Hollow Halloween
Call me a basic witch, but I’ve been enamoured with Halloween since childhood. This is the season that showed me how to transform. It gave me the best cartoon specials, the craziest decorations, Ginger Snaps, an infatuation with true crime, and a license to embrace weird. Halloween fully nurtured my ability to be simultaneously sardonic and spirited. When else can you share a graphic story about the Salem witch trials and hand out candy to toddlers dressed up like tiny bugs?
Depressingly, Halloween looks like it might be 6 feet under this year, and my joy for the season is at an all time low. It doesn't help that this year has already been a nightmare. The new scariest day of the year is the American election, so what can we possibly do to spook each other on October 31st? The unimaginable is happening as I type, and we’re practically living in a horror movie as it is.
Besides the campy aesthetic, I love Halloween because it’s the only holiday designed to push the limits of creativity. From costumes, to decor, Halloween is built on stretching imaginations. You can be silly, scary, cute - whichever way inspires you to dress up or create. For Halloween night, whole neighbourhoods become magical strips of candy, screams, and originality. I remember neighbours jumping out when kids walked by and having smoking cauldrons behind their front doors.
Fun transcends age for October 31st.
Look we love Santa, but we all know he’s a little ageist. When did he last leave you a present?
This year we may be missing the usual charm and charms, but it can also push us to think outside the coffin a little more. All that said, I thought I'd give us all a small break from my usual content to focus on fright-night fun. Here are some suggestions to keep the celebrations alive for a COVID-infested Halloween.
Once in a Blue Moon
Naturally this year was primed to be the most perfect Halloween ever. I can't get into any solutions without taking a moment to recognize how much of a bummer it is that we're missing 2020 in particular.
Not only is the 31st on a Saturday, but it's also a blue moon. For those who don't dabble in moon cycles, a blue moon is when a SECOND full moon occurs in a month.
That's double the spooky.
Like the expression indicates, blue moons don't come around very often. It won't be another 19 years until we see one on Halloween, and by then who knows what dystopic hell scape we'll be living in. Robots maybe?
All things considered, I can't even be mad that we're missing our normal year of frightful festivities. If there was ever going to be a perfect Halloween, it would be inevitably also be cursed. Let's get something straight: we’re missing this year because of a borderline apocalypse, which is pretty on-brand for the scariest day of the year.
And don’t for a second think that a blue moon won’t have the weirdos running around en masse. Brace yourselves.
Ghost Town
As we approach Halloween night, it's becoming clear that the streets will be as empty as the candy pales. Trick-or-treating is ill-advised in a global pandemic for obvious reasons, but there's always a bright light to walk towards.
Masks, for example, are primed to be costume enhancers.
And people are stepping up to find solutions. Nestlé, for instance, is running a Canada-wide Red Pumpkin Project that helps kids and houses identify as COVID guideline compliant. Their downloadable red pumpkins can be put on your door to let tiny ghouls know you’re ready to participate safely. Like the Unicef box before them, they have smaller red pumpkins that are primed to ruin thousands of kids' costumes.
Nestlé also suggests some best practices to maintain distance. For example, keeping a table outside to separate yourself from children and planning ahead with neighbours to see who will be participating. I mean how much candy do you buy when trick-or-treating is practically outlawed?
Alternatively, the CDC suggests running a Halloween scavenger hunt in lieu of trick-or-treating, but, honestly, how bleak. They actually use the words, “..admiring Halloween decorations at a distance,” as if we can convince kids that Halloween is like a neighbourhood open-house.
While the Red Pumpkin Project is a decent middle ground between abolishing the day and risking the pandemic, below are some of my favourite kid-friendly ideas for the night of:
Street costume parade - if you're up to coordinating with neighbours.
Hide candy in a 'front yard graveyard' for kids to find (or dig up if you're feeling extra twisted). You can even space them out by tombstones to keep the distance.
Reverse Trick-Or-Treating, where you dress up to drop off bags of candy to family and friends (from a distance, of course).
A hands free candy delivery system (like this ingenious tube, a pulley system, or, as one of my friends suggested, a barrel of monkeys.)
Have a creepy feast for dinner. The gorier looking, the better (recipe inspo here).
Run an at home candy taste test
Create an escape room or haunted house where you pretend you're trapped inside because of a virus... shouldn't take a ton of imagination.
Whatever you decide to do, stay sexy and don't catch COVID.
28 Days Later
In my mind, Halloween doesn’t have to be limited to one evening of strangers handing out candy. The spooky festivities can span way longer if we let them. Why limit a good thing? We turn our Christmas music on in November, so let's give a little love to the demon season.
