Finished Death Makes a Holiday: A Cultural History of Halloween, by David J. Skal. The author doesn't spend too much time with the historical origins of the holiday but instead devotes the bulk of the book to urban legends of "candy terrorism" (razor blades in apples, drug-tainted candy) in trick-or-treating, the commercialization and coporatization of Halloween, the adoption of the holiday in the 60s and 70s by homosexuals in San Francisco as a chance to cut loose (and the subsequent backlash), and the religious right's attempts to ban the holiday or use it to proselytize through "Hell Houses", a concept that is alternately hilarious and infuriating.

Overall, an interesting book. That's two books on Halloween in a row for me - I think I'm set until October ;)

Cross posted to booktards