Editor’s note: Here is a selection of letters from our readers on their most notable Halloween memories. We will publish more of readers’ letters on Friday and Saturday. Due to the significant volume we received, several letters will appear online only, also on Saturday.
It began with a pumpkin
Many, many full moons ago, Carolyn and I were two individuals living separate lives, following paths to develop our respective careers, and we were in the early stages of exploring a new relationship together.
To borrow from the announcer’s opening lines of each episode of the popular sitcom “The “Goldbergs,” it was 1980-something. I returned home from a business trip and had a date with Carolyn to carve a pumpkin at her apartment a few days before All Hallows’ Eve (aka Halloween).
We carved the pumpkin, which, when finished, had a particularly endearing grin on its face; we lit the inside with a candle; and then later, we shared our first kiss. From that point onward, a life together was set in motion.
Now, we look back to that haunting night as one of the most significant in our adult lives. With all sincerity, it was love at first light.
Postscript: We still have part of the stem and some of the seeds from that jack-o’-lantern. I set them in liquid acrylic that became a surprise paperweight gift to Carolyn for another special occasion.
That pumpkin has never stopped giving.
— Mark Grenchik, Chicago
Scaring up a bag of treats
When I was a 10-year-old girl in a small Minnesota town, Halloween began the day before, when it was necessary to put together as scary a costume as possible. Perhaps an old black dress from a local rummage sale would do, and by adding a mask, my disguise would be complete.
The next day, the much anticipated date of Oct. 31 arrived, and along with my best friend, our nightly adventure began. Before long, our paper bags were filled with our favorite treats: homemade popcorn balls, fudge, cookies, bubble gum, caramel apples, little wax bottles filled with colored juice, an assortment of mixed candies and, if we were lucky, maybe a store-bought candy bar or two.
The last house on our list belonged to our neighbor, an elderly couple with no children. Even though neither my friend nor I claimed them as relatives, we nevertheless called them “Aunt Hattie and Uncle Fred.” It was, however, Halloween, and so before we were given a treat, we were expected to offer a song or two, after which we were happy to put a homemade cookie in our bag of treats and a shiny nickel in our pockets.
Unfortunately, the Halloween night curfew sounded too soon, and it was time to say good night to my friend and begin the walk home. The night was not complete, however, until I spread the contents of my bag on the kitchen table, took a bite or two from a favorite treat, and then carefully emptied the rest into a cardboard box that I secretly secured under my bed for future tasting.
In this way, I kept Halloween alive for a few more days.
— Marion Kuehl-Robbins, Winfield
Halloween Monsoon Game
Halloween 1994 was especially memorable for me. The Bears were playing the Packers at Soldier Field, and at halftime, the Bears were honoring Gale Sayers and Dick Butkus. Of course, I was taking my 9-year-old daughter trick-or-treating in our new neighborhood.
And then the rains came. I planned on taking Sara out trick-or-treating and finishing well before the game started, but it rained, so we waited. And the longer we waited, the harder it seemed to rain. As I looked at her staring hopefully out the window, I asked her: Do you want to try to go around the block at least? Of course, she jumped for joy, so we grabbed an umbrella and headed out. The umbrella was quickly rendered useless as the winds were blowing hard. We made it down the block on one side and then back the other side before giving up.
The best part was that since there were no other trick-or-treaters out, the neighbors dumped handfuls of candy in her bag, and she ended up with more candy than she would have on a nice evening going all around the neighborhood!
Unfortunately, once I got home and got situated for the Bears game, it was a fiasco in the rain. The Bears were blown out by the Packers in what was drubbed the “Halloween Monsoon Game.” Sayers and Butkus bravely stood in the pouring rain for their jersey retirement and gave memorable speeches wearing sport coats.
The smile on Sara’s face more than made up for what became a long drought of Bears losses to the dreaded Packers.
— Ken Stead, Aurora
Serenading our neighbors
Having aged out of trick-or-treating, I was feeling bummed one Halloween. My dad, grabbing his guitar, suggested we go around to our neighbors and provide a musical treat; our group included our neighbor Bonnie who had a lovely solo soprano voice and my mom and me on alto.
