Where the Candy at?
An Argument in Favor of Adult Trick-or-Treating
A brilliant movie once said that Christmas is the event in which the entire kid year revolved but ya know what? I’m not so sure I agree.
If I remember childhood as well as I think I do, and to be fair I probably don’t, while Christmas was always exciting cause of presents (duh) it was Halloween and especially trick-or-treating that made my little world go round.
There were costumes to agonize over, routes to scout, and determining what exactly would be the best candy holding receptacle (it’s a pillow case. It’s always a pillowcase. Those buckets are cute but they don’t hold shit.) So much preparation goes into trick-or-treating and at the end of it you get a big bag of candy to swim in in your living room while watching Hocus Pocus. It’s the perfect night.
So why do we ever stop?
For some reason, society has decided that by the time you hit your elder teens and beyond you’ve become too old for trick-or-treating. It’s like we went with the rule that once you can make your own money you must buy your own candy. But like…that’s lame.
Sure I can go buy whatever candy I want because I’m an adult but I think part of the fun of Halloween and trick-or-treating is getting home and analyzing the stash. When I buy it myself, there’s no surprise. If I buy a bag of 100 Grand bars I’m almost assuredly gonna get a bag full of 100 Grand bars (and if somehow I don’t…god help me I will one woman riot!)
I miss the idea of organizing my surprise treats into categories (chocolate, fruity, chips, things I don’t like) then trading with friends or siblings to get something better that you might have missed. Sure, if you have kids of your own you might still get some of that same joy out of trick-or-treating that you did as a kid, but in the end you can only sneak so much from their pile before they realize what’s up and ban you from the bowl. Now if costumed you could grab your own pillowcase and head up to the door side by side with your little one, wouldn’t that be a fun bonding time for you both?
Of course there’s nothing stopping you from doing just that. You can always put together a cool costume, plan your route, and head out door to door on Halloween night, but people are so judgey. After taking years off from it, when I was 18 a friend and I dressed up and decided to go trick-or-treating just for fun and the looks/comments we got were stupid.
We put in the effort. We said trick or treat. We did our part…who cares if we’re past the age society has deemed appropriate to go around begging for free candy from strangers? Maybe they’d be less stuck up about it if they dressed up and went out every couple of years and to remember the joy and fun of it.
While discussing each of our fond trick-or-treating memories a month ago and lamenting the general societal stance on adults trick-or-treating, Jonathan suggested we create our own scenario for our friends to participate in the magic of trick-or-treating once more: an adult trick-or-treat party!
It would work like this: invite a bunch of friends, everyone attending must purchase a bag of candy, wear a costume, and bring a pillowcase. At the party, everyone takes turns to go “trick-or-treating” from person to person. Super simple! It gives the fun and surprise of going trick-or-treating without the judgement of strangers. Everybody wins! As soon as we get the space, I fully intend on making the adult trick-or-treat party an annual Halloween event for all of our friends
In the meantime I want to hear from you! Do you miss going trick-or-treating and if so, would you do it now? What is your best or favorite trick-or-treating memory? And would you attend an adult trick-or-treating party….I need to know if this is a good idea (jk it’s a great idea I just need to know how big of a space we need!) Let me know all your trick-or-treating memz and hot takes in the comments below!