We are officially in the month of October, which means that we have now entered the Halloween season. Among the many fun Halloween activities and traditions, there are Haunted Houses, scary stories and of course, Trick-or-Treating! Trick-or-Treating has been popular, particularly among children for many years (although it’s not totally wrong to do so if you’re older), by allowing them to wear a costume of a preferred character of theirs and head to other houses in a neighborhood to get candy on Halloween night. Although Trick-or-Treating had remained a popular Halloween tradition for many years, over the more recent years, it has seen a major decline in popularity. Even though it seems kind of old news to say this nowadays, a major factor for the decline was indeed the COVID pandemic, but it’s also a shift in interest towards other Halloween night activities.
But the real question is, do I, a 17 year-old, still Trick-or-Treat nowadays? Well, I wouldn’t really say yes, because it’s not something I do on a yearly basis and I have skipped it for many years by now, but I also can’t really say no because of one event I was part of that was based on trick-or-treating. Last year, I headed over to a mall on Halloween night to play a part in a trick-or-treating event where several of the mall tenants had employees out with little Halloween baskets filled with candies for those who dressed up to get one. Many people who took part in that event were there in a costume (myself included!). Now, I had trick-or-treated before this, but the last time I had actually done so before this was in 2015. After that, I had dressed up and been part of a few school Halloween parades and done a few other Halloween activities, I just never went trick or treating until I went to that mall event last year. Having done the mall trick-or-treating last year doesn’t seem to be a fluke either, because this year, the Natick Mall is doing something similar, and if I have the time, I might try to be a part of that.
A good question is, do I think that trick-or-treating is a Halloween tradition or has it grown outdated? When you think about it, the idea of dressing up in a costume and going to someone else’s house to literally ask for candy definitely sounds strange. But the fact that many kids in neighborhoods dress up in costumes and go to the houses all around the neighborhoods makes it seem much less strange knowing that it’s not just a singular person doing this. The trick-or-treating tradition has also been extended past just the neighborhood as there’s also trunk-or-treating, which has churches unite with people decorating their car trunks to Halloween themes and kids (and others who choose to participate) collecting candies and other treats from these decorated car trunks. In addition, trick-or-treating activities have moved past neighborhoods as places like malls also host these activities, like the one I participated in last year. Overall, it does sound kind of strange when explained poorly or out of context, but I don’t really consider trick-or-treating to be outdated, especially with other activities bringing this tradition to other places for the kiddos to enjoy. In conclusion, I think trick-or-treating will continue to live as a family-friendly Halloween tradition for years to come.
