Looking back on Halloween: how it has changed since childhood

YOUNG CHILDREN and their parents off to trick or treat! (Adobe Stock)

Colette Moffroid | A&E editor

October 30, 2024

Halloween is the big kickoff to the festive holiday season. Everyone participates in the spooky holiday, from the trick-or-treaters with their jack-o-lantern baskets to the grandparents handing out king-sized candy bars for the few lucky recipients. During my childhood, the southwest street of Barcelona in downtown San Clemente was the center of the Halloween spirit. Houses up and down the entire street were decked out in animatronic characters scaring all those young enough to be fooled, fog machines spreading a mysterious gloom, and spotlights showing off plastic gravestones and skeletons attracting thousands of people to the magical street. Margot Lee, a junior at San Clemente High School, shares that her “favorite part of Halloween as a kid was looking at all of the decorations on the houses, especially the downtown streets.” A particularly memorable decoration was the full-scale pirate ship complete with octopus tentacles erupting from the house’s chimney anchoring the other worldly experience of Halloween as a child.

KIDS DRESSED up for Halloween going out into the spooky night, jack-o-lanterns in hand. (Adobe Stock)

However, the Halloween fantasy world took on a different air around my sophomore year of high school. In freshman year I was still enjoying all that trick or treating and free candy had to offer. As a current junior, the October holiday is now associated with parties spread out amongst multiple days and a corresponding array of costumes for each event. Needless to say, my parents and the innocent fun of street decorations are no longer involved. A few things that have remained constant is the excitement surrounding the ominous holiday and the strong ties to friendship that cause celebration to be reminisced on so fondly.

The time that used to be spent sorting candy and relaying the long-awaited night’s details to our parents is replaced with debriefing the hectic events with close friends over breakfast. Getting ready for the hyped-up night has the same giddy excitement about it, so much so that Stella Nelson goes so far as to say, “it is [her] favorite part of the whole night and really starts off the whole night in a fun way.” As a child, we would show off our costumes to school and beg to start trick or treating at 4:00 pm just to make the night come faster and last longer. The night no longer starts before sunset and plans are now scheduled around many group’s agendas instead of a child’s impatience.

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*