The Two Faces of Halloween Instead of trick or treating, going to parties, or watching scary movies, I decided to spend my last Halloween painting. As soon as I read the description for this scholarship, the idea slapped me in the face. While I might not be the most talented artist in the world, I hope you enjoy the meaning and love I put behind every stroke. The inspiration behind my painting came from the contrast between what Halloween used to be and what it has become. I wanted to create a true mashup between two completely different versions of the same holiday—one sacred and spiritual, the other hollow and commercial. Together, they show how the meaning of Halloween has transformed over time, and how fear itself has changed with it. The right side represents the origins of the holiday: Samhain, an ancient Gaelic tradition that marked the boundary between the living and the dead. I painted a Gaelic woman standing before a sacred fire, guiding souls as they pass from one world to the next. The moon shines brightly above her, lighting up the sky where spirits dance peacefully. This side is filled with warmth, color, and energy. It reflects a time when people viewed death not as something to fear, but as something to honor. The left side shows the Halloween we know today. The girl I painted here is “Momo,” a viral figure who terrified me when I was younger and who perfectly represents the modern face of fear—empty, grotesque, and meaningless. The devilish fingers resting on her shoulder show how the spiritual side of the holiday has been replaced by darkness and shock. Her pale skin and nudity represent the shamelessness of today’s consumer culture, where fear is sold and repackaged every year. The dark sky behind her shows what Halloween has lost: connection, reverence, and purpose. By merging these two faces into one, I wanted to create a visual collision of past and present—a mashup between meaning and emptiness, reverence and spectacle, life and death.