Sooner or later, every kid asks: why do we carve pumpkins? Who decided that dressing up and asking strangers for candy was a good idea? These episodes answer those questions and plenty more, from the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain to the very first store-bought costumes.
They work for a wide range of ages, and grown-ups tend to learn something too. Every show here is one we’ve reviewed and added to Once Upon a Pod. Tap an episode’s title to go straight to it and listen in your browser, or tap the show’s name to see the rest of the show.
Looking for Halloween stories instead? We have lists for little kids and big kids and tweens.
Where Halloween came from
Why Do We Celebrate Halloween?
Kids send But Why their questions, and the show finds an expert to answer them. For this episode it’s Regina Hansen, a Boston University professor who studies “all kinds of scary and creepy things.” She takes on who created Halloween, where pumpkins come from and why we carve them. If you only play one episode from this list, make it this one.
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Derry, Ireland: Exploring the Halloween Capital of the World
The Culture Train travels to Derry in Northern Ireland, a city that calls itself the Halloween capital of the world. Along the way it introduces Samhain, the ancient Celtic festival that Halloween grew out of, and a guest from Derry describes the city’s huge celebration.
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Where did Halloween originate from?
Three questions, one episode. Why do people wear costumes? Where did trick-or-treating come from? And why candy, of all things?
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Do you know about Halloween & trick-or-treating?
The calmest pick on this list. It looks at how trick-or-treating has changed over the years, then explains why bats, owls and spiders became part of Halloween, all at a gentle bedtime pace.
Play this episodePumpkins, pumpkins, pumpkins
Why do we carve pumpkins on Halloween?
Joy’s jack-o’-lantern pal Lionel wants to skip Halloween altogether. Why carve pumpkins at all, he asks, when you could just paint faces on bananas? Joy and co-host Baron walk him through the twisty history of the jack-o’-lantern, starting with a mysterious blue light people once saw floating over marshes.
Forever Ago is a history show, and it’s one of the funniest on this list. It’s also a good reminder that a lot of Halloween traditions started out as something else entirely.
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The Story of Halloween Pumpkins
A calm, bedtime-length history of the pumpkin, from Native Americans growing it for food long before anyone carved one, to European settlers learning to cook with it, to today’s jack-o’-lanterns.
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Curious About Pumpkins
Three kids wrote in with pumpkin questions, and this episode answers them. Are pumpkins fruits or vegetables? How do they grow? And why did they end up connected to Halloween?
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Pumpkins with Anne Copeland
Smologies is the kid-friendly version of Alie Ward’s science podcast Ologies, where she interviews experts about the thing they love most. Here she visits Anne Copeland, who loved pumpkins enough to write a whole book about them. They cover pumpkin folklore, history, growing and cooking, including creation myths about pumpkins. A great one for older kids who like a lot of detail.
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Gourd-geous Español: Learning Spanish with Pumpkins
A bonus pick for families learning Spanish. It mixes a short Spanish poem with pumpkin facts and the show’s silly forest characters. The show suggests playing it while you carve, and we agree.
Play this episodeCostumes and dress-up
The First Modern Halloween Costumes
In the early 1900s, the first store-bought Halloween costumes appeared, and they were made of paper and felt. This nine-minute episode explains how dressing up turned into one of the most loved parts of the holiday.
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From Witches to Wonder Women: The Story of Halloween Costumes
Sophia and her mom Olga trace Halloween costumes all the way from ancient rituals to today’s superheroes. Dream Big is hosted by a kid, which gives it a fun energy, and the show suggests it works well in a classroom too.
Play this episodeBats, black cats and ghosts
Some of Halloween’s spookiest symbols turn out to have fascinating stories behind them.
Spooky Animals for Kids: Halloween Folklore & World Cultures
A walk through a magical forest full of animals that seem scary at first, each with a surprising meaning somewhere in the world. Owls stand for wisdom in Greece and Japan, and black cats are symbols of good luck and love in many cultures. A lovely way to help a child who’s nervous about Halloween’s creepier decorations.
Play this episodeBlack Cats and Crows of Halloween
Where did the superstitions about black cats and crows come from, and how did they end up as Halloween decorations? Ten calm minutes on the history behind them.
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Halloween Animals
Earth Ranger Emma is on a midnight assignment in a dark, foggy forest, which turns out to be the perfect place to learn about Halloween animals, from bats to cats and a few mystery noises in between.
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We Ain’t Afraid of No Ghosts: A Tumble Halloween
About half of Americans say they believe in ghosts. Why? Tumble goes on a road trip with Dennis Waskul, a sociologist who visited graveyards and “haunted” houses to hear ghost stories from the people who lived them. The show itself promises that the episode is not scary, which makes it a smart pick for a kid who’s been spooked by a ghost story and wants to understand it.
Play this episodeHalloween Hotspots: America’s Spookiest Towns
A tour of the American towns that go all out for Halloween: Sleepy Hollow, home of the Headless Horseman legend; Salem, Massachusetts; and Anoka, Minnesota, which also claims the title of Halloween capital of the world. Fun to play right after the Derry episode above and let your child decide who deserves the crown.
Play this episodeHappy Halloween from all of us at Once Upon a Pod. Know a great Halloween history or science episode we missed? You can suggest a show any time.
