1. A Cultural Rejection: "It's American, so..."

Let’s be honest, the first reason why many French people don’t like Halloween is because it’s perceived as an "American" holiday. There’s this idea in France that anything too American is a bit suspicious, as if there’s a tendency to reject everything that comes from across the Atlantic.

Essentially, it’s seen as a commercial holiday, a kind of giant "marketing" event where you absolutely have to buy candy, costumes, and decorate your house with plastic pumpkins. And, you know, in France, we love to criticize anything that feels too much like mass consumption.

That’s why some even prefer All Saints’ Day to Halloween, which is more tied to tradition, family, and remembrance. It has nothing to do with the “fun” and exuberant side of Halloween. We are a country with a more reserved culture when it comes to holidays like this. In France, we like to celebrate, but with a certain "restraint," you know?

 

2. A Holiday Without a True History in France

If we dig a little, Halloween doesn’t really have cultural roots in France. It’s a holiday that arrived somewhat by surprise in the 1990s when big brands and American movies started selling it to us with witch costumes and candy. We adopted it without really understanding why, just because it was “cool” and everywhere on TV.

Unlike Christmas or Easter, which have deep-rooted traditions and histories in French culture, Halloween is an import. We don’t know its Celtic origins, and we don’t really know what it celebrates. This creates a real divide between those who enjoy it because it’s fun and those who see it as a foreign holiday without real meaning.

And let’s not forget that the period when Halloween is celebrated in France coincides with All Saints’ Day, a Catholic religious holiday where we commemorate our departed loved ones. So, going from a moment of remembrance and cemetery visits to a noisy celebration with ghost costumes feels a bit odd to many French families.

 

3. A Holiday for Kids, Not Really for Adults

What’s funny is that even though Halloween is a holiday for everyone in Anglo-Saxon countries, in France, it’s often seen as something reserved for kids. The famous “trick or treat” where children knock on doors for candy has never really taken off here. This is partly because of the very private nature of French culture, where knocking on neighbors’ doors to ask for something isn’t really common.

And even though kids love dressing up, for adults, it’s much less obvious. In France, we don’t have this tradition of dressing up as much, except for specific occasions like Carnival. So dressing up as a witch or a zombie just for one night doesn’t have the same resonance.

As a result, Halloween often remains confined to the little ones, who celebrate at schools or shopping centers, while adults don’t really see the point.

 

4. A Commercial Holiday, Especially for Brands

We also have to talk about Halloween’s commercial side. As I mentioned earlier, in France, there’s a natural distrust of anything seen as "commercial." Plastic decorations, spider-shaped candies, costumes sold at exorbitant prices... It reinforces the idea that Halloween is mainly an excuse to make money.

And French people see this clearly. Brands often take advantage of the trend, whether in supermarkets with entire aisles dedicated to Halloween or even on TV with repetitive ads. Some might even say that we don’t know whether we’re really celebrating something or just buying products that we’ll only use once a year.

This commercialization makes Halloween feel like a superficial holiday, far from the more traditional values we often cherish in France.

 

5. And Yet... Things Are Changing

But all is not lost for Halloween in France! If we take a closer look, we can see that mindsets are evolving. In recent years, especially in big cities, Halloween has become increasingly popular, partly thanks to social media.

Influencers, for instance, have fun creating videos and photos of their costumes, inspiring many young people. More and more themed parties are popping up, where people dress up, sometimes in very creative ways. There are even events in bars or nightclubs where adults can finally enjoy Halloween without feeling like it’s just a kids’ holiday.

There’s also a growing desire to embrace other cultures. Today, we travel more, watch American series and movies, and are beginning to understand that Halloween can also be a fun moment of letting go without necessarily seeing it as a threat to our cultural identity.

 

6. Halloween: A Holiday Finding Its Place in France

In the end, Halloween is in transition in France. It hasn’t yet been fully adopted like it has in the United States, but it’s no longer entirely rejected either.

It’s a holiday still searching for its place in our culture. Perhaps in a few years, it will become a must for everyone, like Christmas or New Year’s. Or maybe it will remain a somewhat niche celebration, enjoyed by a portion of the population but not by all.

Either way, I think there’s real potential for Halloween to become more significant in France. With time, and if we give it a bit more meaning—whether through its history or symbolism—maybe we’ll end up truly adopting it, but in a French way!