- [Narrator] It's the night when the veil between the living and the dead is said to be at its thinnest.

One of the world's most captivating festivities, Halloween.

- Halloween is great for everybody.

It's the best holiday of the year, because I mean, you don't have to buy any stupid presents for anybody.

You don't have to have any dinners with your boring relatives.

You just dress up in a costume and act like a fool.

- [Narrator] While many know it as a night of trick or treating and ghoulish costumes, its roots run far deeper than any graveyard.

It's the bewitching tradition that casts its spell across the world, turning the globe into one giant haunted house.

As darkness falls, communities worldwide showcase their own time-honored Halloween magic... flickering jack-o'-lantern in Ireland, elaborate costume parades through Japanese streets, and Salem's bewitching tales brought to life.

Halloween rituals may look different around the world, but they serve the same fundamental purpose.

- That's what these holiday rituals are designed to do.

They bring people together to celebrate those highly important moments.

They involve dressing alike, doing things together, all of those things that make us feel alike.

- We love Halloween so much that we have made it a season, and I think that addition has invited a lot more people to participate because Halloween isn't just this scary, weird satanic day anymore.

It's become this very inclusive celebration.

For better or worse, Halloween isn't just for kids and weirdos anymore.

- [Narrator] Join us as we journey through sunset to sunrise through cultures and continents to see how, in a world so vast and varied, this single day brings so many people together.

Because Halloween is truly one of the world's greatest holiday celebrations.

(gentle suspenseful music) (gentle chiming music) Travelling westward with the setting sun... descending towards the endless, glittering circuit board of lights, that is Tokyo at dusk... (gentle suspenseful music continues) In the urban canyons below, Halloween preparations unfold in a distinctly un-western way... proving that when it comes to Halloween, the Japanese don't just dress up for it, they engineer it.

(gentle suspenseful music continues) This isn't surprising.

Japan has been perfecting the art of celebrating terror for centuries with the themes of fear, the supernatural, and honouring the dead, woven into its folklore.

(ghosts wailing) (screen chimes) (upbeat music) But this cultural embrace of the ghoulish raises an intriguing question.

Why do we chase these chills?

(upbeat music continues) - We love to be scared because it's exhilarating.

It actually physically releases endorphins in your brain when you're frightened like that.

(upbeat music continues) Psychologists say it's good for us, because if we come across something that's genuinely scary, we've kind of been through it once we know how to react a little bit better.

(upbeat music continues) That's healthy, that's good, that's cathartic.

(upbeat music continues) - It's a really safe way to get that release of emotion.

You can climb that mountain of a horror film, be absolutely terrified, and then come back down from that thrill and that adrenaline rush, still safe in your own bed and nothing's actually come to harm you.

So yeah, I think that it's really just about feeling all the feelings.

(upbeat music continues) (ghosts wailing) (eerie suspenseful music) - [Narrator] In Japan, the chills are more of a familial kind and arrive early during the Obon Festival when the spirits of deceased family members are said to return home to visit their loved ones.

(gentle suspenseful music) - Obon is a fairly lighthearted celebration.

Families gather, there are activities for children.

Streets are decorated with beautiful lanterns, and it's a time of reunion.

(gentle suspenseful music continues) That said, not all of the spirits that come back are welcome.

You see superstitions of restless spirits coming and wandering the streets.

(gentle suspenseful music continues) - [Narrator] So when it comes to the Japanese celebrating a more Western-style Halloween, they're simply adding to their long-established and rich tradition of supernatural folklore.

(light upbeat music) Indeed, this spooky synergy came to life when Tokyo Disneyland decided to step into the fray.

(light upbeat music continues) - It actually can't be understated what a huge impact Tokyo Disneyland had on bringing Halloween to Japan.

People didn't really know what this Halloween was, or how they were going to embrace it.

So when Disney Tokyo had massive celebrations, it had a huge effect on the city and on the wider country.

(light upbeat music continues) - [Narrator] Disney had lit the fuse, transforming Japan into a creepy, cosplay kingdom.

- It really kind of was the icebreaker for Halloween into Japan, which means that, you know, Halloween in Japan has only really been celebrated since the mid to late '90s.

- [Narrator] What started as Mickey Mouse playing dress-ups, accidentally unleashed a monster of a celebration, and Japan had well and truly come down with Halloween fever.

