Summary
- In the future depicted in Star Trek, not all civilizations and cultures celebrate Halloween, and many holidays from Earth's present have fallen out of favor by the 23rd and 24th centuries.
- While some Star Trek episodes have Halloween themes and references, it is not a widely acknowledged holiday within Starfleet or the Federation.
- However, Star Trek has featured many creepy and unsettling episodes perfect for Halloween viewing, showcasing the franchise's embrace of the horror genre. Some Starfleet officers still keep Halloween traditions alive even in the 24th century.
Some people in Star Trek's future celebrate Halloween, but others have never even heard of the spooky holiday. Because of the many different civilizations and cultures represented within the United Federation of Planets, it would be impossible for Starfleet to acknowledge every holiday. By the 23rd and 24th centuries, many of the holidays celebrated on Earth today seem to have fallen out of favor. While individual officers could likely choose to celebrate holidays if they wished, very few of them are celebrated by all of Starfleet or all of the Federation.
Although some starships celebrate holidays like First Contact Day and Captain Picard Day, they do not often mention classic holidays like Halloween or Christmas. Star Trek: The Original Series did air a Halloween-themed episode in October of 1967, (season 2's "Catspaw") in which Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and the Enterprise crew find themselves on a mysterious and spooky planet. Although Kirk knows of Halloween, it does not appear to be a holiday that is widely celebrated by the humans of the 23rd century.
