Three Things That Bother Me About Halloween

Halloween traditions have bothered me for a long time, but in recent years I’ve found more reasons to dislike the holiday. (My apologies to anyone who loves Halloween. Feel free to stop reading.)

1. Excessive candy consumption

I don’t want to support a tradition that promotes giving children gigantic piles of candy. While a few parents opt for boxes of raisins or small toys, they are in the minority.

I realize that many children—and some adults—love sweets, including candy. When I was growing up, I heard the message about sugary snacks being bad for your teeth. In my house, all the gum was sugarless. But we ate plenty of sweets, including sweetened breakfast cereal and a product called Breakfast Squares. My mom didn’t let us buy anything from the ice cream truck, but it had nothing to do with forbidding ice cream. She just preferred to buy a whole box of ice cream bars from the grocery store for the cost of one treat from the truck.

Although my parents stocked the pantry with cookies and the freezer with ice cream, they never bought candy bars. Once or twice a year, my sister and I would get a box of Sees Chocolates as a gift. I would always eat just one piece per day to make it last as long as possible.

We now know that sugar is not just bad for your teeth. Excessive sugar consumption is linked not only to obesity but to diabetes, heart disease, and other serious ailments. Personally, I have much more energy when I limit my intake of added sugars. Plain yogurt or oatmeal sweetened with fruit makes a delicious breakfast. I do, however, appreciate dark chocolate in moderation.

2. Excessive packaging

Since I have become an advocate for reducing household waste, I try not to buy any product that comes with multiple bags in a single package. Mass-market Halloween candy violates this principle.

If you go into any grocery store selling Halloween treats, most everything consists of individually packaged candy bars. If it is not sealed in plastic, it supposedly isn’t safe. Even before 2020, if someone came to the door and offered trick-or-treaters a plate of homemade cookies, many parents would probably insist that their children decline.

I’m old enough to remember the days when some neighbors would hand out homemade treats. We accepted them gladly. It is unfortunate that concern about poisons, sharp objects, allergens, and viruses means that unpackaged treats are off-limits for Halloween. Replacing traditional trick-or-treating with potluck parties at someone’s house, although not easily done right now, is a great alternative for future years.

3. A disrupted evening

Trick-or-treating can be a real annoyance for those who stay home and hand out candy. The doorbell rings every few minutes, disrupting dinner. Want to read a book after dinner? Forget about it.

I’m sure that my mom disliked the nonstop parade of trick-or-treaters even more than I do. When I was 9 or 10 years old, my parents decided to stop the trick-or-treat tradition. Instead, our entire family would go out somewhere for the evening.

We didn’t have a lot of money, so going out to dinner was a treat. By the time we returned, the trick-or-treaters would be gone. One year we drove to the Wild Animal Park. Visiting the park at night made the trip extra-special.

When my sons were in elementary school, we lived in a neighborhood that was a magnet for trick-or-treating. Neighbors decorated their houses elaborately every October. Some of them handed out full-size candy bars, which was part of the draw. That seemed a bit overboard to me. But I also felt that, given where I lived, I couldn’t ignore Halloween.

Although our decorations and treats were more modest than those of many of our neighbors, several hundred children rang our doorbell every year. We had to eat dinner early on Halloween night. While my husband took our boys out to gather candy, I stayed home and attended to the hordes.

It wasn’t always a chore. During the years when I taught weekly music classes at the local elementary school, it was fun seeing the surprise on my students’ faces when I answered the door. One year, a friend kept me company while our 8th-grade sons set off trick-or-treating together.

But eventually, my boys outgrew trick-or-treating and no longer delighted in decorating the house. We moved when my younger son was in high school and the older one was already off at college. In the new neighborhood, we didn’t know any of the local children. For me, the holiday lost any appeal that it might have had.

Thankfully, not too many groups came by. I could finally stop buying Halloween candy. It was a relief to turn off the lights on the front porch and in the rooms that faced the street and hide in the back of the house until Halloween was over.

I’ve heard of some creative ideas for a socially distanced Halloween this year, like lowering a bin of candy from an upstairs window for trick-or-treaters. Leaving a basket out on the porch is a simpler method. As for me, don’t come to my house expecting a plastic-wrapped candy bar. I will keep the lights off in my front rooms and enjoy peace and quiet while I read a good book. Any suggestions?