(bright music) (mellow techno music) In past years, the ultimate expression of this October obsession was one of Tokyo's most famous celebrations, a massive street party that took over the vibrant Shibuya district (mellow techno music continues) - And it's really become the epicentre of Halloween in Tokyo.

People show up to show off their costumes and party between events, but I will say they probably party a little bit too hard in the recent years.

(upbeat techno music) - [Narrator] In fact, disruptive behaviour had had even spooked the local authorities, and they promptly banned any loitering to showcase costumes or stopping for photographs.

But the Halloween-keen Japanese still try and make this crossroads a monster mash of vampires, zombies, and anime characters.

It's enough to make any comic con green with envy.

(gentle suspenseful music) As Tokyo's shimmering skyline fades behind us, we're winging our way over China's vast planes with the day's final light revealing the dramatic terrain of Romania.

(gentle suspenseful music continues) Here, Halloween isn't borrowed.

It's been a constant spectre, haunting Romania's cursed castles and shadowy forests for centuries.

(gentle suspenseful music continues) - The feeling of Hallowen and Romania is very kind of unique.

There's a lot history in Romania of spirits and the dead, so it naturally lends itself to Halloween.

(gentle suspenseful music continues) - It's the land of the black death, and witches and werewolves, and superstition are woven into its winding streets until it's really hard not to get pulled into this world where you're really questioning what the howl you heard in the distance is.

(light suspenseful music) How is somebody who loves Halloween supposed to resist that?

(light suspenseful music continues) (vocalist vocalising) - [Narrator] The supernatural legacy runs deep.

Before Romania donned Christianity, the ancient Dacians, ancestors of today's Romanians, were worshipping spirits in spectral ceremonies.

(light music) The Dacians believed their dead ancestors could bring significant prosperity or ruin.

But when Christianity came calling with its cross and crown, these ancient beliefs didn't vanish.

They transformed, adapted, and survived into the new culture, creating a unique mythology where holy hymns blended with haunted heritage.

(melodic music) (suspenseful music) Among these enduring spirits, Romania had its own supernatural squatters called the strigoi.

(suspenseful music continues) - They're kind of the backbone of the vampire mythology.

They're typically associated with stealing the life force of a specific person.

This is where staking somebody through the chest to remove the curse comes from.

- [Narrator] To combat these strigoi and other evil spirits, St.

Andrews Eve became the period when villagers would wage war against them by using garlic for their protection.

(suspenseful music continues) Even today, garlic is used in Romanian villages as an aromatic armour against the afterlife, and the young still keep bulbs nearby in case the strigoi come calling.

(suspenseful music continues) (ominous music) Belief in garlic's power hit the big time in 1897 when writer Bram Stoker made Transylvania synonymous with his lead character, Dracula... sparking a supernatural tourism boom that never ended.

- Bram Stoker, the author of "Dracula," never actually visited Romania, but he based the story of "Dracula" on Transylvania, because it has all these aspects of these old, kind of scary-looking buildings.

It had these traditions and the dark woods, and it really was the perfect place to set this undead being.

(ominous music continues) - [Narrator] This literary legacy has created a Halloween phenomenon with devotees now flocking to the region for castle visits, vampire dinners, and guided ghost tours.

Tonight, Dracula's dark power endures, transforming tourists into monster hunters, and Transylvanian towns into spooky tourist spots, proving Stoker's vampire remains Halloween's greatest icon.

(ominous music continues) (air whooshing) (light suspenseful music) Yet beyond the commercialised tours, deep in Romania's rural reaches, lies a wicked woodland.

(light music) - The Hoia-Baciu forest is known as one of the most haunted places in the entire world.

It's often referred to as the Bermuda Triangle of Romania, basically because it has so many stories of bizarre disappearances, clearings where vegetation refuses to grow, and a multitude of paranormal activity.

(light music continues) - [Narrator] And with other witnesses reporting shadowy figures, UFOs, and constant feelings of being watched, now, every Halloween, hundreds of ghost hunters with cameras and equipment, descend on the forest, hoping to find proof of spirits.

But visitors to Hoia-Baciu Forest often discover it's not what you find that haunts you, it's what finds you first.

(bright suspenseful music) Farewelling the bewitching Romania, and sweeping across the heart of Europe... (screen chimes) where mediaeval villages dot rolling green hills, lies Germany.

(light suspenseful music) (air hisses) Here, Halloween emphasises psychological scares instead of sugar rushes, elevating Halloween from child's play to delicious dread.

