Anja Clark, Jack Reda, Cathy Carey and Dan Wiltshire
Halloween is that beautiful time of the year when people can dress up and be different people. It’s also the time of year that dentists wait for – when young children go trick-or-treating. No matter your age, planning October 31st celebrations can be fun for you, your family, friends, or your community.
NPR asked readers to share their unique Halloween traditions, and they didn’t disappoint. From making trick-or-treating a little different to going all out for the holiday, read up on these traditions — and consider adopting them to add to the way you celebrate.
Responses have been edited for length and clarity.
games
Buckets of candy for Anja Clarke’s Halloween game.
Anja Clark
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Anja Clark
Sometimes turning simple things into a game is the perfect solution. Anja Clark from Irvine, California. She says her family plays the candy game. Here are the rules: Children roll two large dice and add the numbers. There are four bowls of candy, from small to large. “Odds are, you’ll win a giant candy if you collect two or 12 candies, and a small candy if you collect six, seven or eight combined,” Clark says.
Holiday extravaganza
Jack Reza’s family dressed as Guardian of the Galaxy characters.
Jack Reda
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Jack Reda
For Jack Reza of Virginia, Halloween is not only his favorite holiday, it’s also his favorite day of the year. His family’s traditions include elements borrowed from other holidays. They make Halloween eggs by decorating hard-boiled eggs with Halloween decorations. They also decorate a spooky tree with Halloween decorations.
Donna McLeod of Virginia, who takes items from an Easter egg hunt, says she organized a “Halloween hunt” for her children. This included placing holiday-themed toys and novelties around the backyard at night, giving the children a flashlight and letting them search for items.
Tye Wawerski exchanges gifts with close friends during Halloween every year. Giveaways included traditional fall dishes and Halloween-themed foods, such as stuffed acorn squash, acorn squash with squid ink pasta, and ribs with “sticky, sticky sauce.” When it comes to Halloween gift giving, there are a few rules participants must follow, says Fawerski. “First, no practical gifts. Stockings and sweaters are for Christmas or Hanukkah. The exception to this rule is that doomsday/survival themed gifts are okay. Other than that, a Halloween gift should have a horror/fantasy element /Science Fiction.”
Kathy Curry, of Skokie, Illinois, says “ThanksHallowmas” was born when her children grew up and had families, making the holidays hectic. During this time, you decorate for Halloween, prepare Thanksgiving dinner, and the family exchanges Christmas gifts.
Halloween stockings used by Cathy Curry’s family.
Cathy Curry
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Cathy Curry
More than candy
Candy is great for trick-or-treating, but sometimes different items can make the experience special for kids. Joan Ogden offers things like hair ties, school supplies, sticker books and small plastic dinosaurs.
Pat Long of York, Pennsylvania, says she likes to donate donated books as well as souvenirs. Long is not alone in this feeling. Mimi Musso, of Sacramento, California, enjoys greeting trick-or-treaters with a large basket of books and letting them choose what interests them.
Michelle Schell of Fort Collins, Co. By distributing some unique foods using their sweets: potatoes. “I ask the kids if they want potatoes, and almost every kid wants one! Their faces light up and they laugh as they put those potatoes in their treat bags. My house is also known as the Potato House.” Watching them laugh at the ridiculousness of those potatoes brings joy every year.
Innovations
Edwin Powell, of Greensboro, North Carolina, found a way to spend the holiday after midnight. His family turns carved pumpkins into preserved pumpkin slices. “We would light the pumpkin with a small flashlight instead of a candle to avoid smoking the inside of the pumpkin. Then, the day after Halloween was an all-out pumpkin-slicing event. “These slices are cooked with ginger, lemon slices and a generous amount of sugar until they reach a marmalade-like consistency. Placed in canning jars, these preserves have been good for months, if not years, in a way that preserves the holiday sweetness.”
Dan Wiltshire of Lees Summit, Missouri, took his love of model railroading and created a small layout in his garage to make full-sized candy bars. The tradition began in 2020, and he says more than 100 kids have attended. In 2023, its Halloween railroad theme was Wonka and 220 children attended. This year it will be the theme toy story.
Dan Wiltshire’s Wonka Halloween Show.
Dan Wiltshire
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Dan Wiltshire
memories
Just like any other holiday, Halloween can hold special and important memories in our lives with the people we love, making every tradition even more special.
Zoe Mills and her grandmother.
Zoe Mills
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Zoe Mills
Zoe Mills of Massachusetts says her tradition involves visiting her grandmother in costume and trick-or-treating in her neighborhood. Her grandmother loved Eid and kept most of her decorations throughout the year. “My grandmother lived and breathed Halloween and it felt more like Christmas morning when she visited her on Halloween than it did Halloween. This is our first Halloween without her, so my mom and I did our best with decorations in her memory.”
This story was edited by Suzanne Nouwen.
“Devoted student. Bacon advocate. Beer scholar. Troublemaker. Falls down a lot. Typical coffee enthusiast.”