and you come to a really dark decoration, as a family you can say, "Okay, let's remind ourselves of 1 Corinthians 15:26. The last enemy to be destroyed is death."

That way, when you see these decorations, even if they're ones you're not going to focus on and you're going to walk past quickly, you can be grateful for those decorations in the way that they're reminding you of the truth that the last enemy to be destroyed is death.

Another easy verse to memorize is Revelation 21:4a, just the first part of verse 4:

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more. (Revelation 21:4a)

As you walk past those gory displays, you can choose that verse and say, "Okay, let's remember Revelation 21:4a. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more."

Again, we're not going to want to stop and really stare at these decorations. We're definitely not going to want to hang them in our yard or take any part in celebrating death. But we can use these decorations focused on death and darkness to remind our family of the truth: death is the last enemy to be destroyed, and Jesus will one day come and destroy death forever.

Helping Your Kids See the Whole Story

If you want your kids to understand where death fits in the bigger story of Scripture, our God's Good Design curriculum walks children ages four to eight through the arc of creation, fall, and redemption multiple times. You can find it in our shop. And for more biblical guidance on the questions your kids are facing, sign up for our newsletter below.

As we close, my prayer for you is that no matter the situation in which you and the children God has placed in your care find yourselves, you would trust that God is working all things together for your good by using all things to conform you more into the image of his Son.