Halloween has long been without the saints and has become a celebration of the unholy. I don’t mean neo-paganism, diabolism, witchcraft, vampires, etc. Halloween is one of our national feasts of materialism: greedy kids collect lots of candy; greedy manufacturers and retailers sell lots of candy; Chinese manufacturers produce heaps of Halloween decorations; couturiers are busy with just the right costume; and farmers turn a profit on a relatively unusable crop of pumpkins. Haloween is a very American holiday, for on it social divisions are reinforced as trick-or-treaters are taught what “bad” neighborhoods to avoid, but parents bring van-loads of children from more modest areas to loot the neighborhoods of the wealthy.