If you’ve read my blog for a while (or at least since last year’s NaBloPoMo), you might remember that I am not a huge Halloween fan. I didn’t grow up celebrating Halloween (in Germany, November, 1 – All Saint’s Day – is a national holiday, but we didn’t celebrate Halloween with costumes or trick-or-treating, although it’s been adopted as a custom over the last few years) and I am assuming because I don’t have kids, I never had to get into the Halloween spirit.
I definitely got a little extra dose of “Halloween” this year than in previous years. We had a Halloween Chili Cook-Off + Costume Contest at work. I am not someone who likes to dress up, so I didn’t participate in the costume contest (a ‘magic Willy Wonka’ costume won!), but I did throw my hat a (turkey lentil) chili in the ring for the chili cook-off. I didn’t expect to win with this (not everybody loves lentils), but I wanted to contribute something different to the cook-off.
We also had Trick-or-Treaters for the first time in years. In case you missed it, we moved a few weeks ago and we never got any Trick-or-Treaters at our old place, but we got a bunch of kids at our new home this week. I am so glad I remembered to purchase candy last weekend. I must admit, it was kind of fun to see all the kids in our new neighborhood and their enthusiasm.
We did not decorate for Halloween but I did appreciate the neighbors who did! I usually go for a “Halloween run” around the neighborhood during Halloween week to take pictures of all the awesome decorations that people put out and of course, I did this year. I thought I’d share some of the displays with you!
I have to admit, the funny skeleton displays are my favorite. Did you see the one with the political message? (They do this every election year!) Or the one with the skeleton dog chasing the skeleton human up the tree? Or the one hanging upside down from a branch? I also love the oversized Jack Skellington figure.
How was your Halloween? Do a lot of people decorate in your neighborhood? Did you get any trick-or-treaters?
I am doing NaBloPoMo this month. 30 blog posts in 30 days. Come join me. #nablopomo2024
Links to the Participants List and NaBloPoMo2024 Blog Post Ideas! Happy writing!
Lisa's Yarns
November 4, 2024 at 8:53 amLike you, I have never been a Halloween person as an adult (I loved it as a kid). But it is a very fun holiday now that I have kids. The boys were excited to trick or treat for MONTHS. We do not decorate for Halloween but so many houses in the neighborhood do so we really enjoyed walking around and checking out all the clever decorations! And the boys had a great time on Halloween, too! It was pretty cold on Halloween as it had snowed earlier in the day but that didn’t take away from the fun for the boys. They lasted about 1.5 hours. We had about 40 trick or treaters. I do NOT dress up for Halloween. I just do not enjoy doing that as an adult! We have a belated Halloween costume party a week from Saturday and I am just going to say I am dressed as a tired mom. Ha.
Alexandra
November 4, 2024 at 8:56 amWow, those displays are second level. There’s not much of it goes on in our neighbourhood, sad to say, because I love the decorations and seeing the kids all dressed up. They do, however, have themed events at the malls here, usually over the weekend before so people can go there, stay warm and dry, and go around the shops that participate. It’s definitely fun to see.
Tobia | craftaliciousme
November 4, 2024 at 9:51 amAs you know I am not into Halloween but I always love your round ups. Your neighborhood is so creative. And I agree the skeleton ones are the best. I like the one in the pile of leaves.
Kim
November 4, 2024 at 10:34 amI love that you got trick-or-treaters in the new home! And love seeing the decorations. That is one of the few things I miss from living in a neighborhood!
Tina
November 4, 2024 at 11:33 amI don’t really decorate for Halloween, I’m more of the harvest festival type. But I do get a kick out of the displays. The houses in your neighborhood go way out. I admit that I like the more imaginative skeleton displays as well. I’m not a huge fan of inflatables and think they are rather obnoxious. I love it when people give you a story.
