Some things have changed over the years with Halloween and some haven’t. Kids still love going out and getting a big bag of candy. I did, my kid did, and there were kids at our door doing just that tonight, but not as many as we had the previous year.
Other numbers were down, too. I’d estimate we saw maybe a quarter of the Halloween decorations out in front of homes this year, way fewer from the previous year. I have no idea why. Possibly because the cost of candy is waaaaaay up and a lot of people just can’t afford to hand it out right now? Putting out candy invites trick or treaters you have no treats for.
In any case, Halloween had the feel of being a rather muted affair in 2024. I think I only heard one group of kids shout trick or treat when they rolled up. I haven’t heard anyone shout Halloween apples since I was a trick or treater myself. Most of the kids meekly rang the bell. One little fairy waived her wand at my wife and told her she was turning her into a beautiful butterfly, which was adorable.
I spent some time this past week trying to dig up what memories I could of my own Halloweens as a kid for my daughter, but there wasn’t as much as I thought there would be. I know my first costume was a fuzzy puppy costume when I was about four and I remember being furious over it because I am a cat person goddamit. I was an ailurophile at age four and I am now. A dog costume was just wrong. I remember getting a good slap on the arse from my mom, which was the end of the tantrum, and then all was good because I had candy. Candy was something that didn’t happen often in our home.
The first outfit I remember picking myself was a Dracula vampire mask and cape. It was one of those nasty plastic masks held on by the elastic string that went around the back of your head and the thin plastic printed “costume” that went over the winter clothing Canadian kids have to wear on October 31st so we don’t freeze to death. I was excited about it until I had to wear it and discovered how itchy and uncomfortable the mask was and how it dangerously limited your vision so you couldn’t see oncoming cars when you crossed the street. I soldiered on until mom took me home because candy.
I do remember the first time an older kid tried to steal my candy. It happened about a block from the old Sunnyside Greenhouses (now gone) in Bowness in Calgary. The owners of the greenhouses gave out cans of pop, which were treasured, and probably why the teen thieves were targeting the area. I was about ten and dressed as Darth Vader like half the other kids my age when a teen tried to rip my bag of candy away.
Yeah, nice try dude. My bag was a pillow case and I had a good grip on it. I got dragged a fair distance, which shredded my plastic costume. I also got kicked in the head a few times to make me let go and while I had black eyes and a swollen nose and cheeks after, I hung on. The teen eff-bombed me and ran off, frustrated. I was sore and bleeding but I managed to get another hour of trick or treating in. It turns out that obviously having been beaten up so you’re bloodied, with a torn costume and broken Vader mask is good for lots of extra sympathy candy. Um, score?
Most of the rest of my Halloweens were unremarkable and I don’t recall much about them. I know around age thirteen I became too “cool” to trick or treat. It was about this time I really got into horror movies and it was more fun to sit at home and watch Jamie Lee Curtis get chased around with a knife during the annual horror movie marathon on 2&7 Television every All Hallows Eve.
We did watch a horror movie this evening as a family and it was Blair Witch Project. We also watched Hotel Transylvania, but it’s not so much a horror movie as a horrible movie. Adam Sandler. Blargh.
I’ll have to introduce my daughter to Jamie Lee next year as she’s overdue.
Images courtesy of my Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra.