The most horrifying suggestion I've seen is the "Doll in the Hall," which is essentially the evil version of "Elf on the Shelf". Not that the "Elf on the Shelf" is exactly wholesome... That trend went wild, and now no child is growing up unscathed by the fear of their own toys reporting them to Santa. It will be a whole generation filled with Catholic guilt regardless of whether or not they're Catholic.
The "Doll in the Hall" trend is the same deal, but with no discernible purpose except to scare. The premise is this: move a doll around the house to freak out your children. Or spouse, if they scare easy.
Similarly, the notion of a Halloween Spirit has peppered the mommy-blogger community. This idea is to create a tradition of a friendly October ghost who leaves candy around the house. The best part if you can earn 'spirit points' by decorating, wearing costumes, and fully embracing the Halloween spirit. The more points, the more candy is left behind.
It's a cute idea, and at least something that doesn't involve getting too close to strangers' doors. That said, if there’s one holiday where I don’t want something breaking into my home, it’s Halloween.
A more heart-warming tradition is 'Booing', which has apparently been a Halloween ritual since the 1980s. Starting in September, the point is to spread Halloween cheer as far as possible in the cutest multi-level marketing scheme I've ever heard of. Families sneak bags of candy onto their neighbours' doorsteps with a note saying "You've Been Booed!". Once "booed" each new victim has 2 days to "boo" two other houses and hang a paper ghost in their window to show that they've already been hit.
A lot of you can expect packages from me next year....
None of these ideas are the same thrill as Halloween night, but at least they add a little magic. And really, all the best parts of childhood involve magic. Dark or otherwise.
Ghouls Out
Like I said, the best part of Halloween is the creativity it inspires. I learnt how to nurture my humour with costumes. Punny outfits became my Halloween specialty as a pre-teen, and in university I built a reputation on dressing up.
Growing up though, I had "Black and Orange Day" at school. Kindergarteners were the only ones allowed to wear costumes, and they did a parade for the rest of the school.
Once again, ageist.
My parents are both teachers, and I asked them about the rationale. According to my mom, the main motivation is to prevent kids from losing bits and pieces of their costumes. That, and costumes are also a pretty big distraction from teaching. I can’t imagine a lot of work gets done by the werewolves in the back of the class....
In middle and high school dressing up became the norm, but finding costumes that are comfortable and appropriate for school is a trick in and of itself. School dress codes are notoriously sexist, and the sense of humour is usually lacking. Plus God forbid you wore the same outfit to a party that evening. It was just more effort than it was worth.
That said, the joy of wearing costumes shouldn't be overlooked. Studies show that having fun in school is one of the best ways to encourage learning. And you know what’s not fun? This year. Sitting in a classroom, unable to play with your friends, covering your face with a mask. If there was ever a time to inject some positivity into a school setting, it’s this year.
Children’s mental health in general is a crapshoot as far as I understand it. Hormones are pumping, and the little ones are just trying to understand the world they live in. Imagine this being the backdrop to your childhood. If we can add even a little bit of fun, isn't it worth it? I hope every kid has a chance to wear something goofy on Friday the 30th and with a lot less restriction.
Screw "Black and Orange Day." Who even wants that? We already have to change so much about this year, why put limitations on excitement.
Moreover, I hope all of you non-kids take a moment to have some fun of your own. I know I will be logging into my Teams meetings with a costume. Anything to liven up work from home.
If you've been making sourdough this whole time, maybe it's a good idea to focus on a costume for a change.
Some classic childhood costumes…
Scream Queen
It might not seem like the scary holiday is the best one to inspire fun, but there's more to it than that. Beyond the creativity, it's also an event to look forward to. Something we don't have enough of these days. A lot of us are struggling, and there's only much magic we can inspire before winter rolls around (Boo to that!).
My first year in Toronto I lived alone. Adjusting to a new city takes time, and I hadn’t built up the friend circle I needed for my usual Halloween antics. As it turns out, I happened to be living on one of the busiest trick-or-treating streets in Greek Town. I was truly blessed by the October demons.
Without a little Halloween cheer, I'm not sure I would have been able to envision myself in the city long term. Walking up and down my street that night felt familiar, even if it was an entirely new place. Joy has an ability to ground you wherever you are.
No matter what restrictions we have, let's try to push our creativity this Halloween. We could all use a bit of spirit and spirits. This year we may have to force the fun a little more, but I know it will be will be worth it. Even if only for something to do.
