Halloween: Boo or Bust?
- Rowan Wiley '27
- Oct 17
- 4 min read
This October, many are faced with the question: Is Halloween dead?
As All Hallows Eve is rapidly approaching, there are several questions plaguing the minds of New Roads Students. What costumes to wear and how old is too old to trick-or-treat -- both very typical contemplations for the season. For some, however, this time of year has taken a darker turn. More and more often over the past few years, people have begun to report changes in the traditions of a beloved holiday. Fewer trick-or-treaters, fewer people putting up decorations, and even more people deciding to shut off their porch lights and skip the festivities altogether.
While Halloween is far from a new holiday, having roots that can be traced back thousands of years to traditions and celebrations, its development into a widely celebrated (and financially lucrative) holiday has been a bumpy road.
To many, the holiday saw its peak in the late 90s and early 2000s, with the idealistic Halloween now being one reminiscent of those in the past. Elementary school class parties, pumpkin-shaped pretzels, larger-than-life decorations decking neighborhood homes, and streets full of kids, young and old, sporting vibrant costumes.
In recent years, however, many have claimed to notice a shift in what used to be a holiday full of excitement, sweets, and festivities throughout the night.
“There used to be a few little families that lived in my neighborhood, and sometimes they would come around,” says New Roads School Junior Rebecca Cordoba-King, “but not really as much.” Cordoba-King described how she often goes trick-or-treating, though adds that in recent years the tradition has been dying out, “It’s pretty much just little kids and families… and it’s only certain neighborhoods.” She also spoke about how the location could be a factor, adding, “It’s LA, so it’s a big city, it’s kind of hard to get a small neighborhood.”
When surveying a pool of 50 New Roads Upper School students, 64% reported that they had plans to go trick-or-treating this year, with the remaining 36% claiming no intention to, with the most popular reasons cited being either that they had other plans (parties, hangouts, etc.) or that their neighborhood tended to be “dead” on Halloween.
This trend of claiming neighborhoods to be “dead” carried over to the teachers as well, with those who said that they weren’t handing out candy this year mentioning this as their reasoning.
One man, however, claims that there’s a simple explanation for why some neighborhoods are more populous while others fall short. Former Culver City Council member and present Halloween decorating enthusiast Scott Malsin dedicates his time every October to setting up an incredibly elaborate holiday display, and he offers an interesting insight into why it is that some neighborhoods seem to be ‘dying.’
“Definitely, once I started doing this display and it got more and more elaborate, other people started putting more effort into theirs as well… I think that’s what it is, people want to come see this,” says Malsin, describing how neighborhood engagement increased significantly once he and several others began to put up more decorations. “For a long time, depending on the weather, we’d have about 200 kids going up and down the street. Last year, the number of kids was 700, and there were a lot of adults too.. A lot of adults come over to see this.” Muslin proposes that all it may take for some neighborhoods to garner more participation is a few houses well decorated, adding, “Halloween is such a great holiday because there’s no real pressure, all you’re invited to do is to have fun and to use your imagination.”
As for why else this phenomenon may be occurring, there are a multitude of other popular theories circulating, with some attributing it to the rising prices and further commercialization of Halloween.
According to data collected by research firm Datasembly in October of 2023, “The average nationwide price for Candy and Gum is showing an increase of 12.8%,” with the evidence of that being apparent in most candy aisles today.
Another possible explanation could be the COVID-19 pandemic, with a 2020 University of Delaware study claiming “42% of American households plan to consume less candy this year” and that “trick-or-treating could be down 41%.” It’s possible that holiday participation never quite recovered from this hit, with some who opted out during the pandemic never making a return to the past traditions.
The truth is likely a combination of several factors. Rising prices, “dead” neighborhoods, past hits taken to popularity, and, evidently, new alternatives arising.
One of those new alternatives quickly gaining traction is Trunk-or-Treating, a simpler alternative to trick-or-treating in which, on a typically invite-only basis, a group of families gather and set up at a parking lot, giving out candy through the backs of open trunks.
Not only do some find this easier, with the added perk of every candy stop being in the same vicinity, but others also consider it to be a safer alternative. With trunk-or-treating, there’s no need to go up to a stranger’s front door, and given the invite requirement, everyone there is typically of a tight-knit community.
It’s difficult to determine what this could mean for the holiday moving forward. Whether it be a temporary dip or the final gasp of a fading tradition, there is no doubt that Halloween has seen some changes in the past several years, and, likely, the holiday will only continue to evolve to meet the needs of a vastly changing world. As for whether Halloween truly is dying, it seems that only time will tell.