On October 31 last year, I put my youngest to bed in a state of euphoric wonder.
He was not quite able to get over the fact he’d just walked from house to house around Longforgan and Invergowrie, being given sweets by people he’d never met.
In wide-eyed bliss, he asked me: “Mummy, how long is it to next Halloween?”
There were tears as I broke the news he’d have to wait 365 sleeps.
While Santa is high on the excitement list for Guthrie, he is just like every other five year-old who adores sweets and fancy dress. And the chance to wear a costume, tell a joke and be rewarded with sugar is a dream come true.
I’ve written before about the Americanisation of Halloween – accompanied by annoying turn of phrases like “look how much candy I got”, (it’s sweets or swetchies, I protest).
But this year, I’m all in.
Because all the restrictions of the last couple of years meant weeks and months often merged into one long, bland stretch with few specific memories to pepper them.
Yet when I look back, I can vividly remember the past two Halloweens.
Halloween is a time for adults to rediscover their inner child
Two years ago, in lockdown, chapping on doors wasn’t allowed.
And so we drove around the Ferry dressed as Ghostbusters (me too – I love a dress up).
I wanted to give my kids some excitement, mixed with a sense of normality – an opportunity to do something like they’d read about and seen on TV.
But as we drove round another corner playing “spot the lantern in the window” with nothing to see, I thought we might have to call it a day.
And then, like an oasis, we happened upon huge black gates around Forthill, where the owner of the house had hung sweeties in orange and black bags.
The kids leaped out of the car and took a packet each.
A man popped his head out his window and the boys shouted a joke to him, to which he gave the thumbs-up and a hearty laugh.
I felt like crying with gratitude.
Halloween is a chance for kids to revel – and for adults to show their kindness and a sense of their inner child.
We lament the days of community, when neighbours were in and out of each other’s houses.
But perhaps October 31 is a time to embrace just that.
And at least when visitors are coming just as far as the front door, you don’t have to ensure the house is tidy.
It’s the best of all worlds.
Halloween has its roots in Scotland
As Guthrie’s excitement builds (19 sleeps to go!) I’ve also been pondering the origins of the celebration and found articles which evidenced its birth here in Scotland.
In Robert Burns’ poem Halloween, written in 1785, it is all about the supernatural, witches, spirits and fire.
But the seeds of Halloween can be traced back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, or Summer’s End, which symbolised the boundary between the world of the living and the world of the dead.
Nowadays thanks to the influence of American culture, pumpkins are as common as turnips for lanterns.
But so many of the traditions Burns mentions in his poem ‘Halloween’ still persist in Scotland to this day.
At the beginning of October, I visited New York and already, street stalls were full of pumpkins.
Apartment windows and main doors of houses were already showing signs of decoration in orange and black.
It was so exciting.
And all along, it was our idea.
I’m determined to reintroduce terms like guising to my boys, instead of trick or treating, and to reclaim Halloween, at least in part, as Scottish.
But more importantly, I’m determined to do something more simple – to let the kids make memories and have fun.
Conversation