This is kind of a basic entry since I have no photos of this moment from my life, so… yeah lol. But enjoy the Youtube videos embedded throughout the post, they’ll set the mood perfectly. 🙂

Ah…. trick or treating.  It’s a tradition every year, and yet I only did it once.  Why?  How? And also, dubya tee eff?  Well to answer that last one, I know right?!  To answer the other questions, it was mostly because of the area where I used to live.  Simply put, it was a bland desert area.  Far from your usual suburb where people go trick-or-treating.  Eventually, though, my mother heard through a friend of hers that other parents in similar areas would drive out to a suburb and take their kids to go trick-or-treating.  The plans were set and, for the first and only time ever, I was going trick-or-treating.

I was in the 6th grade when this happened, so it felt like it was the right time (Had another year or two passed, I would’ve had that, “I’m too old for trick-or-treating” feeling). I had probably a few different ideas for my costume, but for the most part settled on one idea in particular.

I was obsessed with Men in Black that year since it had just come out; so I tell my mom I want to be an MiB.  We find clothes that match close enough, buy a pair of sunglasses, and I put together a makeshift neuralyzer using cardboard and aluminum foil.  I even get a tiny water pistol and pretend it’s that cool Noisy Cricket weapon from the movie.  Within minutes, I have everything.

With my costume all set up, we head to my friend’s home and hang around until a couple other kids and their parents come.  I don’t recall what the others dressed up as, but I’m pretty sure my friend was The Crow from the hit Brandon Lee movie.  After everyone arrives, we eat some chicken tenders and french fries as a quick dinner.  I’m not sure where the food was from, but it must’ve been a local place. I remember it being pretty tasty though.  Come to think of it, I believe this was the first time I ever had chicken tenders, as I was often used to eating chicken nuggets.

This one’s never gonna leave your head.  Not sorry. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

After we eat, night-time comes and we start driving out to the neighborhood.  Once we arrive, I’m more than ready.  I step onto the sidewalk and, although I’ve never been to the area, I quickly feel right at home.  I’m no longer someone watching kids trick-or-treating in film and television.  This time, I’m one of them.  I don’t mind that the parents come with us, I’m just excited to be there.  All those feelings I ever had from watching Halloween specials resurge in a new form as I take in the surroundings, looking at all the cool Halloween decorations people have set up, and I even chit chat with other kids as I check out their costumes.

One particular moment always comes to mind when I think of this night.  At one point, as I’m in someone’s yard, I go for an up-close look at some Halloween decor and it has a light and sounds set up.  I don’t know it has a light set up at first, though, until it goes off.  And when it goes off, it enters strobe light mode.  I’m instantly confused and… nah that’s not a good enough word.  I’m completely taken by surprise since I’d never experienced anything like it.  You know that weird effect you get from strobe lights where movement seems to stop and yet continue somehow?  Yeah, I never felt that until this night.  And everyone in their costumes around me, it made for a pretty surreal & trippy moment that’s never left my mind.

I always love looking at the animatronics and props. 🙂

It feels like there’s not too much else to add as far as the actual night goes.  I mean, after going to the first few houses for candy, I get a good feel for the whole thing and we keep going for an hour or two.  The activity eventually starts dying down and everyone goes inside or heads home.  It was fun seeing everyone greet us, often in costume and handing out various (or the same) pieces of candy and treats.  At the end of the night, my bag is pretty full, and my friends and I are in the back of the car eating some of it (though I found myself more enjoying the remaining/now-cold chicken tenders & fries).  It’s the most candy I ever had, and I continued having it for the weeks to come until I got tired of it.*

In the end, and for me personally, it’s not about the candy.  This particular night is an important night for me for many reasons.  Not just because it was the first and only time I went trick-or-treating, but because it made me feel like I was actually part of a neighborhood that breathed and came to life.  As I said earlier, I lived in a dead desert area for a long time; so I never quite felt like I was part of a larger world.  But being out and about on Halloween made me feel like I wasn’t alone, like I wasn’t cut off from the world.  It made me enjoy being around people with the same passion and sense of fun.  Not just a passion for Halloween, but people with a passion for anything fun and celebratory.

This is my favourite time of the year, and that night I went trick-or-treating is a large part of the reason why.  Thanks for reading, everyone! o/

*Random Fact:  I don’t eat candy like I used to, but I do still enjoy an occasional Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup.