Halloween is one of the most dynamic holidays there is. Many of its traditions can change drastically with time. One year costumes will be based on movie characters, the next they will be influencers instead. You may put your old scary decorations up, only to find your neighbors are now trying to be more fancy this year. So many of the traditions are about self-expression, and people change constantly. But when one person changes, it’s rarely caused by reasons within the self. Change is inspired by changes you see in others, for better or for worse. This leads to trends, which exist in the dynamic parts of the holiday. But one unexpected place these trends show up is in one of the more static parts of Halloween: Trick-or-Treating. It should be a fairly uniform activity: Go out in costume, knock on doors, and receive candy. Where’s the room for change there? Well, as was clear this year, a lot can. Let’s see what happened this year, and try to guess what could be causing these changes.
No matter how you choose to participate in Halloween, it’s impossible to not notice the change in the patterns of trick-or-treaters. When you stay home to give out candies, you’ll notice this shift right away. From my childhood experience, trick-or-treaters used to assemble in groups of 3 or 4, usually a small friend group or family unit. These units would travel far, covering their entire neighborhood in more ambitious cases. However, you’ll notice that the small unit system has been discarded in favor of much larger packs. Now, groups can become 10 people large, comprising entire school classes or multiple families. Furthermore, these groups seem to stay around other groups, meaning that 20, even 30, or more trick-or-treaters can all be in one area. This leaves other areas eerily desolate.
On Halloween night, I remember staying home to hand out candy. Our street is mostly filled with very young couples or seniors, so we don’t expect many trick-or-treaters. However, when our door got two knocks the entire night, it became clear that something was off. My father drove me to our old street, and there was, seemingly, every trick-or-treater in the state; for a bit. It wasn’t long before they moved on, leaving the busy street empty once more.
What could be the cause of this sudden change? I would like to put forward the possibility that it’s a matter of perceived safety. Anyone who’s paid attention to the media around Halloween will be able to affirm that people are far more cautious nowadays. Warnings about perceived threats to the safety of children are so saturated in our everyday lives, that it should be of no surprise to anyone that these concerns grow to a breaking point around Halloween night. It is a scary concept for some parents: Leaving your children to go in costume into the night to collect candy from strangers goes against literally every single child safety PSA on air. But many children don’t want the supervision of parents, they want the freedom to enjoy and express themselves that the holiday is so beloved for. So, as an alternative to “helicoptering” over their children as they trick-or-treat, parents employ basic “strength in numbers” logic to keep their children safe. It makes sense: Kidnappers or other criminals can’t do much when there are so many children, and the crowd draws such attention that anything they try would get spotted. In my opinion, if the parents have genuine concerns, this tactic is a good way to protect children without sacrificing the independence that can be so vital to raising a healthy adult. While there are drawbacks, mainly for the streets that never get hit and thus miss the Halloween experience, the benefits are amazing. Both sides of the argument have merit, and it will be interesting to see how the trend goes in the future.