(light suspenseful music continues) - Germany's got a long history of the macabre.

(light suspenseful music continues) As you'd imagine, it's not purely the Americanization type of Halloween.

It's a bit more of its own flavour.

(light suspenseful music continues) - [Narrator] And nowhere is this flavour more perfectly savoured than at Burg Frankenstein, a brooding, mediaeval castle near Darmstadt.

(light suspenseful music continues) This crumbling gothic beauty allegedly sent such electric shivers through Mary Shelley's imagination that it partially inspired her to write her novel, "Frankenstein."

(light suspenseful music continues) (eerie music) But fast forward to today, and every October, this stronghold cranks up the creep factor to 11... (suspenseful music) transforming it into, what some people call, the most terrifying Halloween party in the world.

(upbeat suspenseful music) Here, scores of professional monsters lurk through the castle grounds... (dramatic suspenseful music) And unlike other Halloween events that rely on cheap jump scares, Germany's oldest Halloween show serves up the kind of genuine, bone-rattling terror that would make even "Frankenstein's" monster sit bolt upright in his grave.

(suspenseful music) (vocalists humming) This expertise in the eerie isn't accidental.

Ancient tribes were already throwing their own spine-tingling soirees centuries before Halloween packed its bags and made the transatlantic journey to Germany.

(rhythmic music) - Long before Halloween, Germanic tribes celebrated the wild hunt, which is where Odin led a ghost parade that was this huge hunt done through the sky.

(vocalists singing in foreign language) (rhythmic music) - [Narrator] When Christianity arrived, the church gave these traditions a holy upgrade.

But some German villages still light preventative bonfires today, just in case the sky starts raining ghostly soldiers.

(rhythmic music continues) (light suspenseful music) This affinity with the terrifying, trace's back centuries, showcased in Germany's gruesome gift to storytelling, the Brothers Grimm, whose collection of fairytales transformed bedtime reading forever.

(gentle music) Dark and twisted tails, like "Hansel and Gretel" and "Little Red Riding Hood" played on the very real notion of children disappearing in forests where wolves roamed and strangers lurked.

(bright suspenseful music) Now, these childhood fears have found new life in modern Halloween celebrations right across Germany, with the very characters that once kept children awake all night, finally reclaimed and celebrated.

(bright suspenseful music continues) (light music) Departing the Rhine Valley's spirit-laden tapestry, soaring over the Danube Delta, in the distance, Paris's dimming light is surrendering to a Halloween with characteristic flair.

(light music continues) From Eiffel Tower terror to Seine-sational spooks, the city of shadows embraces sophisticated scares and (speaks French) frights.

- One thing, the major difference is, yes, in America we associate Halloween with scary things, but in France, Halloween is really a celebration about scary mysticism, witches, and only that.

No one will be dressing up as a superhero.

(light music continues) - [Narrator] This dedication to authentic darkness makes perfect sense, when you consider France's long love affair with the occult.

(light music continues) (suspenseful music) The 1800s witnessed a supernatural surge that swept through Parisian salons like wildfire... (seance attendees humming) (suspenseful music) with seances becoming as fashionable as fine wine.

(upbeat suspenseful music) (seance attendees humming) Even literary luminaries like Victor Hugo, the mastermind behind "Les Misérables," hosted his own haunted happenings, believing that deceased poets and philosophers could provide inspiration for his writings.

(upbeat music) Today, Paris preserves this heritage through hidden speakeasies that host Halloween seances, serving spirits, both liquid and literal, proving that Paris's passion for the paranormal has been given a new lease on a new afterlife.

(upbeat music) (bright theatrical music) Similarly theatrical, was the iconic masquerade ball, French aristocrates' ultimate night out.

- If you've ever seen "Phantom of the Opera," that's why there's that big masquerade number.

- [Narrator] These were sophisticated spectacles where nobles could stay safely shrouded behind ornate disguises whilst flirting with everything from political plotting to romantic rendezvous.

(bright theatrical music continues) (bright upbeat music) Now, modern France has resurrected this regal tradition at the Grand Masked Ball at the Palace of Versailles.

- Today you can still see this influence in elaborate Halloween parties where people wear Venetian masks and couture.

- [Narrator] Here, period costumes blend with classical music and spine-tingling storytelling, proving the French prefer their Halloween always hauntingly haunted.

(light music) (gentle music) But for those seeking something far more spooky than silk and satin, beneath the bustling boulevards of Paris, lies one of the world's most bonafide Halloween attractions.

