Valeria Payan Iglesias/The Cougar
Growing up, Halloween was my favorite holiday. I always planned my costume months in advance and couldn’t wait for the moment when I could put on my makeup and walk the streets in search of candy.
I remember the anticipation, counting down the hours until the school day ended so I could rush home and get ready to trick-or-treat. The next day, my classmates and I would compare our hauls, trade chocolates and laugh about the houses that gave out raisins.
Halloween brought some of the best memories of my childhood, mainly because of trick-or-treating. From fully becoming the character I dressed as, the streets glowing with lights and skeletons and ending the night watching a scary movie with my friends, it was truly the highlight of my childhood.
Now, I take my younger cousin trick-or-treating, and the magic seems to have disappeared. The first year, I thought it was just me; I was getting older, and Halloween had shifted from trick-or-treating to parties and bars.
But as the years went by, I noticed fewer children on the streets, fewer lights, fewer skeletons and fewer people celebrating the holiday.
So, did the magic and fun of trick-or-treating die with our generation? With COVID-19, inflation and the rise of new traditions, trick-or-treating has slowly died down from the classic walk down the street.
Unsurprisingly, the pandemic changed our lives in many ways, but I never thought it would affect how we celebrate Halloween. Since the pandemic, people have reported seeing fewer trick-or-treaters since 2023.
Due to the new habits communities adapted to, many people chose to stay home, and this shift in behavior appears to have persisted. Instead of going door to door, more people celebrate by watching spooky movies, carving pumpkins and eating candy at home.
This also led many people to opt for smaller, more tight-knit celebrations. Trunk or Treat is a new tradition that has become especially popular with families.
Trunk or Treat is an alternative where parents gather in a designated parking lot, often at a church or community center, and hand out candy to children from the trunks of their cars. Usually, the cars are decorated to replicate how people decorate their homes for Halloween, with spiderwebs, skeletons and pumpkins.
This tradition gained popularity because it felt like a safer alternative to trick-or-treating, as children are in a more limited area and parents can keep a closer eye on their kids.
Others dislike the idea, saying it kills the magic of Halloween. Arguing that the effort and excitement are lost when it’s as simple as going from car to car for candy, instead of running through neighborhoods trying to fill a pillowcase.
While Trunk or Treat is cute, I have to agree that it takes away from the magic of Halloween. Our sense of community, especially within neighborhoods, is fading in an already online-dominant world. Halloween was one of the few times that brought us together and kept us connected with our neighbors.
Maybe that’s why losing the tradition of trick-or-treating feels so personal. It wasn’t just about the candy or the costumes, it was about knocking on doors, saying hello to neighbors and feeling like part of something bigger than yourself.
As times change, maybe Halloween will keep evolving, too. But I hope that somewhere between the parking lots and the parties, we still find ways to keep that same sense of connection alive, even if it’s just through a knock on a stranger’s door and a shared smile behind a mask.
opinion@thedailycougar.com
