In Pictures: Halloween celebrations around the world amid COVID-19 pandemic

In a year when fear and death have commandeered front-row seats in American life, what does it mean to encounter Halloween, a holiday whose very existence hinges on turning fear and death into entertainment? Here’s a look at the spooky frights from a safe distance as people celebrate Halloween amid a pandemic. (Image: AP)

A man walks past a large face mask hanging over pumpkins in front of a house during the coronavirus pandemic in San Francisco. (Image: AP)

Online clothes seller Kanittha Thongnak applies zombie makeup before she starts live-streaming selling dead people's clothes in Bangkok, Thailand, October 10. (Image: Reuters)

Children dressed as U.S. President Donald Trump and U.S. first lady Melania Trump attend a Halloween event hosted by President Trump and the first lady at the White House in Washington, U.S., October 25. (Image: Reuters)

The coming Halloween holiday and US election, and the coronavirus pandemic are combined in a "VOTE" message outside a home, on October 26 in Los Angeles. (Image: AP)

Carol McCarthy is seen behind Halloween decorations that are holding hand sanitizer at her home on October 26 in Palmyra, N.J. (Image: AP)

Carol McCarthy sends candy down the candy chute that she will use to give out treats to socially-distant trick-or-treaters on Halloween on October 26 in Palmyra, N.J. (Image: AP)

Halloween decorations and support for US President Donald Trump is seen in the front of supporter Maranda Joseph's yard on October 2 in Warren, Ohio, US. (Image: Reuters)

Julie Schirmer sits at her home in Columbus, Ohio, on October 24, 2020, with the decorated slingshot she’ll use to deliver bagged, sanitized candy bars on Halloween. The favorite American festivity of Halloween trick-or-treating is being tested by the pandemic, and people are rising to the challenge in creative ways that are both safe and fun. (Image: AP)

Coronavirus-themed Halloween decorations are displayed on a lawn in Tenafly, N.J. (Image: AP)

A vehicle drives through a "HAUNT'OWEEN LA" Halloween drive-through experience on October 8 in Woodland Hills, California, US. (Image: Reuters)

Venus Cobb performs in Horrorwood Video, an immersive drive-in theatre experience as the theatre finds a way to continue to perform amid the COVID-19 restrictions, at Majestic Repertory Theatre in downtown on October 26 Las Vegas, Nevada, US. (Image: Reuters)

Seated beside a Halloween skeleton, a woman talks with a neighbor as she waits for U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden to emerge from St. Ann's Church on October 11 in Wilmington, Delaware, US. (Image: Reuters)