(gentle music continues) - The catacombs are a network of tunnels that span over 200 miles underneath the city of Paris.

They're home to over 6 million people and they're all arranged in a creepy, almost ritualistic arrangement that is chilling as it is beautiful.

- [Narrator] Created In the late 18th century when overflowing cemeteries led to a public health crisis, city officials decided to dig deep for a solution.

(sombre music) So underground they went, straight into Halloween territory, creating one of the creepiest tourist attractions the world has ever seen.

(sombre music continues) - You can visit the catacombs in Paris at any time, but during Halloween, and the dimly-lit areas, and you have these spooky inscriptions, and it really gives you an idea of, you know, this scary, gloomy French idea of Halloween.

(sombre music continues) - [Narrator] So while the rest of the world settles for plastic skeletons, Paris comes up trumps for Halloween and delivers the real deal.

(sombre music continues) (screen whooshes) (etherial music) Departing the moonlit Parisian boulevards... soaring over the grey expanse of the North Sea... to catch the last remnants of sundown on the Emerald Isle.

(screen chimes) (ethereal music) Here, Ireland doesn't simply own Halloween's origin story.

It is the story.

(ethereal music continues) (light music) - Ireland is really, in many ways, the home of Halloween.

The Halloween celebrations are a great way of bringing different communities together in an atmosphere of fun, connecting to symbols and entertainments, which everybody can recognise.

(light music continues) - Ireland is really where it all started.

So you get this really interesting mix of ancient traditions mixing with modern traditions.

You're gonna see bonfires mixed with modern parades.

You're gonna see turnips next to jack-o'-lanterns, so it's a very otherworldly experience.

(light music continues) (bright playful music) - [Narrator] Long before plastic pumpkins and polyester princesses became the modern face of Halloween, Ireland's ancestors had already mastered the ghostly art of guising where villagers would dress up as departed souls.

(bright playful music continues) - Guising is putting on a costume and going door to door, demanding food, drink, money, and it's fun.

I mean, these things are fun.

(laughing) (bright playful music continues) - You want to dress up to fool the spirits, but it's also a way for the community to come together as a whole.

- [Narrator] But the real genius of guising was how it turned necessity into revelry.

(bright playful music continues) - If you're from the poor end of the community, you need to go round your neighbours to collect food and drink so that you can celebrate the festival.

After all, the whole point of a festival is a feast, and to do it in fancy dress is an instant entertainment, and that's why disguising, from which we get the word guising, is at the basis of winter festivals.

(bright upbeat music continues) - [Narrator] The households that welcome these costumed visitors with generous offerings of food and drink could expect protection from the spirit world.

However, those stingy souls who spurned the performers risked invoking supernatural spite.

(light dramatic msic) Sound familiar?

(light cheerful music) - So you can see the beginnings of trick or treating in northwestern Europe, and you can say that there were 3.8 million Irish who came to the United States in the 1800s.

That's a lot of people who would've known this tradition of going house to house.

The idea was here, the folklore was here, but trick or treating in the United States didn't really happen until the 1940s and '50s.

(light cheerful music continues) - [Narrator] But when it finally did take off, it tapped into something psychologists now recognise as fundamentally important and something parents intuitively knew.

(light cheerful music continues) - There's studies that show that children whose families involve them in holiday celebrations are actually better adjusted.

They have better childhood memories, and they have happier childhood memories.

(bright spooky music) And this is something that most of us can relate to.

(bright spooky music continues) - [Narrator] Though sometimes our adult relationship with Halloween can be a little more complicated.

- You'll be like me, and you'll talk about your Halloween costume all year, change it so many times, that by the time Halloween finally rolls around, you're just gonna be a frigging cat again.

But I love people that really put a lot into their costumes.

It's pretty cool.

(bright upbeat music) I think it's really important.

I think it sustains us in so many ways, because life can be hard.

We need to have space and time to celebrate.

(bright spooky music) (gentle music) - [Narrator] But before Halloween became the pumpkin-filled spectacle we know today, the industrious Irish were originally carving a different vegetable altogether... The turnip.

(bright music) The tradition traces its roots back to the tale of Stingy Jack, a trickster who cheated the devil himself.

(bright theatrical music) So when Stingy Jack passed away, he was condemned to wander the earth with only a burning ember inside a carved-out turnip to light his way.

