Make Halloween great again: Door-to-door magic still casts its spell in NS

Lorna MacIsaac has a simple seasonal wish: Make Halloween great again!

It’s equal parts tongue-in-cheek and deeply sincere.

The lifelong Halloween enthusiast, who lives in Pictou, NS, still believes the night remains “a fun and important event for children and youth.”

And while many Nova Scotians quietly notice fewer small ghosts and superheroes ringing doorbells these days, the spirit of the holiday is far from dead. It has simply, like so many things, adapted.

Across the province, the conversation is the same. Are trunk-or-treats the culprit? Is it the weather? Safety concerns? Smaller families? The rising price of those mini chocolate bars? Or do some homeowners, after years of stocking up on full-sized treats only to watch them go stale, secretly appreciate the quieter evenings?

Debbie Shaw-Weatherbie of Lyons Brook, near Pictou, has lived through the shift.

“Doug and I haven’t had kids in probably four years, but we do have a longer driveway. Of course we get a few treats to pass out just in case — and, of course, ones we like too,” she says.

“Seems people either love or hate Halloween. I grew up loving dressing up and going trick-or-treating and coming home with my brothers and looking through all the goodies and trading.”

As she got older, she continued to love it with dances, parties, and workplace fun on Halloween.

“I always found that dressing up in the workplace was great for morale and shared laughter and making great memories,” she said. “One year, my workplace did Thriller in downtown New Glasgow, and that was so much fun! Many of us are retired but still share the memories and laughter over it.”

She even recalls the old-school mischief: bars of soap for writing on car windows and the occasional egg.

“I honestly don’t know if kids do that anymore,” she laughs. “Everyone, and homes, have cameras so you can’t get away with any of those things.”

The decline feels real to her and most people she knows. Smaller families, changing times, the cost of feeding a household — and then buying treats on top of it — all play a role.

“I often felt that there should be a curfew of 8 p.m. on trick-or-treating,” she said. “Most folks don’t like to open their doors after that time. And you also don’t see masks as you did back in the day.”

And then there’s the expense.

“I’m sure many folks must find the cost of feeding their family a lot these days, and then the added cost in buying treats is on them, too,” she said.

“This year, with it being on a Saturday, I’m thinking kids may be out early, and I’m sure the adults will have lots of events planned at bars, homes, etc. All in all, I think it’s a fun night to dress up and be somebody or something else and have some good laughs.”

Lorna MacIsaac’s numbers in town tell a steadier story. Over the past five years, she has welcomed between 50 and 100 trick-or-treaters.

“It is weather dependent,” she said.

Traditional door-to-door treating remains common in her community, although she suspects today’s kids don’t feel the need to cover every street the way her generation did. Parents may simply steer younger children toward the denser clusters of lit houses or community events.

MacIsaac said if numbers are down in general, she’s not sure there’s any one reason. Are treats ubiquitous in children’s lives these days?

“Today, candy and treats may be part of going to the grocery store,” she said. “Community events are more common leading up to Halloween. For younger children and youth, parents may travel to the areas where there are events or more homes to visit. Traditional door-to-door treating is still a common practice in our community, or maybe today’s youth do not need to travel to every corner of a community like we did growing up.”

Her own childhood Halloween memories are pure country magic. Growing up outside town, her father would load the kids into the car or truck while her mother stayed home handing out treats.

“We would travel to the homes up or down the road — to homes of schoolmates, friends, or family,” she said. “The finale was driving into Pictou to visit our aunts, uncles, and cousins. In the ’60s, many gave fudge for treats. There was traditional maple or brown sugar fudge, occasionally white fudge, and my favourite chocolate fudge.”

Preparation was half the joy. She remembers getting the pumpkin from the grocery store.

“Some years we grew pumpkins, and occasionally they would be large enough to be a Jack-o’-lantern,” she recalled. “We put up decorations, such as orange and black streamers. I would draw and colour pictures and put them up in my room or on the windows.”

She doesn’t remember Halloween parties at school.

“I think all of us were so excited about the big evening ahead that the teachers were trying to get through the school day with three grades in each classroom in our two-room schoolhouse,” she said.

