Anthony DeStefano’s new children’s book nudges families to remember Halloween’s spiritual roots instead of making the night just about scares and shopping. He wants parents to use the holiday as an opening to teach prayer, penance, and remembrance of the dead, while keeping the mystery and fun kids love. The book and the conversation around it return the focus to faith at a moment when culture and media often poke at religious belief.
DeStefano spells out his mission plainly and without theatrics. “By writing this story, I wanted to try to do my little part to reclaim Halloween for what it truly is: a deeply spiritual holiday centered on prayer, penance, remembrance of the dead,” he says, and he follows that purpose with a practical aim. “I wanted to give children and their parents an engaging way to celebrate Halloween in line with their faith without losing the fun, the mystery, and even the scary excitement that kids naturally love about that season.”
He calls for putting “the ‘hallow’ back in Halloween” at a time when celebrations and consumer spending are ballooning, with Americans setting new records for Halloween outlays. That tension—between spiritual meaning and commercial spectacle—is the core of his argument, and he wants conservative families to lead by example. Reclaiming holiday traditions is seen here as cultural stewardship rather than a crackdown on fun.
DeStefano ties the book’s urgency to current events that many on the right view as warnings. He points to the death of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk and the attack at a school Mass in Minneapolis as stark reminders that faith can be targeted, and that expressing belief carries risks in today’s environment. “I do not think these are isolated events,” he said.
He goes further, tracing those incidents to a broader cultural trend and calling out institutions that normalize derision of religion. “I think they’re symptoms of a deeper hostility toward faith that’s been very apparent in the way Hollywood, the legacy media, the academic world, and the left have been mocking religion for decades.” That line reflects a familiar conservative critique: a coordinated cultural drift that sidelines faith.
DeStefano rejects the idea that Halloween should be a celebration of darkness and nihilism. “Halloween isn’t about glorifying darkness,” DeStefano said. “It’s about shining a light on the reality of death, the fact that eternal life has triumphed, and that’s what makes it so powerful if we understand it correctly.” For him, the holiday becomes an opportunity to teach hope and the promise of resurrection.
At the same time, he warns about how pop culture can warp the holiday’s meaning. He argues that modern Halloween has slipped into caricature, becoming what he calls a “festival of evil,” and that indulging the macabre without reflection can be “fundamentally unhealthy.” That concern echoes conservative calls for media responsibility and for families to set moral boundaries.
The book also addresses how entertainment treats evil and scares as mere thrills, suggesting that this can blunt moral awareness. He observed that the media increasingly “glorifies” evil and that such entertainment can “dull our moral senses.” The point is not to ban spooky tales but to balance them with teaching about virtue, sacrifice, and prayer.
All Hallows’ Eve follows a group of children who meet an old woman who cares for graves and prays for the dead. She explains that the souls below are in purgatory and need prayers and penance, guiding the kids back to the holiday’s original purpose. Purgatory is understood as a temporary and intermediate afterlife state that provides spiritual cleansing to souls before entering heaven, per Catholic doctrine.
In the Catholic tradition, All Hallows’ Eve, or Halloween, All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day take place over three consecutive days known collectively as Allhallowtide, a time to honor the saints and pray for the souls of the dead. DeStefano does not tell families to toss out costumes or candy, but he urges parents to explain the origins and to use the season to remember loved ones. Dressing up as a mummy, ghost, or skeleton, he suggests, can be a prompt to pray for those who have passed.
He closes on a note of consolation and faith about life after death, offering a hopeful picture for grieving families. “If someone we love has died, if our grandmother or grandfather has died, someday we’re going to get to see them again in heaven, and we’re going to be able to run up to them again, kiss them, hug them, and feel the warmth of their skin and hear their voices again,” he said. “That’s what this holiday is about.”
