When I was young we didn’t really celebrate Halloween. I never really understood Trick or Treating; I know the person with the sweets is meant to treat – but who does the trick?! And do you get a treat after doing a trick? I was confused about that. We used to get the odd monster knock on the door, but nothing memorable. However, I do remember sitting quietly with the curtains closed and lights off during Halloween, ‘to stop people from knocking’!
After my daughter was born we moved near to an American air base in Cambridgeshire. That’s when Halloween started to become an ‘event’ for us! The airman and his family who lived opposite carved at least five HUGE pumpkins every year, and lots of children went out trick or treating with their parents. My daughter did – as did my son (in his pushchair) … it was a fun, sociable event. When we moved from that area, I assumed the Halloween celebrations would end. How wrong was I!
Halloween at Home
To give a tiny bit of background as to where we live: imagine a huge Victorian hospital. Architecturally very impressive, set in vast grounds. Now imagine that same space tastefully converted into apartments, with an additional few hundred ‘Victorian-styled’ homes. This transformation took place less than 10 years ago. All enclosed within a tree-lined perimeter path. Lots of green spaces. Lots of play parks. A cute primary school. Cricket pitch. Bowling green. A rural setting, commutable to London.
I don’t know when the Halloween ‘extravaganza’ began, but it was in full force when we moved in, 6 years ago. The whole village goes Halloween crazy! You know those houses that go over-the-top with their Christmas lights (they often show them on the local news)? Well, imagine similar but with creepy spider webs, scary noises and gruesome decorations … and then add to that the homeowners dressing up to scare you half to death when you knock on the door!
Halloween is a massive community event. In fact, it’s more than that. This year we heard of people travelling 20+ miles to come trick or treating here. There was a rumour of a coachload of people all the way from the south coast! Someone bought over 500 sweets to give out to trick or treaters – they all went long before the evening finished.
One night every year our streets and paths are full of mini draculas, Stay Puft marshmallow monsters, zombies and devils. The grown-ups follow suit, some in full fancy dress, others (like me) with tasteful scissor-in-the-head band accessories!
Last year, we converted our driveway into a ‘pop-up spooky café to raise money for Macmillan. It was a huge effort, but it was a blast and we raised £550. This year, with Halloween falling on a school night, we kept our plans low-key. While the children were at school we decorated the outside of the house, and I made some ‘swamp monster’ cupcakes for a spooky dinner when they got home.
Pumpkins
We unexpectedly grew our own pumpkins this year. They just appeared, we didn’t plant them! We believe we hollowed out the pumpkins the previous year on the flower bed, and the seeds grew. So, this year we carved our home-grown pumpkins (and put the seeds in the flower bed ready for next year 🙂 ).
These are not our pumpkins, but a neighbours!
The children, as always, had a great deal of fun trick or treating. They each came back with a pumpkin pot full of goodies, and feeling very tired. According to my Fitbit we walked 9000 steps just around the houses where we live!
I know that Halloween is not for everyone. Let’s be honest, we’re encouraging the children to do lots of things we spend our lives telling them they shouldn’t do. But it’s different here. Most of the children are young; nearly all of the children have their parents walking with them. And everyone is out trick or treating. It’s Halloween yes, but it’s a community event first and foremost.
We love Halloween. Can’t wait until the next one 🙂
