Step aside ghosts and ghouls. Halloween might be labeled as the “scary” holiday, but here at the Digital Press, Halloween is evocative of the sweetness of childhood. As we look back on Halloweens past, we remember community and the coziness of nostalgia.
Ava Bozic:
I can’t think of Halloween as a kid without remembering my beloved green ghost trick-or-treat bag. My mom bought it from Old Navy, and I forgot they even sold costumes and treat bags until she sent me this photo. I carried my bag from my first Halloween outing to my last, at 14, when I finally hit an age deemed inappropriate to knock on doors and ask for candy. All year long, I kept my bag on a hanger on the leftmost side of my closet, where I’d glance at it frequently and romanticize the big night! When the day arrived, my careful organization paid off, and I was more than ready. My little sisters and I would walk around a nearby neighborhood, and I’d try to fill my bag at least halfway. Then came the sorting. We’d empty our bags onto the dining table, and my parents would check to ensure each candy was safely wrapped, as well as set aside some of their favorites. Looking back, I consider this a “candy tax.” Now I know what I’ll be doing the next time I’m back home, searching for my bag to hold onto this perfect ghostly symbol of all my childhood Halloween memories.
Caroline Sanchez:
As a kid, I rarely went trick-or-treating. My block of gated apartment buildings didn’t create the most friendly Halloween experience, and neither did my religious parents. So while I don’t have memories of dressing up and wielding a basket, I would still end the night with bags of store-bought candy. I remember the hours of serious candy trading that followed between my brother and me, and stuffing my backpack with spoils to eat for lunch the next day. But mostly, I remember the achy teeth, as I inevitably ate too much candy. Fun Dip powder turned my mouth bright blue, and sour hard candy threatened to break my molars. No amount of extra-hard scrubbing could erase those effects. Oh, I was every dentist’s worst nightmare. One November, I acquired three cavities, to the shock of my mother. But even the three subsequent fillings I had done couldn’t dissuade me, and I found myself in the dentist’s office in the weeks after Halloween most years. When I think about Halloween as a kid, I think about stainless steel probes and all my empty, but well-intentioned promises to stop eating candy.
Kiara Mack:
Growing up with food allergies to practically everything meant that making the most of a candy-free Halloween was a challenge. But year after year, I was eager to find ways to celebrate my favorite holiday. While I have always loved dressing up and going to local horror haunts just as much as the next Halloween enthusiast, the ideal Halloween night to me will forever consist of drinking lots of hot cocoa and eating too much popcorn while binging my favorite spooky movies. I had a weird obsession with watching late-night re-runs of The Munsters growing up, and I think my affinity for comedic and campy Halloween media can all be traced back to that. The Addams Family, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Elvira: Mistress of the Dark, Ghostbusters, Jennifer’s Body, Killer Klowns From Outer Space, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Scream, and Frankenweenie were and still are my favorite depictions of the spooky and silly nostalgic whimsy that makes the season so uniquely special. The tricks and the treats are great and all, but there’s something about the coziness of spending a night in watching trusty seasonal cinema that brings the weird and wonderful magic of Halloweentime all together in the best of ways.
