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Ran across this book at a used bookstore around Halloween this year and decided to give it a try. There has always been much debate among Christians about the celebration of holidays – Santa or no Santa, Easter bunny, dress up for Halloween, etc. My purpose in this review is not to chime in on this debate in particular. I am not a parent yet and have not made those decisions for my own family. Rather, this review will be based on whether the authors succeed in their purpose by writing this book.
The purpose: Convince the reader that Halloween & Satanism are inextricably connected and that no Christian should celebrate Halloween in any form. Does is succeed? Short answer, no.
It seems that the authors forgot their proposed purpose of the book immediately after the first few pages were written. The meat of the book should have been limited to the connections between Halloween and Satanism.
Though there is not much in the book that links Halloween with Satanism, the author does provide two points. One, Halloween is the same date that Satanists have their largest holiday. This argument, while true, is rather weak. By the authors’ own admission, it has also been an important date in the history of Christianity. In fact, Halloween gets its name from it connection with church history, not Satanism (All Hallow’s Eve.) The authors second point is that fear itself is patently unbiblical and Halloween promotes fear. This is where the book starts to unravel for me. With no exegetical evidence, the authors make sweeping statements about fear with little explanation. They do not come close to proving that fear itself is anti-Christian.
Even though the book fails in its purpose, there is still some information in the book worth reading. The bulk of this book is really an index for Satanism and other occult practices. If you are looking for a popular introduction to Satanic rituals and their reality in modern life, you could start in worse places. Word of warning, these descriptions are very disturbing and not easy to read. In addition, everything here must be taken with a grain of salt – there are references to other works to back them up, but it still reads as an opinion paper instead of a researched book on an important subject.
Even if it is just read as an introduction to the dangers of the occult world, there are more things red flags to beware. The authors wrongly state that a believer can lose their salvation (page 156), show zero sympathy for the torture of women accused as witches (page 120,) and promote a self-help style of pop-Christianity throughout. Because demon possession and Satanism are real and dangerous, these fast and loose interpretations fall far short of the mark. Bottom line: skip it. If you are looking for a book to help you decide whether or not your kids should participate in Halloween activities, this is not it.