Each neighbor was so pleased and surprised by the uniqueness of our treat. Many invited us inside, but we explained we had to move on. The uniqueness of it all made for the best Halloween a 14-year-old could have.
— Barbara Duncan, Des Plaines
Halloween for kids in need
It was 1973, and with permission from the director of nursing at the University of Chicago hospitals, Wyler Children’s Hospital had the first dress-up Halloween parade. It was magical!
Our patients’ joy was matched by the doctors, nurses and healthcare personnel that day, many of whom were in costume.
My favorite — a well-liked doctor in a big diaper and baby bottle being pushed in a pediatric crib throughout the patient units. Another doctor sang karaoke; the kids loved it. (And so did we.)
Pediatric staff members bring Halloween, Christmas, Easter, New Year’s Eve and even the Tooth Fairy to hospitalized sick kids.
Reflecting on this very special Halloween from over 50 years ago, I am reminded that it is a calling to care for sick children. And dedicated pediatric staff always step up for them.
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— Elizabeth Butler Marren, retired pediatric nurse, Chicago
Kindness lasts a lifetime
Many years ago in the waning hours of Halloween night, a small crying girl knocked on our door. She had been trick-or-treating all afternoon. A boy pushed her over and stole her candy.
My wife brought her into the house and told her to hold open her empty bag. She filled the girl’s bag to the top with all our remaining candy.
Many years later, we were at a wedding reception, and that small girl, now a full-grown woman, recognized my wife and ran over with a big hug. My wife is gone now, but a simple act of kindness can last a lifetime.
— Stan Wojewski, Wonder Lake
Let no parachute go to waste
Our neighbor was the manager of the local airport, Porter County Regional Airport in Valparaiso, Indiana. He had brought home a damaged and unrepairable parachute. For Halloween one year (it must have been in the 1960s), his youngest son climbed the tree in their front yard and suspended the parachute from its branches. Then, sacrificing his own trick-or-treating time, he put on a jumpsuit and climbed into the harness of the parachute, his feet not touching the ground.
When kids came to trick-or-treat, they assumed it was just a yard decoration — until he moved and spoke and scared the bejesus out of them.
Those who were brave enough to return to the front door were rewarded with their treat.
— Gertrud Scheller Lee, Valparaiso, Indiana
Just desserts for robbers
When I was 5 years old, my two older sisters, 8 and 11 years old, and I went down a residential street with paper bags in hand. We didn’t get much candy at home because there were seven kids in the house and money was tight.
In broad daylight, two teenage boys snatched our trick-or-treat bags from our hands and ran. We went home and told our dad what happened. He said we needed to go down to the corner by the junkyard filled with wrecked cars. (This was also the place where we walked our dog.) He told us to fill those bags with what we found in the weeds and go back to where our candy was stolen.
Mission accomplished. Same boys.
— Cecelia Kubik, Willowbrook
Deprived on my last outing
My most memorable Halloween experience occurred during the final time I collected candy as a kid. It was slightly after dusk in the early 1970s, and I was living in Mount Prospect. I went solo trick-or-treating with my plastic pumpkin container when three older boys approached me and demanded my goodies. I wasn’t threatened by the “weapon” one of them flashed, a can of shaving cream, but by the fear of the force of their fists on my face.
Reluctantly, I handed over the pumpkin and went home. Hopefully, the caramel apple I received contained a razor blade. (Just kidding.)
— Alan Michael Richter, Chicago
A special time in Roseland
I grew up in Roseland during the 1950s. Halloween was a special time for all of the kids in the neighborhood. We went trick-or-treating all over in homemade costumes, our parents never worrying about our safety. Our block was unique because two or three houses invited us in for hot cocoa or cider and doughnuts or apples. We always felt secure.
Now, at 84, I remember those years with great fondness.
— William Tracy, Chicago
It pays to listen to Mom
I was 5 and my sister 6 when our mom drove us to the Ridge Park gymnasium in Beverly for the annual Halloween costume parade. Dressed in green hula skirts over our pink ballet leotards and dime store orchid leis, we sheepishly followed Mom to the gym.
