#dayofthedead

Day of the Dead

The Day of the Dead, known in Spanish as Día de los Muertos, is a holiday that celebrates life and honors the dead through traditions, food, decorations, and activities intended to sustain the connections between the living and the dead. The Day of the Dead originated in Mexico and is celebrated around the world, beginning on the last days of October and concluding in early November, contrary to the singular "day" implied by its name. While some recognize this celebration as a time of playful skeletons, colorful papel picados ("perforated paper"), and candlelit graveyards, it has been observed in some form throughout Mexico for over 3000 years, and its traditions are as varied as the people who celebrate it.

Celebrating the Day of the Dead

In her book Celebrating Latino Folklore: An Encyclopedia of Cultural Traditions, María Herrera-Sobek writes that "The Day of the Dead marks the one time during the year when the dead may return, if only for a few hours, to visit their loved ones and to enjoy the pleasures they had known in life" (403). Festivities often begin on the evening of 31 October and conclude on 2 November, but some rural communities in Mexico begin their observance as early as 27 October, when those deceased without families or friends can find sustenance for their souls in the form of crusts of bread and water vessels hung outside of homes. In these communities, even the unknown are not forgotten.

On the next day, celebrants accommodate the souls of those who died violent deaths, and who might be viewed as malevolent spirits:

These fears stem from Aztec beliefs that the quality of our afterlives is dictated by the manner in which we die, not the manner in which we lived. For this reason, those souls who died by accident, murder, or other violent means are offered sustenance at a safe distance.

(Herrera-Sobek, 404)

30 and 31 October mark the days when communities commemorate and welcome back the souls of children, those who died before being baptized and after baptism, respectively. On 1 November, the souls of the adult dead are welcomed back by their families. These loved ones, sometimes known as the 'Faithful Dead', are welcomed back with ringing church bells and home ofrendas, where their family members await. During the days of the festival, families tend to the gravesites of their loved ones. Celebrants clean, repair, and decorate graves, bring and share food, light candles, and sometimes play or enjoy music in the cemeteries. The festivities conclude at dusk on 2 November, when the dead still lingering among the living make their way back to the afterlife, sometimes with the aid of masked 'mummers' tasked with frightening away the souls who might dawdle in the world of the living.

During each day of the celebration, as souls are welcomed, the living create ofrendas, where they display food, flowers, and visual art, often including scenes or iconography with skulls and skeletons, to help them connect with and provide sustenance for the souls of the dead.

Read More

A peek at the collection I will have posted on my Patreon. Please consider supporting me.

Hallow's End is nigh! The veil between the worlds of the living and the dead is starting to thin, and there are strange happenings on Azeroth - Okay, stranger than usual. This is a time to pay your respects to lost loved ones, go on midnight adventures to Duskwood, or even travel across Azeroth (or other worlds if you dare) for treats and maybe even some tricks. Join us in experiencing Hallow's End through the eyes of Mathias Shaw and Flynn Fairwind in the Fairshaw Spooktacular 2025 event! Write short stories or long tales, scribbles to fully rendered art, it doesn't matter, as all artistic expression is welcome. No fic is too short or art unfinished.

This year, we are mixing things up with a Bingo event. The only rule? No Rules! You can use the spinning wheel to play bingo or pick and choose which prompts you'd like to do. Do as many prompts as you like, be it one or all twenty-five!

The event runs from October 6th to November 2nd, covering both Hallow's End and Day of the Dead.

Tag your works on Ao3 and Tumblr with #fairshawspooktacular2025 and add your work on Ao3 to the collection FairshawSpooktacular2025.

A big thank you to @boilingheart and @panfaristo for their art contributions to this event.

Another big thank you to those in the community who helped provide prompts for this year!

We can't wait to see what everyone comes up with this year! Links:

When they say love is to die for... I take it literally! 💀🌹 Serving pure Psychobilly realness with this hauntingly beautiful piece.

Because sometimes love hits different when you're already dead inside! Who needs a beating heart when you've got red roses and a killer aesthetic? 🖤