Should Christians celebrate Halloween?

Every year Halloween rolls around, there are competing posts on whether or not Christian parents should celebrate Halloween. (By "should," I don't mean to suggest that Christian parents have any sort of duty to celebrate Halloween. Rather, it's a question of whether that's morally or theologically permissible.)

i) Let's begin with a bad reason to oppose Halloween. Some opponents invariably resort to a history lesson. They contend that Halloween is discredited by its allegedly pagan or Catholic origins. 

Ironically, that's a superstitious objection to Halloween. Christians who deploy this objection act as though the historical origins of a current practice cast a spell over the practice. As if the modern-day observance of Halloween is hexed or cursed by something that happened in the distant past. They resort to a superstitious rationale to oppose superstition. Somehow the past exerts a malign, invisible influence on the present–reaching out from the grave. But if you think a jack-o'-lantern is demonic, aren't you yourself buying into a pagan outlook? If you allow yourself to be spooked (pun intended) by ancient associations, aren't you guilty of the same mentality you profess to deplore? The devil is real, but a pumpkin is not the devil in disguise. 

The only relevant consideration in assessing Halloween is how it's practiced and understood today. What it means to current celebrants, not long-dead celebrants. 

Incidentally, I notice that popular articles about the allegedly pagan roots of Halloween aren't written by historians. They lack documentation. Different articles reproduce the same catch phrases, same stock examples. So this is a thirdhand narrative that gets copied and recopied.  

ii) Some Christians oppose Halloween because of the occultic elements. They quote OT prohibitions against witches and necromancy. That objection has more potential merit, but it needs to be sifted.

a) We're dealing with Hollywood make-believe "ghosts" and "witches." Don't confuse fantasy with reality. Don't correlate OT prohibitions with something that isn't the same thing. 

b) At the same time, by glamorizing the occult, Hollywood is lowering resistance to the real thing. So it might be prudent to avoid Halloween costumes of ghosts and witches.

c) Horror films have also spawned vampires, werewolves, mummies, and zombies. Unlike witches, devils, and ghosts, this are purely fictional characters. It's "occultic" in the Hollywood sense, not the Biblical sense. You might object to it on the grounds that it's decadent. But that's a different kind of objection. Same thing with serial killer costumes. It's morally dubious, but not occultic. 

iii) Little boys dressing up as comic book superheroes, or little girls dressing up as a Disney princesses, has nothing to do with the occult. So let's be discriminating about different types of costumes.

iv) Some churches host Halloween parties, to preserve the celebration, but avoid the occultic detritus. That's one reasonable compromise. 

Some churches host Hell House mockups. but that's so campy that it backfires.

v) You could also oppose Halloween on economic grounds, viz. it's a waste of money to buy loads of overpriced candy. 

vi) Christian parents need to pick their battles with discernment. There are kids who turn their back on the faith because their parents were legalistic killjoys who refused harmless recreation. Make sure you draw the line where it matters. Don't mistake appearances with genuine piety.