”Here in the night, even the ordinary becomes ominous.”
The day is ugly, dark and damp. It rained during the night. The high for today will be 57° but with the dampness it feels colder, chillier. I will hunker down today. I have a couple of house chores.
When I was a kid, Halloween planning started early. The big dilemma was what to wear. Some kids wore costumes from Woolworth’s. They were one piece with a tie on the top back. On the front was an imprinted creature like a skeleton. They came with a plastic mask which had an elastic to go around your head. The elastic broke easily and wearing one got your face really hot and sweaty. We never had bought costumes, only sometimes bought masks. My mother created our costumes from stuff around the house. Hobos were easy. A pair of jeans and a flannel shirt were perfect. Carrying a stick with a bindle (not a bundle) at the end was the big prop. My mother blacked our faces so we looked as if we needed a shave. We each carried a bucket for the goods. A ghost was just a sheet with eye holes. A cowboy hat and a neckerchief went with that flannel shirt and jeans and presto you were a cowboy. My sister sometimes wore her dance costumes.
We wanted to start trick or treating early, but my mother had us wait until she saw the first trick or treater. My sisters, being younger, stayed around the neighborhood. My brother and I ranged far. We knew the best houses, the ones which handed out nickel bars. The houses handing out apples and popcorn balls were ignore. Many houses handed out pieces of candy in little bundles of Halloween paper twisted at the top.
Halloween night always seemed a bit eerie. I was out in the dark, an odd occurrence for me. There were streetlights and house lights but they made for shadows. As we walked, we all talked in whispers. The night seemed to demand it. At each house, we held out our bags and said trick or treat. We always got treats.
The mouse count is now three. One was added last night.
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October 31, 2025 at 8:56 am
Halloween wasn’t a thing where I grew up in northern England. We did have bonfire night, 5 November. This was a major event in our childhood calendar. Nowadays Halloween is well established and bonfire night, aka plot night, or Guy Fawkes night, is rather out of fashion.
October 31, 2025 at 11:39 am
Each year I seem to get more and more kids. I do give out great candy so maybe the word has spread. For a while Halloween wasn’t as popular here but now it is back to being a big thing again. Yards are decorated and people have lights around the house It is fun.
October 31, 2025 at 12:17 pm
A lot of houses here too are as you describe. After the big night, we see discarded pumpkins here and there. I caught an interview on Times Radio with a woman in Sleepy Hollow. She expects to give out in excess of 100 treats! I suspect it is much safer for children now. When we had bonfire nights there were often cases of kids getting burn injuries from fireworks or the actual fires. I witnessed a few. Also, family pets, particularly dogs, can become vey stressed by the loud bangs from some fireworks.
October 31, 2025 at 3:04 pm
Peter,
My mother used to get 40 or 5o kids. My sister who lived around the corner from her got 10 or 20. It is a bit weird. My street has mostly retired people. The kids in one house are now old. Only 1 goes trick or treating, but there are plenty of kids in the streets behind me. My dogs don’t mind fireworks or thunder. Only my very first dog was afraid.
October 31, 2025 at 3:11 pm
In our neighbourhood, there are some people who delight in setting off banger fireworks which are excessively loud. Ellie, our dog, is not affected by such noises. When she was a puppy I played a YouTube video of noisy fireworks. Fortunately, she seems unaffected by the real thing.
October 31, 2025 at 6:28 pm
We get the fireworks around July 4th, days before and days after. Neither dog pays attention. I’m glad for that!
October 31, 2025 at 6:45 pm
Peter,
I bought sugar pumpkins which can be used in cooking. Any other pumpkins for the step decorations get tossed in the garden when they start rotting. The spawns find them and they fertilize my soil.