She stopped for a moment in the parking lot to show us how to move our arms in a slow and graceful wave from one side to the other.
“And girls, just make sure you smile at the judges during the parade,” Mom directed.
If I had misgivings before I entered the gym, they were greatly amplified when we arrived inside. Robots, Barbie dolls, Supermans, T-rexes and princesses began to form in a circular line around the perimeter of the gym. As the scary music began, I looked down at my grass skirt with disdain and wished I could hide behind the Raggedy Ann in front of me.
But then I remembered what Mom said.
With undulating arms and plastic smiles, my sister and I dutifully filled her orders. As we walked the line, we never took our eyes off the judges in the center of the parade circle. Relieved when the music stopped, I was ready to head for the doors. But wait. What did I just hear?
“And the third place prize goes to the hula dancers!
Since that day, I have never forgotten the power of a smile. Thanks, Mom.
— Mary Ann O’Rourke, Barrington
A sky dancing with light
Our first Halloween in the new state we moved to, Minnesota, we lived outside the limits of a small town. Our preschool kids were so excited to trick-or-treat that they wore their costumes for weeks before Halloween night.
The day before, temperatures dropped, and snow covered everything. They were disappointed to wear coats over their orange costumes, yet we ventured forth. It was cold, so we took a shortcut back. The sky lit up with green and blue waves: “The sky is dancing!”
It was not the Halloween they wanted. It was better.
To this day, blue and green are our grown kids’ favorite colors.
— Jelmir Atkins, Sycamore, Illinois
My role in my mom’s costume
My family’s Halloween story of 1951 centers around my mother dressed as Santa while taking my older sister trick-or-treating. Little kids would run to greet her. I only know this through stories I was told years later because she used me to fill out the belly of her costume.
I was born the next day on Nov. 1!
— Rick Kozma, Woodridge
Well disguised and devised
Every Halloween, my brother’s neighborhood in Woodridge gathers in his garage to celebrate the holiday and hand out candy to trick-or-treaters.
Two years ago, I unexpectedly returned early from a trip. Armed with a new mask, I dressed like a hobo and decided to surprise everyone at my brother’s Halloween party. I drove my daughter’s car, parked a distance from his house, grabbed an old store bag and strolled up the driveway.
I headed straight for the table loaded with bowls of candy and helped myself to several handfuls. Suddenly, the conversation stopped. Everyone stared at me, wondering which neighbor had shown up in such an unusual costume.
I said nothing.
Instead, I walked around the table and helped myself to the cheese and snacks on their plates. Then I reached for a can of beer, but someone quickly snatched it from my dirty hand.
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People asked me questions, but I stayed silent, determined to stay in character.
As I finally started to leave, my brother and another man stopped me. My brother looked me in the eyes. Suddenly, he announced, “It’s my sister!”
My brother thought I was still away and hadn’t seen my daughter’s car. I had fooled everyone — including my own brother!
— Janet Wilmoth, Lisle
‘Thriller’ of an appearance
I lived in Las Vegas in the mid-1990s with my kids. We were at the Adventuredome in Circus Circus on Halloween night, and on the stage was a group of teenagers about to perform “Thriller.” Then Michael Jackson appeared with his kids!
Those poor little ones on stage were terrified, but he was so nice to them. He took pictures with their families, danced with them and joked. By the way, he was also a great tipper and asked the server’s name.
I’ll never forget how special it was watching him dance “Thriller” with those kids.
— Kristin Deneal, Springfield
Condiments for laughs
A couple years ago, I kept two bowls inside my door, one filled with treats and the other overflowing with mustard and ketchup packets. When older trick-or-treaters would ring the doorbell, I’d offer them the packets as a joke. After a couple seconds of letting them go wide-eyed, I’d bring out the real bowl. Got lots of laughs, and one boy actually preferred the packets. I heard him bragging to a couple trick-or-treaters who were coming up behind him, “Look, this guy gave me mustard and ketchup!”
As an aside, I had pretty good treats in the real bowl — packages with mini-chocolate chip cookies. Another boy saw the premium treat choice and said earnestly, “You’re a great man!”
— Gary Katz, Long Grove
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