Elisabeth
November 4, 2024 at 12:03 pmI don’t love Halloween and don’t really decorate for it (and this year happened to be conveniently out of town for it, so my husband managed the kids and all the rigmarole). I do like seeing all the decorations but have zero desire to buy (or store) so much stuff. Some of the skeletons I see are huge and I am very curious where and how people store something that cumbersome?
Our kids both got a record amount of treats this year. We eat them (and give them away) over a series of many months!
Lindsay
November 4, 2024 at 12:24 pmWhat fun pictures! It must be cool to see the holiday from the perspective of a new neighborhood…. My daughter and guy love Halloween – she is into candy and fun costumes and he loves scary stuff. We don’t get trick or treaters, but go out with a bunch of her friends to a development that has lots of treats and a few folks who go all out and have some mild scares as you walk up their driveway. Add on some unseasonably warm weather and it was a lovely night!
Meike
November 4, 2024 at 12:26 pmHaving kids does help with the Halloween spirit. Your neighborhood looks very festive! I love walking around and just looking at people’s ideas. We did decorate a little and I had my bat window again and we do get some trick-or-treaters. My son invited his friends over so we had the house full of 13 year olds before they headed out.
Michelle G.
November 4, 2024 at 2:25 pmI love seeing all those fun Halloween displays, especially the funny ones. It looks like you moved to a great new neighborhood!
Ernie
November 4, 2024 at 3:43 pmI, too, love the elaborate skeleton arrangements people put up. Last year my bestie and I took the tots we sit for to a park near a house that had over 40 skeletons set up in the yard, on the house, etc. They had a pirate ship too. It was an incredible display. The kids really enjoyed it. Where do people store all of this stuff? I saw a house with a pair of striped legs coming out of the ground, as if the ground had swallowed a person like from Wizard of Oz or something. That was a really cute decoration and probably wouldn’t be that hard to set up. I’m so happy for you that you had trick or treaters. We had some, but not many.
Melissa
November 4, 2024 at 4:04 pmI’m not into Halloween, either. It was never a thing here in Australia until maybe ten years ago. However, I still enjoy looking at the house decorations.
J
November 4, 2024 at 4:22 pmI don’t decorate much, and we got 1 trick or treater. Your neighborhood looks GREAT, and I also love the funny skeletons.
Deborah Brooks
November 4, 2024 at 5:03 pmI really miss celebrating Halloween with the kids!
iHanna
November 5, 2024 at 5:13 amWhat’s the All Saint day tradition like in Germany? We go to the churchyard and lit candles for the dead is Sweden. It’s such a beautiful place in the dark on that day.
But your neighbourhood is lit as well, in another kind of way. 😅
Diane
November 5, 2024 at 6:02 amThose Hallowe’en displays are so much fun and so creative.
We don’t decorate for Hallowe’en because our street doesn’t get Trick or Treaters, but I do like looking at other houses’ decorations. We actually trick or treat in another neighborhood, so we just put candy out on our front porch in case someone comes by, but I don’t think anyone does.
I’m intrigued by the Turkey Lentil Chili! I’m always looking for ways to include lentils in our meals – if I do just lentils the kids’ don’t always eat it.
Jenny
November 5, 2024 at 6:28 amI do like Halloween. I love your photos- people get so creative with their decorations! I think that’s what I like about the holiday- you can get as weird as you want (as opposed to Christmas, which I obviously love- but Christmas decorations are not supposed to be weird!)
We didn’t get many trick or treaters this year, which makes me sad. I love seeing the little kids dressed up in their costumes!
Sophie
November 5, 2024 at 12:27 pmLove your Halloween photos- such cool decorations. Like you it wasnt a thing in Australia growing up- it only became a big deal here maybe in the early 2000s. I got into it when we lived in a street in Sydney that went all out- plus once we had kids. Now I do enjoy it, and it’s fun seeing the kids get so excited!
NGS
November 5, 2024 at 12:32 pmYour neighborhood is awesome. Do they go out for other holidays?!