Reviving old traditions: How Ruthie Magnus and neighbors brought trick-or-treating back

Neighborhoods where costumed children once roamed the streets on Halloween have, in the last couple decades, gone dark — Few porch lights are on, decorations may be scarce, and often there are no trick-or-treaters.

Many parts of Morganton are that way. If children go trick-or-treating, it’s usually around the Franklin Pierce Tate House on West Union Street.

There is at least one neighborhood, though, where the olden days of door-to-door trick-or-treating has been revived.

With some brainstorming, door-knocking, and passing out flyers, Ruthie Magnus and likeminded neighbors have transformed their pocket of northwest Morganton into a place where the neighborhood children can trick-or-treat once more.

She encourages others to do the same in their neighborhoods.

Magnus, who moved to Morganton from Portland, Ore., has lived here with her husband and two kids for three years.

“(When we moved here), I said I really want to trick-or-treat in our neighborhood. That was the whole thing I was willing into place when we were looking for a house … because where we moved from, we had a great neighborhood for trick-or-treating and Genevieve, my daughter, loved it,” Magnus said.

When they attended the Morganton Spooktacular in 2023, Magnus said she was excited to see so many children. She immediately bought candy, thinking there would be trick-or-treaters.

Sadly, there were not.

During the disappointingly uneventful Halloween, the Magnuses encountered only one other family trick-or-treating. They became fast friends, and soon, concocted a plan to revive trick-or-treating in their neighborhood.

The next year, they spread the word and assembled a handful of parents and children in their neighborhood to trick-or-treat as a group.

Last year, there were about 12 kids, Magnus said.

This year, there are already about 16 planning to trick-or-treat.

“I’m not encouraging everybody … to start coming to our neighborhood,” Magnus said. “What I’m encouraging is getting it going in your own neighborhood.”

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO TRICK-OR-TREAT IN YOUR OWN NEIGHBORHOOD?Community-building. It’s about the neighbors knowing who your kids are, and it’s us knowing who the neighbors and their kids are.

Our screens are constantly bombarding us with information, and it’s information overload. To be honest, for most people, we shouldn’t know about every atrocity that’s happened everywhere in one day. It’s too much for a human to swallow.

So, I think when you have real-life community and connection, that other stuff lessens because you have real connection with people, and naturally, that makes you feel better about the world. It gives you hope.

WHY DO YOU THINK THERE IS LESS TRICK-OR-TREATING NOW?I think a few things have happened, so it’s a complicated answer and probably different for everybody.

The word ‘trunk-or-treat’ was not a thing when I was a kid, and you see a lot of these organized events in parking lots, or at churches, or our downtown event – and those are wonderful events, but I think sometimes there are just so many of those things leading up to Halloween that by the time it comes around, people are Halloween’ed out.

There’s probably a layer of emotional safety for some people, too, and I do think today, especially millennials with kids and younger Gen X and even Gen Z, we’re bombarded a lot these days with feeling like everything is unsafe and we should be constantly fearing for our lives and our children’s lives. So, there could be a psychological layer going on there for some people.

WOULD YOU ENCOURAGE OTHERS TO DO THIS IN THEIR NEIGHBORHOODS?Absolutely. The goal is to build community in your community, so do it. The only way you’re going to do it is by breaking the cycle of not doing it. Meet your neighbors, make some friends.