While pandemics might be scary, this Halloween doesn't have to be

This story is part of Amy Bell's Parental Guidance column, which airs on CBC Radio One's The Early Edition.

Full disclosure: Halloween is a very big deal in my house. 

Not only did I have a Halloween wedding, but my first child managed to arrive six days early to be born on Halloween. We like to commit to a theme! 

I figured this year, with everything that's going on, Halloween was going to a frightfully sad day. Not true! Not only did Dr. Bonnie Henry say we could still pull off Halloween, but a lot of people are also coming up with the most creative ways to celebrate. 

True, this isn't the year for a lot of die-hard traditions like haunted houses, big costume parties and massive crowds of trick-or-treaters, but there are plenty of other ways to embrace the night.

A Cincinnati-area dad blew up the Internet a few weeks ago when he posted his "candy shoot" down the bannister of his porch steps, while many parents have decided to forgo the usual events for new traditions like backyard scavenger hunts or costume contests via Zoom. 

Arley Cruthers is a Vancouver mom whose name you might recognize — she's a former Paralympic wheelchair basketball player for Team Canada. Her three-year-old daughter doesn't really like crowds or loud noises, so trick-or-treating in the past hasn't been her favourite thing. But Cruthers is happy to rework Halloween for her little one in a way that caters to what she likes. 

"We've decided to basically treat it like spooky Easter," says Cruthers.

"One of the few nice things about COVID is that's we've actually had to think about 'what would she actually want... what would be fun for her?" 

Event alternatives

But you don't have to limit your plans to your house. The B.C. Centre for Disease Control has a list of trick-or-treating dos and don'ts, while most communities still have some corn mazes and pumpkin patches that are safely open for business. 

And instead of Playland's Fright Nights — where brave people have been paying good money for years to be absolutely terrorized — there will be two decidedly more family-friendly events to make sure that Halloween traditions, and just a sense of normalcy, are in the air. 

"We wanted to see if there was opportunity for us to grow on the type of offering beyond Fright Nights," says spokesperson Laura Ballance.

"So we've got 'Slayland' for the older demographic and, for the little kids, the 'Tricks and Treats' edition of the PNE drive-thru experience." 

Fear not — Ballance promises they will be serving up what she calls "the monster of all concession food": mini-donuts.

This year's costumes 

As for the most popular costumes this year? I imagine there will be more than a few Dr. Bonnie Henrys and a lot of clever — and perhaps not so clever — plays on COVID and pandemics in general.

Donna Dobo from Just Imagine Fun Clothing on Granville Island said real-life costumes are proving popular this year.

"We are seeing a lot of kids interested in reality characters. Frontline workers... doctors, nurses, police." says Dobo.

"On the other side, we're seeing a lot of zombies and plague doctors."

Like everything else since March, Halloween is going to be a bit strange. People will have different ideas about what they're comfortable with and what they want from the night. I'm already impressed with how people are adapting and I think Halloween will be a hit no matter what — though the weather could, as always, be a bit of a nightmare.

We've been living through a pretty scary time in our lives, and it's going to be that way a while longer. That's why I'm excited to embrace the spookiness and campy horror of Halloween this year.

Seeing kids in wacky costumes and bingeing scary movies for the night might actually make us forget that fear we've been living with for seven months — and that is a treat we should all enjoy.  Along with many, many peanut butter cups and whatever else I can steal from my children.