At our age, Halloween is a great excuse to ignore schoolwork for the weekend and party with our friends. But don’t lie, each year we all get a little teary thinking about all the best parts of Halloween as a kid. Here are some of our top favourites.
1. The Halloween hype starts creeping in as soon as September ends, and Billie Armstrong is woken from his slumber. As a kid, that also meant that it was time to start scouting for the best costume you could find…which involved searching through shelves of rubber masks and accessories, a trip to Good Will and some of mom’s sewing magic.
2. Family Channel started gearing up for Halloween around the same time as we did in early October. Arguably their best specials aired in the weeks leading up such as Halloweentown, Twitches and Bewitched. Hours upon hours were spent with our eyes glued to the screen as they rolled one special after another.
3. Before the big night we got give our looks a test run at the school’s costume parade and/or Halloween dance. We got our first sugar overload from all the goodies the teachers brought to share and, of course, a Halloween dance wasn’t complete without a dance to MJ’s “Thriller.”
4. With the big night upon us, we had to make sure we planned out the best trick-or-treat route: choosing the streets with the most houses to ensure maximum candy intake. And of course, we never forget which houses gave the best stuff year after year…and the worst. Those houses that gave out full-sized chocolate bars were a must!
5. Finally: the night winds down, but the excitement isn’t over yet! Time to judge the night’s haul. First, we have to do some organizing. Compile all the bags of chips; filter out the raisins, fruit and granola bars- no one will trade for those – and then let the bartering begin! If you were lucky you could end the night with all of your favourites.
6. All of a sudden, it’s November. The pumpkins are replaced with wreaths as the next big holiday looms. But Halloween’s presence isn’t gone just yet! That sugar rush is what fuels us through the month. The amount of candy consumed over these weeks is truly obscene and the stash still piled in your closet acts as a reminder of the best night of the year.