(bright theatrical music) (upbeat music) When waves of Irish immigrants arrived in America, they were determined to maintain their turnip tradition.

However, they soon discovered that local pumpkins were far more accommodating and prevalent.

- If you wanna stick a face or a pattern on the shell, then it's a lot easier to do it.

It's also bigger.

(bright theatrical music continues) So if you need to stick some things to your doorway, then a pumpkin is an absolutely ideal vegetable.

(bright theatrical music continues) - They're probably one of the more popular themes of Halloween.

Even a house that doesn't put up decorations, at the very least, they're either gonna have a pumpkin or a jack-o'-lantern to at least show that they're trying.

- [Narrator] It turned out to be one of the best cultural exports you could ask for, with the spectacular jack-o'-lantern now grinning from porches right across the world.

(bright dramatic music) (light airy music) That same spirit of Halloween evolution continues on today in the northern Irish city of Derry, which insists on being a little extra.

- In Derry itself, there is a a huge Halloween festival.

People travel from all over Ireland, all over Europe, to visit and take part in what is seen as the most traditional-linked Halloween festival in the world.

The feeling of the festival is celebration, but it has that overall macabre quality to it.

(bright theatrical music) - [Narrator] What makes it even more special is how deeply rooted it all is.

With the festival tracing its origins back thousands of years to the ancient Celtic celebration of Samhain.

(light music continues) - Samhain, which means summer's end was the time between summer and winter.

It was dangerous, it was cold.

And so there is a lot of mythology and pseudo history about Samhain that involves the other worlds being opened up and monsters that come out of it and inhabit the world of men.

It was a way to warn people, winter is coming.

It's gonna be dangerous, so beware, be prepared, be ready.

(light airy music) (upbeat music) - [Narrator] Today, Derry's Halloween celebrations mix old traditions with modern party energy... (upbeat energetic music) because as the Irish say, "Why just remember the dead when you can party with them?"

(gentle music) But perhaps the most ingenious Irish Halloween innovation of all, turning a dessert into a fortune-telling game.

Behold, the mystical barmbrack, a delicious fruit loaf that doubles as a crystal ball.

- Bread is the basic carbohydrate food of Europeans, and so it has a tremendous symbolic significance.

And divining by bread plugs into the fact that Halloween happens to be the greatest single night of the year for fortune telling, divination predicting the future in the traditional European calendar.

(elegant music) - [Narrator] Here's how it works.

Bakers hide all sorts of meaningful objects right into the dough before it goes into the oven, like rings, that predict upcoming marriages, or coins for future wealth.

(elegant music continues) But what really matters, isn't what's hidden in the barmbrack.

It's the specific time of year when you break it.

- That's largely because you're heading into the most worrying and scary of all seasons, which is winter, which has more dangers than any of the others in dark, and cold, and famine.

And so wanting to know what's gonna happen is more literally vital at that time of year than any other.

(elegant music continues) - [Narrator] It's all part of Ireland's great fortune-telling tradition, with the barmbrack bringing families together for generations, except those fighting over who actually found the marriage ring first.

(gentle music continues) (light music) Taking flight from ancient Derry, and chasing the golden hour across time zones and continents... (light chiming music) we arrive at the New England coastline where the town of Salem magically appears.

(light music continues) As night falls, this quaint pocket, with its tree-lined neighbourhoods, will reveal another side entirely as the curtain is drawn back on one of the darkest legacies in American history.

(light music) (light eerie music) (vocalist vocalising) When you think of witches, ghosts, and all things Halloween, there's really only one place that comes to mind, Salem, Massachusetts.

Salem earned its spooky reputation the hard way through one of the most sinister chapters in American history, the Salem witch trials.

(vocalist vocalising) (light music) - In 1692, there were two little girls who claimed to be pinched and bitten by invisible hands.

They accused a couple of women.

Those women were accused of witchcraft.

More girls joined in.

More accusations were made until family members were accusing each other, neighbours were accusing each other.

(suspenseful music) Over 1692, 14 women and five men were hanged for witchcraft.

One man was pressed to death.

(suspenseful music continues) You were damned if you do and damned if you don't.

Everyone believed in witchcraft, so if you said you didn't believe in witchcraft, you were accused as a witch.

If you confessed to witchcraft, you went to jail.

If you said, "No, I'm not a witch," you were hanged.

(suspenseful music continues) - [Narrator] But if you dig deeper, there are other monsters in the mix.

