Halloween Reinvented

When I grew up (no, it’s not one of those “when I grew up” rants), we’d hack together costumes out of sheets, face paint, cardboard and tinfoil, roam door-to-door in packs and collect candy that wasn’t good for us. At the end of the night, we’d dump our loot-filled pillowcases on the floor and tumble into a frantic, sugar-fueled swap session, with the odd kid who liked licorice quickly cornering a lonely market.

Then, as they do, things changed: plastic replaced papier mache, corn syrup replaced sugar, food-grade paraffin replaced chocolate. We went from the peanut allergy kid being someone you once heard about to the risk of anaphylactic shock hovering in every classroom.

But it’s OK, Halloween has been evolving and changing forever. For a while, you could count on getting candy apples and popcorn balls in your bag, until (probably unfounded) fear of razor blades raised wrapped candy bars from an option to a mandate. (Convenient for the candy industry, neh?)

For the (growing) number of kids who can’t consume the common candies, think about handing out an alternative to the bite-size snickers¹. Perhaps (dare I say it?), something unwrapped and home-made! Plate of cookies, home made brownies?

Or Mark Sparrow sparrow offers a recipe:

It’ll soon be Halloween so time to prepare some yummy treats for the neighbourhood kids. Try dipping Brussels sprouts in chocolate for them. pic.twitter.com/HFXGA9vFSV

— Mark Sparrow (@MarkGSparrow) October 24, 2016

More kindly, you could offer super balls, colored pencils or crayons, small toys, kazoos, or glow sticks.(Archie McPhee is your friend!) Not so much that I have a beef with sugar (though it has a shady history), it’s the kids who just can’t.

Or go big with a mini-haunted house or a garage door lounge sidewalk street party, and some music maybe.

Kate, at right, turned it out last year with gluhwein and a welcoming stop on 4th Ave NE below 44th. Flip and crew at 2506 NE 42nd St always have some fun set out, and I heard there’s a Willy Wonka something at Woodland Park and N 42nd St. (Please add other suggestions to the comments section!)

As for my eight-year-old Zevin and I, we’ll be out “reverse trick-or-treating” (which I recommend.) It will be nothing as clever as these guys:

But we have fun: we rig a game into a little red wagon, pulling it behind us into the night. We accost bands of trick-or-treaters, challenging them to try their hand at a hoop-throw or somesuch. Zevin is the judge, doling out super balls zealously. Adults are invited to throw one back, as well.

And if you’re getting an early start, Wallingford businesses will be handing out treats starting around 4:00 pm, look for the flier in the window.

Finally, tonight through Halloween, Uber is offering a $10 free credit, use the HALLOWPOOL promo code. Be safe, there are kids out there.

¹ Reese’s peanut butter cup, please!