Calling all Ghouls and Ghosts: Halloween doesn’t have to be horrible

Grab your mask for these 5 spooky activities

Paige+Alexander%2C+Madeline+Hull+and+Caroline+Hobson+get+ready+for+tricks+and+treats+in+their+Halloween+masks.

Madeline Hull

Paige Alexander, Madeline Hull and Caroline Hobson get ready for tricks and treats in their Halloween masks.

Typically, stands are packed watching football games, the pumpkin patches are the center of attention, and the best part of all is going door to door collecting massive piles of candy in your favorite costume.

Enter the biggest scare of all, coronavirus.

These all sound like a dream in this new world we are living in, and in order for people to maintain safety this fall, we must come up with different ways to celebrate a long loved holiday without the spread of the coronavirus. 

One house in Ohio isn’t letting covid put a damper on any trick-or- treating for Halloween. They created a candy chute to safely ensure social distancing. Once the candy is dropped at the top of the chute, it slides down the railing and lands right into the hands of trick-or-treaters. 

But not everybody is an engineer designing elaborate candy chutes and other Rube Goldberg inventions. 

These five activities take little effort and will put some treat back into the trick of Halloween.

Spooky Movie Marathon

Even though most movie theaters are beginning to reopen, that doesn’t mean all moviegoers are willing to put themselves at risk. Avoid the possibility of coming in contact with strangers and host your own backyard movie theater–Halloween edition. 

Have a few friends dressed over to watch a Halloween movie on a big screen in your backyard. Dress up in your scariest costumes and binge the Halloween classics.  

You can order a movie projector and screen on Amazon for a little over $100. A white bed sheet can double as a screen for some savings.

Only problem now is what movie to watch. 

There is a range of classics for everyone to enjoy.

Poltergeist (Rated PG): The movie revolves around the members of the Freeling family, who are stalked and terrorized by a group of ghosts led by a demon known as the Beast.

The Haunted Mansion(Rated PG): Jim Evers is accused by his wife, of neglecting his son and daughter, so he takes the family on a vacation. Along the way, the family stops off at a sinister mansion.

Coraline (Rated PG): While exploring her new home, a girl named Coraline (Dakota Fanning) discovers a secret door, behind which lies an alternate world that closely mirrors her own

A Nightmare on Elm Street (Rated R): Several teenagers fall prey to Freddy Krueger, a disfigured midnight mangler who preys on the teenagers in their dreams.

For Coraline being a children’s movie I have to admit it’s a little intense or maybe it’s because I really don’t like scary movies. Whatever it is, watch at your own risk. 

Socially distanced campfire with friends 

A fun activity for many teens and young adults to do around the Halloween season is throw costume parties for all to enjoy. This while it may be fun, is not safe right now and could put so many people in danger. Being inside and around a lot of people at once can cause issues.

Instead, we recommend doing a socially distanced bonfire with friends and family this fall. We have had great success with this and practice safe social distancing. 

campfire
Caroline Hobson and Paige Alexander attempt to make popcorn over a campfire. (Madeline Hull)

One person hosts a bonfire and the rest can bring their chairs and spread out to a safe distance while still enjoying the fire. Make pre-packaged s’mores so everyone can roast marshmallows and have a Halloween feast while still being safe. 

This is most fitting for teens right now and is a good way to celebrate this year. You can add different aspects to the bonfires such as socially distanced party games or outdoor movies. 

Cook a spooky family dinner

From eyeball pasta and mummy meatballs to Jack-O’-Lantern stuffed peppers, these creepy meals are a little scary to dig into, but they taste fantastic.

Paige Alexander’s homemade frosted Halloween themed sugar cookies. (courtesy of Paige Alexander)

Below we have inserted our favorite spooky recipes and pictures to help with inspiration.

Eyeball Pasta: Only on Halloween, meatballs = eyeballs and angel hair noodles stained red= brains.

Toxic Waste Mac & Cheese: Don’t worry it’s not actual toxic waste, it’s just bright green equally delicious noddles.

Corn Dog Monsters: Painted with egg wash these spooky hot dogs make for a festive dinner.

Creepy Crawly Chicken Tenders: Who dosen’t love chicken tenders, add a twist on them and make them spooky.

Go “ghosting”

Create a treat bag for a friend or neighbor and leave it on their doorstep with a note to pass it on. It’s a fun way to connect with friends. 

This was a tradition in large, crowded neighborhoods previous to COVID to help regulate the amount of trick or treaters that come to groups of houses. 

In my development, we have something called getting Booed, or ghosting. This means that someone else will hand out candy so that you don’t end up having clusters of kids at your doorstep. They also leave a bag of spooky spirit on the doorstep as a way to spread fright during the season. 

We have participated in this activity every year, and we leave bags of candy, socks, and little goodies on others doorsteps the day of Halloween as a way to say Halloween is here. We also “boo” other houses by handing out candy for them. 

This can be very useful if children and their families decide to take the risk of going door to door for Halloween this year, as it will limit the amount of houses they will go to. If you see a house that has been “booed” or “ghosted,” it is a good indicator that they are celebrating Halloween differently this year. 

Halloween car parade

We’ve all heard about a car parade like the ones for birthdays, but what about a parade just for Halloween? Deck out your cars and arrange a fun drive-by with your friends and family. Wear your favorite costumes and try to get the community involved. 

This is something that neighborhoods are creating this year as a way to have fun. Personally, my neighborhood is doing a parade for the little kids including my sister. On Halloween we will drive around and look at all the decorated houses while showing off our costumes. 

In all honestly, a lot of things we typically look forward too aren’t going to be same. But we have to make best of situation and who knows maybe you’ll end up making some new traditions.