Tricks Before Treats

Going Batty – Caleb Hanlon, 10

“When I was ten, my father was stuck up with trick-or-treaters. He’s not the biggest Halloween kinda guy. Anyway, we got this idea (I wasn’t huge into Halloween either) that he could stand outside on a wooden pole, dressed like a scarecrow and scare kids away. We set it up on our front lawn and every time someone came by, my dad would jump out at them with a fake knife. He wasn’t going to do it to small children, but one time my dad misjudged the trick-or-treater’s age and scared the hell out of a four-year-old in a Ninja Turtles suit. It would have been bad enough if the little kids dad wasn’t dressed as Babe Ruth and carried a wooden bat. We don’t pull Halloween pranks anymore.”

A Hairy Situation – Ben Robinson, 10

“When I was 11 or 12, I was a Roman general for Halloween and I had really long hair. At the very first house I went to, we all got candy from the lady- but when I went up, she said ‘and one for you, young lady’. It was so traumatic, and I thought to myself that I really needed to cut my hair.”

Doctor…Who? – Jairyn Richards, 9

“My friends and I went trick-or-treating, and one of them was [Doctor Who] and he had to wear glasses. So a little kid, about 8 or 9, walked up to him and goes, ‘Can you show me your scar? You’re Harry Potter, right?’”

A Soggy Surprise – Ms. Fishman, teacher

“I was a little child, probably about 6 or 7, and I remember we lived on 79th Street, and my brother and I were walking on either side of my mother. I think we must have been carrying paper bags for our treat sacks. It happened to rain, the street was wet and we were walking along the street, through the grass. My bag got wet- and I didn’t realize it, but all my candy had been dropping in a trail behind me. I went home with almost nothing, and my younger brother had to share with me, but he gave me all those things I didn’t like. Like those peanut butter kisses that are awful. I don’t even know if they make those anymore.”

Histie Holiday – Janet Fields, 12

“Last Halloween, I was really stressed out. I was in AHAP, and we had a Histie due. That’s basically like a really long paper. So instead of doing anything for Halloween, my friend and I were just at her house, doing the Histie until midnight. We just gave out candy between breaks.”

Scarecrow Smackdown – Ms. Vannice, teacher

“One time, I was trick-or-treating. I was maybe 7. I walked up to this door, rang the doorbell, and this guy- well, it was a scarecrow, but it was an actual person. He was laying on the haybales next to the door and he jumped up and scared us. My sister ran away but I smacked him in the face with my bag of candy.”