Young MacIsaac loved dressing up.

“My favourite costume was one I wore when I was about 11 or 12,” she said. “There were some fancy dresses given to my mom. It was a semi-formal dress. Being a girlie girl, I created a costume for going to a fancy event.”

But Halloween that year was a stormy, snowy, slippery night, and she remembers arguing with her mother that she wanted to wear a shawl, not a winter coat.

“Mom sent the coat with me as our Dad was taking us out,” she said. “I wore that coat in the end and was grateful that Mom supplied the backup.”

MacIsaac hasn’t changed.

“Today, we have our Jack-o-lantern on the doorstep, along with blow-ups, including a cat and ghosts,” she said. “I have a witch sitting on her broom in the living room window, and Halloween decals on the front window. Our pumpkin for the house has been chosen, and we are looking forward to the decorating party with our grandsons.”

She said the decorations are appreciated, and young children love the cat and the little ghosts.

“What I love about Halloween is the decorating and preparation for the big day,” she said. “I do not need to ask anyone what they want for Halloween. I get a combination of treats and pass them out. Everyone thanks me for the treats, and off they go.”

The costumes that arrive at her door still delight her: “A lot of great themes and amazing costumes,” she said. “Thanks to the children’s and parents’ imagination or characters from movies, the costumes are amazing and fun!”

And she believes imagination is the key.

“Young minds and creativity can come up with all kinds of characters and costumes,” she said.

“There is no doubt movies and those in the news make great characters for costumes. I am guessing this year there will be a few youth dressed in a suit with a red tie and orange hair with the message, ‘Make Halloween Great Again!’”

A couple of hours southwest, in Middleton in Annapolis County, the picture looks different yet familiar. Lisa Fenton, the town’s community outreach person, checked in with residents on busier streets — Taylor Drive and the Connaught area.

“Both said they feel the number of trick-or-treaters has been consistent over the years,” she said.

“Upwards of 100-150 kids. What we think is happening is parents with kids from rural areas and those in town on less busy roads are bringing their little ones into the trunk-or-treat type options so they don’t have to walk long distances or have their kids out for hours. They can do three or four places and leave with a bag of candy.”

And there are plenty of those community-type events planned.

“We know that before Halloween, Training For Life is having a trunk-or-treat at their gym, with several local businesses and organizations participating,” she said, “and on Halloween, the Baptist church, Parsons RV, Middleton Fire Department, and the Middleton Railway Museum are all hosting trick-or-treaters.”

The door-to-door tradition continues in the denser parts of town, but the organized events offer a practical, low-stress alternative that many families clearly appreciate.

At the Middleton Railway Museum, visitors are in for a real scary treat as volunteers are decorating the caboose inside and out.

“Scary, but not too scary,” said museum board member Bill Linley, who usually sits in the cab of the old steam locomotive dressed as an engineer as the children approach the outdoor candy stations on the platform.

“It’s a big night for us with as many as 200 trick-or-treaters showing up in some pretty amazing and imaginative costumes.”

He said numbers were down a bit last year but acknowledged there were other Halloween events going on in the town.

David Hankinson, who chairs the Middleton Railway Museum Society board, said it’s all about the children and imagination. He said the museum strives to involve youth in everything it does, including decorating for Halloween.

“Students from Lawrencetown Education Centre always help out,” he said. “Last year they made pumpkin people, black and orange streamers, and lots of other decorations. And the Jack-o-lanterns they carved? Scary, and every one of them lit from inside. It creates a real Halloween atmosphere.”

Weather remains the great variable as do safety concerns — real or perceived — and the simple economics of modern family life also shape the evening.

Lorna MacIsaac will be ready with her chips, soft chocolates, and decorations. Debbie Shaw-Weatherby will keep a few favourite treats on hand just in case. Middleton families will bounce between trunk-or-treat stops and traditional neighbourhoods. And somewhere, almost certainly, the old magic will still show up on a doorstep.

Make Halloween Great Again? In Pictou County and Annapolis County, it never really stopped being great.