- It's important to remember that you need more than two young girls to start a mass hysteria to this level.

You need a doctor that's willing to diagnose witchcraft.

You need a minister that's willing to spark fear in the community saying that the devil is walking among them.

(sombre music) And you need magisters that are willing to take the law into such severe paths.

- [Narrator] Today, some think this campaign of terror had an ulterior motive all along.

- It's really the story of how dangerous it is to be a woman in this society, how it always has been.

(sombre music) A powerful woman, a woman that is independent, or thinks, or speaks differently than what is considered societally acceptable, is really considered dangerous by the institution's in power.

(suspenseful music) - [Narrator] But while the trials were tragic for those who lived through them, they made Salem, America's unofficial Halloween capital, forever linking the town with the supernatural in ways that draw visitors worldwide.

(suspenseful music) (bright music) Fast forward three centuries later, and today's Salem has successfully spun its sorrowful past into ghostly gold, transforming from a town, haunted by its history, into a self-proclaimed witch city.

(bright music) - There's definitely been a journey that Salem's been on.

Salem has kind of gone through various periods, and the modern-day Salem embraces its history, and it has a bit of a lighter aspect to it.

(bright music continues) - Salem on a grand fancy dress party scale with street decorations, store displays, all manner of festivity, homes-in on this basic Halloween trait of mocking the dark instead of fearing it or embracing it by dressing up as its creatures.

(bright music continues) (gentle music) - [Narrator] But it's crucial to remember what lies behind this newfound revelry.

- The foundation of all of that is really something tragic that happened to real people, so to take a time away from the festivities and remember that there is a tragedy that kind of made all of this come together, is very important.

(light music) - [Narrator] In a city where witch trials once brought persecution and pain, Salem is slowly, finally, reclaiming its story.

(light music) (ominous music) Moving away from Salem's rocky coastline, following the setting sun down the east coast, to Louisiana's sultry bayous, and the most haunted city in America, New Orleans.

(light suspenseful music) Here, the paranormal is woven into everyday life.

Halloween is not just a holiday, but an extension of the city's deep-rooted relationship with the dead.

(light music) (gentle music) - New Orleans does it like nobody else.

Known for its ghosts, it's suffered fires, malaria, pirates.

(gentle music continues) Just about any kind of difficulty that you can imagine for a city, happens in New Orleans.

(gentle music continues) (gentle upbeat music) - [Narrator] Perhaps the town's crown jewel of creepiness lies in its legendary Cities of the Dead, haunting above-ground cemeteries.

(light music) It's been said, that due to the city's swampy soil and relentless flooding, traditional burial was a complete washout with entire cemeteries starting to float during storms.

So the only way, was up.

- You have very elaborate mausoleums and you have very elaborate gravestones, so they invoke that side of the scary graveyard that we would probably associate with Halloween.

(light music continues) - They are a little bit creepy, but honestly, they are some of the most beautiful and peaceful locations in the city.

(light music continues) (sombre music) - [Narrator] But New Orleans' supernatural reputation goes far deeper than wayward corpses, because voodoo here runs in the veins.

While other cities might focus on costumes and candy, New Orleans takes things to a completely different spiritual level.

Tonight, on Halloween, modern voodoo practitioners pay special tribute to their most famous master... Marie Laveau, the legendary voodoo queen of New Orleans.

- Marie Laveau is a pretty iconic figure in New Orleans.

(sombre music continues) A lot of people lost their lives in very grizzly ways in her mansion, so it's really not shocking that people flock to it as one of the most haunted places in America.

(light music) - [Narrator] And her tomb, in St.

Louis Cemetery Number 1, remains one of the most visited sites on Halloween, where the queen still holds court, six feet above ground.

(light music continues) (bright music) (bright rhythmic music) But while the rest of America is content with doorbell ringing and candy-collecting on Halloween, New Orleans tonight, will get the full Mardi Gras treatment... (vocalists humming) Krewe, the Krewe of BOO.

(bright rhythmic music continues) - Since 2007, they've been the official Halloween parade of New Orleans.

You have a party city, a costume city, a music city.

It's perfect for Halloween.

- [Narrator] Giant papier mache monsters, fibreglass creatures, frock-topped revellers, and theatrical lighting.

It's pure New Orleans magic.

Here, in the so-called most haunted city in America, they don't just honour the dead, they throw them a parade.

(bright music) Launching off from the Louisiana wetlands... crossing the vast blue expanse of the Gulf... before descending into the darkening valley of Mexico City.

