While carved pumpkins and “trick-or-treat” might define Halloween in the West, India has equally enchanting nights where spirits, masks and lamps dominate the landscape. According to a feature by The Better India, the country honours these mysterious and communal nights through festivals like Bhoot Chaturdashi, Kati Bihu, Kartik Purnima, Bhoota Kola and Theyyam.

In West Bengal, Bhoot Chaturdashi sees families lighting 14 lamps to welcome ancestral spirits and drive away negative energies - echoing Halloween’s interplay of light and darkness. Further south in Kerala, Theyyam performers don dramatic costumes, dances and face-paint to embody ancestral deities, turning night into a mystical theatre of transformation. 

These festivals aren’t replicas of Halloween; they’re deeply rooted in Indian folklore, culture and community. They remind us that amid the eerie and the unseen, light, storytelling and ritual bring people together - across generations, regions and time.