Out With the Old and In With the New: Halloween after COVID

Leila Chaar '29 Assistant Op/Ed Editor

Halloween is one of the most anticipated nights of the year for children and families across the United States, with everyone looking forward to the sugar rush and colorful costumes. The tradition of walking door‑to‑door in costume, collecting candy, and enjoying the excitement of the neighborhood has been a cultural staple. It should be more than just a holiday — it is an event that encourages face‑to‑face interaction, creativity, and a sense of shared celebration. But in recent years, I have noticed a decline in the classic Halloween spirit. Why does Halloween feel so empty now? As COVID isolated the world, it accelerated social customs that changed the way we celebrate Halloween,making it more scripted and less spontaneous. As soon as COVID hit, everyone, myself included, turned to our devices and the internet to stay connected. Ever since then, I’ve noticed a huge cultural shift regarding phones and social media. For a lot of people our age, those in-between years where you aren’t necessarily a kid, but not yet a young adult, were spent inside on zoom calls instead of outside, experiencing things and becoming teenagers the way previous generations have. As a result, several old traditions ended abruptly without a proper goodbye. People adapted to celebrate Halloween with what they saw around them, which were all these new “trends” popularized by social media.

This cultural shift creates a bigger issue: people are simply less inclined to meet up in person. COVID-19 forced everyone to rely heavily on digital communication, and habits formed during lockdown didn’t disappear overnight. Social media became the primary way to connect, replacing many face‑to‑face interactions. In-person meetings turned to Zoom calls, which were more convenient and much less time consuming. For the age group that current high schoolers and J-schoolers are in right now, COVID hit just as we were about to become teens, and through those years of isolation we never properly developed. When COVID ended and things reopened, we felt “too old” to go back, so for a lot of us ,the things that used to make Halloween so special were replaced with new, fresh traditions. For many families, the idea of walking around crowded streets or knocking on doors felt unnecessary when digital alternatives like virtual costume contests, online events, or staying home with close friends seemed safer and easier.

One of the biggest shifts, however, has been the rise of trunk‑or‑treating. Trunk-or-treating was initially invented in the 90s as a way for small Christian communities in Alabama to keep the Halloween spirit alive during daylight without the discomfort of door-to-door knocking. It became extremely popular during COVID exactly for this reason–it allowed for social distancing. Families could gather in open parking lots, walk short distances, and receive candy from decorated car trunks instead of entering crowded neighborhoods. It felt organized, predictable, and easier to manage during a time when germs seemed to spread like wildfire.

After the pandemic eased, many parents continued choosing trunk‑or‑treating. Instead of worrying about strangers, long walks, or unpredictable neighborhood participation, parents could take their kids to a single location and finish trick‑or‑treating in under an hour. I myself have participated in trunk-or-treating but as a ten-year-old kid, I didn’t think much of it. I was just happy to be getting candy and running around a parking lot with my friends. It’s not that Halloween is gone or that we have undergone a generational shift in how we celebrate the holiday that makes it less fun, it’s just that in the process of reshaping Halloween something in the spirit was lost. It feels more scripted, more orderly, and less natural. The old version, even with the need to walk past empty lots and work up the courage to ring the doorbell of the dark, haunted-looking house, was what made Halloween such an exhilarating holiday, especially for young children. Halloween should be a time to let loose and take in the spooky and exhilarating environment.

Neighborhoods that once buzzed with costumed children now see fewer trick‑or‑treaters. Houses that used to decorate elaborately skip it because fewer kids come by. The sense of community connection — neighbors greeting each other, families walking together, streets filled with excitement — has faded in too many areas. While trunk‑or‑treating offers convenience and safety, it lacks the spontaneity and neighborhood bonding that made Halloween magical for generations. People need other people, so why accept Halloween the way it is? New tradition doesn’t mean bad, in fact change is natural and inevitable. However, we don’t have to have the mindset of “out with the old, in with the new” when we can incorporate both in our festivities and celebrations.

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Out With the Old and In With the New: Halloween after COVID