Halloween: Then and Now!

October 27, 2026

Halloween in the 80s was awesome! But October 31 in 2026 — it’s EXTRA. Read on for examples of how the spooky holiday has changed in the past 40 to 50 years.

In the 80s: Pumpkin was something you carved in October and ate in a pie at Thanksgiving. Nobody spoke of “pumpkin spice.” 

Today: Pumpkin is a lifestyle. Starting sometime in August, it’s in lattes, cereal, cookies, yogurt, protein bars, candles, hand soap and dog treats. We drink it, eat it, burn candles that smell like it — and, as a culture, are apparently unable to recognize the arrival of autumn until Starbucks confirms it. 

In the 80s: We gutted a big ol’ orange pumpkin and carved the same face everyone else did: triangle eyes, triangle nose, toothy grin. Then we stuck a lit candle inside, put it on the porch or windowsill, forgot about it—and hoped the house didn’t burn down. 

Today: We channel Martha Stewart on our stoops, artfully arranging white pumpkins, fairy-tale pumpkins and warted gourds. The orange ones? We design them with Etsy stencils and specialty carving tools to create elaborate portraits of Pennywise, Hogwarts, or our kid’s favorite band/professional team logo. 

In the 80s: Your mother found an old sheet, cut two holes in it, and you were a ghost. Or she glued two triangles to a headband, drew on your face with eyeliner, and pinned some string to your butt, which made you a black cat. 

Today: YouTube tutorial, Amazon overnight delivery, Etsy accessories, $200 spent, and 90 minutes with a hot-glue gun the night before Halloween — because your child announces at 8:47 p.m. that tomorrow’s costume must be “accurate.” 

In the 80s: Put on a white glove: You’re Michael Jackson. 

Today: Become zombie Michael Jackson from “Thriller” — ghoulish yellow eyeballs, full makeup, custom-made red leather jacket — then go to school and teach your class the full choreography. (This is my 7-year-old this year!) 

In the 80s: Oct. 30 was its own subversive holiday. In New Jersey, Mischief Night meant throwing eggs and whacking friends with socks filled with flour. In Michigan, Devil’s Night brought pranks and destruction of property. In New England, Cabbage Night was celebrated by hurling rotten cabbages at people’s doors. And just about everywhere, there was T.P.-ing: festooning a friend’s house and trees with rolls of toilet paper. 

Today: Security cameras, Ring doorbells and smartphones — not to mention curfews and helicopter parents — have spoiled all the “fun”! Besides, with the price of eggs and toilet paper in 2026, who can afford to vandalize? 

In the 80s: We bobbed for apples stuffed with nickels, plunging our faces into the same tub of water as every kid in the neighborhood. We even accepted apples while trick-or-treating—after our parents inspected them for razor blades, of course. 

Today: Dunk our kids’ faces into a communal vat of water teeming with the spit of every snot-nosed kid in the neighborhood? Have we learned nothing from COVID?! 

In the 80s: We trick-or-treated for hours, often late into the night, eating half of our loot along the way. 

Today: It’s trunk-or-treat in the school or church parking lot. And no eating anything until you get home, so parents can make sure everything’s safe, not to mention gluten-free, free of Red Dye no. 3, vegan… 

In the 80s: A farmer + wagon + hay = haunted hayride. 

Today: It’s an “immersive agritainment experience,” with timed entry, an online waiver, a craft cider flight, and a $19 artisanal doughnut.