Halloween is a holiday that is well celebrated in Davis. The modern spectacle of October 31st is loosely based on the Celtic pagan celebration of death and rebirth known as Samhain (meaning November). The original festival occurred on the 31st through November 1st. In the Middle Ages, the Catholic Church attempted to Christianize the festival by producing the consecutive substitute holidays, All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day. Modern Halloween is therefore a weird amalgamation of Celtic paganism and Catholicism. Most recently, commercial interests and pop culture references have also had a strong influence. In Davis, some pagans and occultists still celebrate Samhain, but like most American cities, Halloween is primarily a secularized holiday in which people dress up in outlandish costumes and children go trick-or-treating.

The Catholics also tried to suppress the indigenous Aztec holiday that is now known as Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). Due to some perceived similarities to Samhain, the Catholics changed its original August date to correspond with All Souls' Day. Hugely popular in Mexico, Dia de los Muertos is also celebrated by some Hispanics in Davis.

You can get costumes at Goodwill or on campus from the Drama Department. Other thrift stores in town may have a small Halloween section. Departed costume shops include: Halloween Headquarters, Spirit Halloween, Xtreme Halloween, Halloween City. Note: in 2013 there is no temporary Halloween store available in Davis.

You can read Davis Ghost Stories here.

The Davis Downtown Business Association runs a Trick-or-Treat Downtown sometimes known as the Downtown Halloween Treat Trail.

When Halloween draws near, some people like to visit the Dixon Corn Maze. (The one in Woodland no longer exists, apparently.) There does appear to be one in West Sacramento at Vierra Farms now, though.

Pumpkins are closely associated with Halloween.

2008

Costume Photos

2007, Even some cars get dressed up 2013 skeleton car spotted at Central Park

Events

Past Events

In the early 2000s, a Shadowcast performance of The Rocky Horror Picture Show was performed at Chem 194 by Further Indignities.

Comments:

You must be logged in to comment on this page. Please log in.

2009-10-29 22:09:31   I remember my first Halloween haunted house experience. I was sixish and went into a church(!) gym blindfolded, along with dozens of other kids. Had to stick my hand into bowls filled with icky things...like worms and eyeballs!! (Read: spaghetti and peeled grapes.) —robinlaughlin

2011-10-06 11:12:13   Driving by from a distance last night it looked like there's a Halloween store going in where Borders was. I didn't get a good look. Anyone have any details? —TomGarberson

2011-10-11 10:27:51   I didn't have any trick-or-treaters last year when I lived over by the cemetery, even though it wasn't a student-dominated neighborhood. How the heck do I know whether to buy candy or not? How do parents decide where to take their kids? Should I put up decorations to signal we want trick-or-treaters? —MeggoWaffle

Always buy candy! Worst-case scenario: you have to handle the entire bag yourself, rather than just the leftovers. That's hardly bad news! —TomGarberson

2011-10-11 16:06:33   Anybody know where any haunted houses or worthwhile decorations will be? I'd like to put together an interactive map (without driving up and down the grid for an hour, wasting time and gas). —justincox22

Add tags