Our city doesn’t have organized trick or treating on Halloween; it’s always on the Sunday prior (well, unless Halloween happens to be on a Sunday). On that day, homeowners and apartment dwellers prepare for the onslaught of youths (and older, like other parents and myself), coming with the threat of “tricks,” appeased only by “treats.”
Local trunk or treat
There is a church not far from our house which always organizes a “trunk or treat,” although we have already concluded that it is not an either-or proposition. The nice folks who do this always decorate their cars with differing themes. That’s right: they do really involve their car trunks.
One such then was “movie night,” complete with distributing popcorn instead of candy. Another had a cornhole board — at which Namine scored! And yet another had a Nintendo Switch set up with a TV in the back of their car, complete with Mario Kart and four controllers. Namine was tempted to stay for a game, but we only had two hours for trick or treating and miles to go — literally.
Out on the town
After making our rounds through the church’s parking lot, we had a choice to make. Or rather, Namine had a choice to make, since this was their show, as the saying goes. We could go back toward our house, through its neighborhood, and then on to the adjacent neighborhood. We would hit more houses, and collect more candy.
Or we could head in the opposite direction, past the grocery store toward a different neighborhood, farther away. We would hit fewer houses, but before turning around and coming back home, we would see the Wayland Street Skeletons (more on them in a bit). Namine thought for a moment, then decided on the second option. “Experiences are more lasting than candy,” they said to me. Truer words are seldom said, so off we went.
The route Namine chose may have been lighter on candy, but it also wasn’t exactly devoid of it, either. We also saw plenty of awesome decorations and costumes.
Wayland Street Skeletons
About a mile and three quarters from our house, we came to the Wayland Street Skeletons: a pretty famous (locally, at least) house that goes all-out in decorating for Halloween with skeletons. And more skeletons. And, just for good measure, even more skeletons.
The house on Wayland Street (that even sounds like an appropriate movie title) doesn’t just decorate willy-nilly; they stick to a theme. This year the theme was “under the sea,” complete with an underwater tunnel of sorts.
When Namine and I were done checking out all the skeletons, we headed pretty much straight for home. By this point, they’d gotten a pretty good haul of candy and it was starting to get cold.
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