Death Makes A Holiday [Paperback]

David Skal in this book gives the reader a quick overview of the holiday. There is a little on the history, a little on the traditions, a little on the legends and a little on about the darker side of Halloween. There is not however much detail on any subject. For example his chapter about Halloween movies deals almost exclusively with the "Halloween" movie series and its shortcomings. If he had just switched over to television he could have written an entire chapter just on The Simpsons, let alone all of the other series that have started to do Halloween episodes, something almost unheard of before 1990 or so.

I found his chapter on debunking the poison candy myths to be one of the best in the book and was of course attracted to the chapter on yard haunts. The chapter he offers about witches was also interesting although I am sure there are some Salem merchants who would disagree. Overall this is a pretty good book but it could have been much better. The appearance of the author's personal agenda on occasion didn't help but overall I just never really got a feel for what he was trying to say about Halloween. I enjoyed the book and did pick up a few bits of information but I couldn't help but think something was missing. The man has to love Halloween to have written so much about it but that love for the holiday just doesn't come across in this book.

Yes, there is something about Halloween that has a great appeal to my generation. I can't really explain it and so I guess I can't complain if Mr. Skal can't either. This is not a bad book; it just doesn't live up to the glory of the holiday it is about.

The initial chapters delivered this perfectly, and I thoroughly enjoyed his account of the origins of Halloween and its cultural significances, however, beyond this riveting opening, the author goes on to pursue disparate topics marginally related to, or peripherally effected by Halloween. The whole came off a little disjointed, with too much emphasis given to topics that might have made better footnotes than chapters. I would rather have had pages of more in-depth information on the Jack-o-lantern or druids than the West Coast Pride parades. That's not to say the borderline topics of the individual chapters weren't interesting, I enjoyed them all and found some of them truly fascinating in their own right, but I couldn't help but want to revisit the initial chapters' themes.

I wanted more History with my Halloween, as per the book's title.

Granted the first half of this book may be reason enough to buy it (The Candy Man story gave me the creeps), but ultimately, I would rather have had a 300 page detailed exploration of the themes and ideas brought up in the first half of the book, with the remainder of the chapters' topics sprinkled about where necessary. Still, it's a well researched, well written book that can enlighten anyone with more than a passing interest in all things Halloween, I have certainly learned a lot reading this book. There may be a few rocks in this trick-or-treat bag, but ultimately it's a rewarding and engaging read.