Tricks for treats
Central Ohioans among many nationwide who don’t let COVID-19 sink Halloween
Dropping candy down a chute for little costumed Baby Sharks, Mulans and Black Panthers. Flinging full-size candy bars to them via mini-catapults, “Game of Thrones” style, or with decorated slingshots. Scattering candy at social distances across the front yard, placing it in Easter egg containers.
A church near Cincinnati is offering to hand treats to drive-by families, and in San Francisco, a haunted house has become a haunted drive-thru.
Such are the creative responses to a Halloween unlike any other. A favorite American festivity is being tested by the pandemic, and people are rising to the challenge for trick-or-treating that is both safe and fun.
In Clintonville, Julie Schirmer had been practicing with her candy slingshot before Thursday’s trick-or-treat night in her neighborhood.
“I wish there were a handbook, but you know, I love Halloween and have always made it a thing,” she said. “It breaks my heart to think that all that fun may not be well-advised this year. So I was thinking about it and trying to be creative.”
Instead of the usual bags of miniature candy bars for trick-or-treaters, she stocked up on a variety of full-size
bars, so children would feel like they “hit the mother lode,” she said.
Schirmer donned a black witch’s cape and hat, with a mask, for the festivities. Her slingshot was outfitted with a creepy old doll’s head and orange ribbons with black spider webs.
Her game plan: When a kid would ask for a Hershey’s chocolate bar, she would wipe it down and wrap it in a sanitizing wipe, drop it into a zip-close bag, aim it in the direction of the child’s hands and fire away.
That didn’t end up working as well as she wanted, so, on the fly, she devised a system where candy was delivered to kids in costume via a skateboard with a strobe light on it.
Columbus and many other Franklin County communities followed recommendations by the Mid-ohio Regional Planning Commission to host trick-ortreat night on Thursday, including Worthington — a city that historically has hosted trick-or-treat on Oct. 31. Licking County, London and Lancaster also hosted “Beggars Night” on Thursday.
Other central Ohio cities, townships and villages already had planned to hold trick-or-treat tonight, including Grandview Heights, Circleville, Delaware, Genoa Township and Marysville. New Albany and Westerville are among the communities that moved their Halloween celebrations to tonight due to weather concerns on Thursday.
Regardless of when and where trick-or-treat was held, Schirmer was joined by many others across the country in trying to adapt to a COVID-19 Halloween.
“I’ve always loved Halloween. This has been a rough year for everyone,” said Carol Mccarthy, of Palmyra, New Jersey. “I’m going a little more over the top than usual. There’s something about this year that I have to try a little harder to keep the magic going.”
The National Retail Federation’s surveys indicated a dip in Halloween spending and participation this year, projecting spending of $8.05 billion after $8.78 billion last year. But many of those participating planned to spend more, the report said.
“Consumers continue to place importance on celebrating our traditional holidays, even if by untraditional standards,” federation CEO Matthew Shay said in a statement.
Mccarthy said she would make sure trick-or-treaters and their parents feel safe. Her husband, Tom, used some PVC pipe to make a 7-foot chute. She planned to use a spray bottle of alcohol to regularly disinfect the chute’s end, and would offer a safety message while dressed as a pirate:
“Mask up, maties! Stand a plank’s length apart.”
Though some haunted attractions aren’t open this year, others have tried new approaches. The “‘Pirates of Emerson” haunted house in the San Francisco Bay area became a drive-thru this year.
“My parents and I, we started it in their backyard on Emerson Street 29 years ago,” Brian Fields said of the popular attraction. “It was a keg and some friends scaring the neighborhood kids, and it got bigger and bigger.”
Visitors used to creep through narrow hallways while ghosts and goblins jumped out in close quarters. Now, the spook show is watched from inside visitors’ vehicles as they wind their way through a route dotted with ominous shadows and creepy characters.
It means guests can maintain social distancing from the safety of their slowmoving cars for a 20- to 25-minute drive — although they might not feel so safe when a brain-eating zombie or a maniac with a chainsaw springs out at them.
“It’s a great way to have the Halloween spirit in 2020 when we really need it,” “Emerson” cast member Shi Tuck said. “And we’re doing it in a way that’s super safe.”
Haven Daley (San Francisco) and Julie Carr Smyth (Columbus) of The Associated Press, contributed to this report.