Everyone has fun little Halloween traditions, and these lead to some pretty fantastic memories over the years. Here are some of the traditions we did growing up; some more unique than others.

1. Ghosting (“Boo-ing” in some places)

This is a really fun tradition in our neighborhood, and I’ve heard that other places do it too! Basically, you cut out a ghost and write “You’ve been ghosted! Hang this on your door, so it won’t happen twice. Now it’s your turn to select two other houses. Happy Ghosting!” Then after it gets dark outside you tape it to someone’s door in secret and deliver a tray of goodies, or some fun Halloween treats! Then the cycle continues, and you see ghosts slowly start to appear on everyone’s door throughout October, all the while trying to guess who ghosted you! It’s dorky, but really fun!

2. Halloweentown Movie Marathons

First of all, these were some of my, and I’m going to take a leap and say everyone’s favorite Halloween movies growing up. Following Marnie Cromwell on her journey discovering she was a witch and figuring out how to maintain that secret amongst all the shenanigans she and her family encounter is just the best. My personal favorites are the OG Halloweentown, and Halloweentown High, but the beauty is, there are four to pick from so you really can’t choose a bad one!

3. Carving Pumpkins

My dad and I always tried, notice I said tried, to carve pumpkins when I was growing up. His usually turned out pretty well (he’s an architect), and mine, well, mine were unique. The point is that it’s a super fun tradition to go pick out pumpkins and then figure out a fun design! The best part was lighting them and realizing how amazing, or in some cases, truly awful your execution of that design was… again maybe that was just me.

4. The Candy Black Market

So, amongst the many traditions surrounding this festive holiday, is one that I remember particularly fondly. My friends and I would scavenge the neighborhood trying to get the absolute best candy. Then once the trick-or-treating portion of the night came to a close, that’s when the real festivities began. We would all race upstairs at my one friend’s house and each choose a section of the landing. We would pour out our candy into massive piles and then begin strategizing once we saw what gems lay in each of our friends’ piles.

Then began a massive round of negotiation much like a kindergarten Wall Street. “I’ll give you two milky ways for your Reese’s cup.” “Do you think I’m stupid? Make it 6 milky ways and a pack of skittles. Final offer.” “Deal.” You get the picture. We would continue this black market of sorts until we had the perfect pile of candy to bring back home, or until our parents stopped their party and realized they should take their sugar-high children home for the evening. Looking back now, I have to laugh at how ridiculous we were. Kids and their candy….

5. Watching Hocus Pocus 5 million and one times

I don’t think I’m alone in saying that Hocus Pocus is just an amazing Halloween movie. I’ve seen it 5 million and one times, and I still get excited, and act surprised throughout the roller coaster that is that movie. I remember watching it with my friends, and trick-or-treaters would come to the door, and I would get annoyed that we had to answer it for fear we would miss a scene or a funny line (as if we didn’t have it memorized forwards and backwards).