“Yup, I was the Christian kid. I, myself, was never religious, but that didn’t matter because of my parents. That said, I think ‘Hallelujah parties’ are lit.”

Halloween may be a night for tricks, treats, and ghouls for most kids, but it meant an entirely different kind of celebration for those growing up in the Black church. In his essay for Momentum’s Halloween While Black series, Isaiah McCall writes about going to “Hallelujah parties” and dressing up as Moses while his friends donned Marvel superhero getups.

Read McCall’s essay in its entirety below.

My Family Didn’t Celebrate Halloween — We Had Hallelujah Parties Instead