From Sacrifice to Snickers: How Halloween Went from Sacred to Salty

Ever wonder how Halloween morphed from ancient fire festivals and ancestor feasts into plastic pumpkins and sugar comas? In this unapologetically salty episode, Anne Margaret Perry, The Salty Goddess herself, digs into the untamed history of Halloween. Discover the Celtic roots of Samhain, how the Church turned pagans into parishioners, and how Irish immigrants brought it all to America (where candy companies took over).

You’ll also travel through global sister holidays like Día de los Muertos, Japan’s Obon, and China’s Hungry Ghost Festival, proving that honoring the dead is universal, even if the décor varies. Equal parts wit and wisdom, this episode blends history, psychology, and cultural flavor into one haunted-house-meets-TED-Talk moment.