This is Halloween, This is Halloween!!

Well for someone who writes about holidays and traditions there is really only one holiday my blog could possibly be about and that is Halloween.

I'm sure all of you have new Halloween plans this year, being in college; however, I figured this week it would be interesting to find out what my friends normally do on Halloween and compare their traditions to mine. This was the first holiday I actually had overlap with my friends' traditions.

I'm going to start with the days leading up to Halloween. In my house, sometime during the month of October my family carves pumpkins, something my dad particularly excels at. This year I was not home to do so since I'm at college. So, when my mom came to visit earlier this month, she brought a care package from my father. There really is no way to explain it so I'll just let you take a look.

In my home town, along with another friend's, we do something called "being booed." This is when you make a sign that says "you've been booed" and leave it with instructions of what to do and a treat for the family. The instructions say to make a copy of the flyer, put it on your door, and then put the copy as well as some kind of treat on a friend or neighbors door. The idea is to create a long train of houses that have been booed. It is a great way to build the neighborhood spirit and keep your friends guessing who booed them.

Picture From: Melissa

This next tradition is a bit more malicious and is probably not one you have heard of unless you are from Eastern PA, New Jersey, or Michigan. We actually celebrate the night before Halloween, which we call Mischief Night. On Mischief Night kids, mostly teens, go out and cause trouble. It mostly consists of putting toilet paper on houses and bushes or egging houses; however, it can sometimes escalate. Before I started talking to people from not Eastern PA and New Jersey I assumed it practiced all over the country, but as you can see below it certainly is not.

Photo From: Policy Map

While I have never toilet papered or egged houses my family does a sort of our own mischief night sometime the week before Halloween. My brother and I always try to scare one of my good friends and one of his friends, they are sisters, who live down the street from us. We always buy something in an attempt to scare them and they do the same to us. The decorations range from creepy posters and gel "blood" prints on their glass door, to hanging skeletons, to noise making props. Normally the one to get scared is the daughter slightly older to me either on her way out in the morning or night when she forgets it is there.  

Eventually October 31st arrives, my friends here and I have all gone trick-or-treating at some point. Personally, this will be the first year I have ever not gone trick-or-treating and it feels kind of weird. Every year I dress up and in the more recent years my best friend comes over and we go around my neighborhood to get our free candy. One house near meets up a "haunted garage" where a few houses worth of neighbors set up a table with food and drinks to keep themselves entertained. Then the trick-or-treaters walk into the garage and get candy from each couple. However there is also a treat to this stop. They have lots of decorations set up and at least one of the apparent mannequins is actually one of the husbands. My brother, friend, and I know this and always approach very paranoid. Normally, getting the candy is no big deal; however, once we go to leave there is someone, the "mannequin," following us and we set off running.

Left to Right: Maleficent, Jafar, Queen of Hearts

Normally, my friends and I get a significant amount of candy to make us happy for the night. However, one of my friends here told me how she always takes a pillowcase to gather candy and refuses to stop until it is completely filled. I also use a pillowcase, but normally just keep going until it gets late so people stop answering their doors or the bag gets too heavy to carry on. When I was younger, and even to some extent today, as soon as my brother and I got home we dumped our candy on the dinning room table my dad and mom would go through all the candy and make sure it wasn't tampered with and then put it in large bowls we would eat from for weeks.

Then just like that, Halloween is over and we wait until the next year. I'm just going to end with a quick few notes on what my friends told me they do that I had never heard of. For example, my one friend's cousins have a Halloween "fairy" that they can trade candy in for a toy. Another friend hates Halloween because she believes October is cursed and then celebrates the next day when November starts. Finally a few friends joked, I hope, about sacrificing people and talked about satanic rituals, demonic possessions, and minor vandalism.

On that note, have a great Halloween and stay safe!

Please share your family traditions for Halloween and even your favorite costumes you have worn over the years in the comments.