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A gourd time at Halloween

Halloween was something I dreaded as a child, participating in trick and treating only because of peer pressure and always with the fear that someone was going to slip me a contaminated needle along with the candy.

Halloween was something I dreaded as a child, participating in trick and treating only because of peer pressure and always with the fear that someone was going to slip me a contaminated needle along with the candy.

“You have to dress up; we’re going out! Don’t argue!” I’d hear.

So I’d slap some face paint on, squeeze an outfit over my snow pants and jacket, and trudge around miserably with a pillowcase in the dark, snowy late October nights in Saskatoon. That is, until my toes felt like they were going to fall off and my friends would decide we had enough, that it was time to go home and that we could still catch the last 40 minutes of Lois & Clark, The New Adventures of Superman.

Through high school, university and now, friends still seem to love getting dressed up, but I’d rather stick to my tried tested and true costume of “Alone at 40” – shuffling around with a robe and slippers, a bag of cat food tucked under my arm, warbling along to Celine Dion’s All by Myself.

Even while I’m personally not a fan of dressing up, I’ve always loved seeing other people get into the Halloween spirit, and their ingenuity with costumes, whether it’s a family dressing up as the Flintstones or the Minions, or an individual transforming themselves into a giant robot made of cardboard boxes.

But when my husband immigrated to Canada, he found Halloween positively appalling in that it was not only accepted - but encouraged - for children to dress up in scary outfits and go door-to-door, demanding strangers give them candy. The sullen faces of children and some adults as they stuck out their pillow cases in a silent demand drives him especially batty.

“It’s a holiday that celebrates mischief,” he grumbles. As much as he complains, when I see how much fun he has getting dressed up, whether it’s as Super Mario or a Hobbit, it’s obvious he too enjoys at least some of the harmless fun that Halloween can bring. Plus, our kids love seeing dad getting into the act with them.

As an adult, I find myself enjoying Halloween trick-or-treating more than I ever did when I was younger. My children run through the neighbourhood, and say hi to all the friends they see on the block. Yes, the evening is cool, but there is still light in the sky, which makes it easier to tiptoe past the yards with gravestones and hands reaching out of the ground. Instead of being a begrudging participant, I get to be a spectator of my kids and their friends. Seeing their laughter and happiness in taking part in this childhood ritual, there’s nowhere else I’d rather be and nothing else I’d rather do. What can I say, a ghoul’s gotta love Halloween.




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