There’s something undeniably magical about Halloween, writes Sarah-Louise Elton.
The crisp autumn air, the dark nights drawing in and the glow of pumpkins lining doorsteps make the season feel cosy and alive, and it’s a great way of getting us to go outside, to experience how the world is shifting into autumn.
As a mum, it’s also fun to see how for children (young and old) enjoy Halloween as a whirlwind of excitement: the thrill of dressing up, the anticipation of knocking on doors, and the simple pleasure of collecting a handful of sweets from neighbours.
It’s about the little victories – your child coming running back down someone’s drive, eyes wide with excitement because they were allowed more than one, or proudly showing off a better-than-average treat.
Then comes the moment of triumph back at home: emptying the bag, counting the takings and comparing who got the best.
Creative magic
I think it’s amazing to see the effort everyone puts in these days. People no longer just wrap a bin bag around themselves, smear eyeliner across their faces and pop on extendable plastic witch fingers from the local shop like we used to.
It’s also the one time of year where people can show their creative side. Face paint, homemade costumes and a dash of glitter can transform even the most unlikely person into a wizard, a superhero, or a spooky skeleton.
Halloween also brings communities together in a way few other days do. When everyone is out trick or treating the streets are full of laughter, and whether it’s neighbours showing off their decorations or someone hosting an event, Halloween gives everyone a reason to connect.
It’s a time to push aside any street or neighbourly tensions and simply enjoy the fun and energy of everyone around us, while even small moments, like pretending not to know the child under a mask or sharing a smile over an especially impressive costume or beautifully carved pumpkin, make it feel special.
Family fun
And of course, there’s the family aspect. I love decorating my house, and it’s lovely to see other families watching spooky films together snuggled under a blanket or carving pumpkins and holding a competition to see whose is best – even if the mess it makes you vow to “never do it again” next year.
And when else in the year do people get to seeing huge spider webs and spiders that suddenly appear around the garden without shrieking?
At its heart, Halloween is about connection, imagination and a little bit of playful chaos.
It’s about shared laughter, family fun and community spirit. It reminds us to slow down, celebrate creativity and embrace the mischief and magic that this season brings, making memories that are as warm as the flickering glow of a pumpkin on a crisp autumn night.
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Every year, usually at some point in September, supermarkets explode in a sea of orange plastic, writes Sarah Newton.
Pumpkins, polyester witch hats, skeleton onesies for dogs and chocolate eyeballs dominate the aisles.
Halloween used to be a single night of mild mischief; now it’s a six-week marketing marathon.
It used to be about fashioning a costume out of an old black sheet and a pair of tights stuffed with newspaper to make a cat’s tail (just me?).
About letting your dad do your make-up with your mum’s green eye shadow and a worn-down black eyeliner. Games like apple bobbing cost next to nothing and trick-or-treating meant knocking on the doors of “Aunties” you weren’t actually related to – and feeling chuffed to bits with a Black Jack and a Fruit Salad.
A masterclass in marketing
But at some point, the spooky season stopped being about spirit and started being about spending. Halloween has become a masterclass in marketing – proof that any tradition can be monetised, packaged and sold back to us under flickering orange lights.
Today Halloween is now worth billions in global sales. Costumes, decorations, themed snacks, make-up, events – even your pet can’t escape the monetisation.
Coffee shops launch pumpkin-spice everything. Clothing stores release “limited edition” Halloween ranges.
And supermarkets sell pumpkins – not for eating, but for carving, photographing and throwing away a few days later. Usually by the generation that loves to say people my age killed the planet.
Every year, social feeds are flooded with competitive costumes, curated pumpkin patch photos (see Meghan and Harry’s latest effort) and Halloween home décor hauls that look like the inside of TK Maxx.
And if you don’t post a picture of your child in a coordinated costume, did Halloween even happen?
Plastic nightmares
Somewhere along the way, the organic joy of Halloween – the trick-or-treat chaos, the homemade outfits, the slightly dodgy party playlists (Monster Mash, anyone?) – got replaced by consumerism.
A recent report by Hubbub found that the UK throws away 2,000 tonnes of plastic waste every Halloween — most from single-use costumes.
This is the equivalent of approximately seven million costumes being thrown away and is comparable to the weight of 83 million plastic bottles. The majority of these costumes are made of non-recyclable, oil-based plastic that can take hundreds of years to decompose.
Add in millions of pumpkins grown only to rot on doorsteps, and the eco-impact starts to look like something even Frankenstein wouldn’t reanimate.
Excess and status
But maybe the scariest thing of all isn’t the monsters, or the masks, or the cost it’s how greedy and excessive the whole tradition has become.
Instead of kids roaming their own streets with friends and a torch, parents pile them into SUVs and drive across town to the “good” neighbourhoods – the ones with full-size chocolate bars and Instagram-worthy decorations.
Trick-or-treating isn’t a bit of local fun anymore; it’s a competitive sport in sugar and status. The spirit of Halloween hasn’t vanished – it’s just been resold, wrapped in plastic and strapped into a booster seat.
It’s time to exorcise the excess. Halloween doesn’t need to disappear – it just needs to be reclaimed.
