By: Andy Huizar

Many Halloween fans were expecting yet another spooky season this year. That was until COVID-19 came into the picture. This pandemic had no mercy for our beloved holidays such as Easter, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and of course, the Fourth of July.

Many parents have already assumed Halloween was going to be “cancelled” this year due to the obvious circumstances. Spirited parents on the other hand have been waiting for a more concrete answer from county officials on whether or not trick-or-treating will in fact be prohibited this year, or simply, not recommended.

There are other alternatives as to what one can do on the 31st of October, which is the first Halloween that a full moon will appear in all time zones since 1944. These alternatives are much safer and fun so that Halloween can still be a good scare.

Trunk or Treat

This past summer, many families have celebrated birthdays safely by staging “birthday drive-bys,” which are low-contact alternatives to having a typical birthday party. Families can use this concept and stage mini haunted houses in their trucks, and pass out goody bags without creating crowds of children in porches.

Virtual Costume Party aka Zoom-O-Ween

Dress up! Although many would agree that showing off costumes while simultaneously collecting Snickers and Hershey’s are a definite must, a virtual party never hurt anyone. There are many costumes that can be handmade with a cost less than ten dollars and an old cereal box. This can be the year that DIY costumes can finally shine! Gather friends and family and coordinate an event at least a week prior to Halloween. Zoom and Google Hangout are great meeting networks to use.

Call it a movie night

If you want to skip the whole trick-or-treating scene, just rent a few Halloween classics and hang out with the people you live with. Stock up on popcorn and candy to enjoy this either indoors or outdoors. Maybe this can be the year you watch all of the Scream films (I’ll expect you to watch them in order). If you are staying indoors, maybe light up a few pumpkin spice candles and paint pumpkins to create the ambiance. For the outdoorsy people, why not make graham crackers s’mores and look at the full blue moon.

Here’s a list of Halloween movie ideas:

1. The Addams Family

2. I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)

3. Scream (1996)

4. The Silence of the Lambs

5. It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown

6. The Conjuring (1 & 2)

In addition, Freeform has created a “31 Nights of Halloween” scheduled that showcases hundreds of Halloween classics, such as Ghostbusters (1984) and Sleepy Hollow (1999).

Carve pumpkins and bake

Stop by your nearby grocery store and get a pumpkin or two. Carve pumpkins (buy stencils to make it ten times easier), bake a pumpkin or huckleberry pie, chocolate chip cookies and why not brew some hot cocoa.

Halloween scavenger hunt

Similar to Easter egg hunting, children can look for Halloween treats in their yard and still get enough candy to last a week. This would work best if spooky music is played in the background for effect meanwhile keeping social distancing into consideration.

With new COVID-19 information coming in daily, let’s try to have a safe and somewhat cheerful remainder of 2020. Although major changes will have to be made for certain events, we can think outside the box. It’s more fun that way!

CORONA-WEEN: Alternatives to Traditional Trick-or-Treating