(bright rhythmic music continues) Tonight, locals and mystery-seekers will experience how this southern city has merged death and spirituality into a tourist mecca.

(bright rhythmic music continues) - Halloween in Mexico City is a very unique blend of local customs and modern Halloween traditions.

You have people walking around telling ghost stories with their faces painted as sugar skulls, horror reenactments.

It's a very otherworldly experience.

(bright rhythmic music continues) (bright melodic music) - [Narrator] But this isn't new.

Long before the Spanish arrived, the Aztecs held elaborate festivals for the Lady of the Dead, the skeleton figure seen throughout Mexico.

(bright music continues) - The Aztecs regarded the skeletal human body, and especially the skull, as an enormously important symbol of divinity, mortality, and humanity.

(bright music continues) - When you see Day of the Dead images, they're skeletons, and they're doing the things that we would normally do.

They're baking, they're raking, they're cooking, they're farming, they're digging.

So it's a way of saying the only difference between us and the skeleton, is really time.

(bright music continues) - [Narrator] So when Halloween appeared on the scene, it found fertile ground in cosmopolitan, Mexico City, with younger people drawn to its playful pranks.

(bright music continues) (screen whooshes) (melodic music) But it's the Day of the Dead that really ignites the spirit, beginning with decorations that look worlds away from your typical horror themes.

- Something that's also unique to Mexico is how vibrant and colourful the celebrations are.

(bright melodic music continues) It feels uniquely its own.

(bright melodic music continues) - [Narrator] Papel picado, or pecked paper, consists of tissue paper intricately cut with decorative patterns and designs.

(bright melodic music continues) At first glance, these delicate pieces look as pretty as spring flowers.

(bright melodic music continues) But look closer and you'll discover something surprising.

As official Day of the Dead decorations, these intricate lacework patterns actually depict skulls, skeletons, and all things deathly.

(bright melodic music continues) Traditionally draped over altars and grave sites, these banners are designed to flutter in the wind with the belief that spirits can travel through the holes.

(light music) (gentle ethereal music) During this sacred time, family members visit cemeteries to clean and decorate the graves of relatives, adorning them with marigolds and candles... (gentle music continues) while bringing offerings of food, drink, and precious objects that belong to their loved ones.

It's an atmosphere of joy and remembrance as families sing songs and tell cherished stories, transforming the cemetery into a place where death is celebrated, not feared.

(gentle upbeat music) (gentle ethereal music) (screen whooshes) (rhythmic music) However, it's across town, at the Mercado de Sonora, Mexico's famous witchcraft market where you can seriously get your witch on.

(rhythmic music continues) - In the modern Mexican witches market, you can obtain a whole range of magical remedies to help people, especially in healing processes.

So this represents the other, the acceptable, the benevolent face of witchcraft, the ability of humans to manipulate archiac powers to help others.

(rhythmic suspenseful music) - Potions and pills, and herbs and things are sold for all sorts of ailments and all sorts of needs, like love spells or jealousy spells.

(sombre music) (upbeat energetic music) - [Narrator] And tonight, this magical energy will fill every corner, proving Halloween in Mexico is a masterclass in cultural diplomacy, where ghouls and Day of the Dead Spirits show living proof.

When it comes to throwing a good fiesta, death really is just the beginning.

(upbeat energetic music) (bright music) So what makes Halloween so frightfully appealing as these spooky celebrations spread across the globe?

(bright music continues) Ultimately, it's our escape from everyday anxieties, social expectations, and adult responsibilities, all by donning a costume.

(gentle music) But it's not just about personal transformation, it's about different cultures, reshaping this ancient tradition to fit their own needs, creating instant community in the process.

- It's a way to be with your tribe.

If you love Halloween, you're gonna find nothing but like-minded people in the streets, and it's group glee, you know?

Everybody loves it.

Everybody loves each other.

It's the place that you go.

(bright music) (screen whooshes) - I love watching these traditions get passed on, and on, and on.

(bright dramatic music) Truly, for the sake of human joy, of creating space for your kids to have fun, for you to have fun as a grownup.

(bright music continues) - [Narrator] And this is why Halloween is one of the world's greatest holiday celebrations.

It's never really been about our fears.

It's about our need to face the unknown together... laugh together... (gentle music continues) and ask for candy while we're doing it.

Long live Halloween.

(screen whooshes) Sleep tight.

(bright music)