I’ve seen a lot of opinions about the vast amount of trunk-or-treats and how they are ruining Halloween. I must agree that it certainly has become a bit overkill. Would it be true to say that they are the death of Halloween though?
I was born in tiny town in Wyoming, and while I moved when I was young I still remember doing my first trunk-or-treat. A trunk-or-treat was almost vital in the area because it was very rural, so gathering together in one place to take families trick-or-treating made it fun and easy. Flash-forward to now with a family of my own, and it’s almost like everyone and their dog is hosting a trunk-or-treat.
Now, I’m a die-hard Halloween fan, and no matter what I will always take my kids trick-or-treating ON Halloween. With that being said, do I think trunk-or-treats are killing the magic of All Hallow’s Eve? I have to ere on the side of yes, but that’s just with my experience in the city I live in. I dare say I’m sure there are parents who like the easy quick candy dump, and then they don’t have to take their kids out on Halloween. But even then that doesn’t account for the houses in suburban neighborhoods that don’t participate. We’ve experienced a couple years where we went door to door, but only about every 5th house was handing out candy, and even less were decorated. It was discouraging, especially for little legs.
I’m sure there are many factors for the magic fading. Perhaps these trunk-or-treats allow parents to take their kids out, and then stay home on the 31st. Maybe for those that hand out candy at trunk-or treats then perhaps feel like they don’t need to do anymore. This is pure speculation really, but I do think trunk-or-treats have a part in being the succubus of magic on Halloween night.
Our approach
On that note, we participate in trunk-or-treats. Don’t come at me! Even though I think there’s an overload of them we sometimes like to supplement Halloween with a couple of trunk-or-treats. One, we let the kids decide if they want to do any. There’s no pressure or anxiety about trying to hit every candy grab in town. And two, I love the opportunity for them to show off their costumes more than once. The thing about Idaho is it is usually quite frigid on Halloween and you’re covering your costume with a coat. So we love to get out to some additional festivities for chances to display their excitement.
There is some good news, I’ve noticed at least in our neighborhood more and more trick-or-treaters each Halloween. So I hope that maybe, just maybe there are more people trying to instill the old-fashioned door-to-door tradition. Feel free to share your thoughts on whether Halloween is just as magical as it was, or if you think trunk-or-treats are the death of Halloween.
