So we've wrapped up October with a celebration of all things scary, Halloween. It's a fun holiday to dress up and be something you wish you could be like a superhero or a sexy nurse. A short conversation Halloween night with my girlfriend got the wheels turning in my head. Honestly, I could be completely wrong with this opinion, and that's okay, but it's just something I've noticed compared to when I was a kid. So the question, "Is trick-or-treating coming to an end in East Texas?" From my perspective, it almost seems like it is. Let me explain below.

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Halloween as a Kid

I am a kid of the 1980s and a teenager of the 1990s. I grew up in Lindale on a blacktop road off of Jim Hogg Road. I remember going out to trick-or-treat on those black top roads between the houses that were pretty spread out and filling my pillow case with candy. We either did it with mom and dad taking me and sister around in their car or someone from church would hook a trailer up to their tractor and take us around that way. Sure, we'd go into town and hit up those houses as well but we also hit the houses the rural areas, too.

When I Moved to Tyler

In the early 2000s, I moved to Tyler into the Deerwood Apartments complex. My first Halloween there, I had a few trick-or-treaters but over time the number dwindled. When I got married, I would take my then step-daughter trick-or-treating but it would only be in the Azalea District or in Hollytree. No other neighborhoods, no apartment complexes, no rural roads. It seemed weird that these were the only places to go.

After I Got Divorced

When I divorced in 2014, I moved into the Town Village South apartment complex on South Broadway. My first Halloween there, I bought a couple small bags of candy for any trick-or-treaters that might come by. Not one single kid stopped by. Which was odd because there were several families with kids in the complex. Each year after that, same thing.

Halloween of 2023

This past Halloween, my girlfriend's daughter went trick-or-treating with her friends in Hideaway Lake. Me and my girlfriend went and visited my sister for a little bit that evening. When we were leaving her house, I looked down the street at the houses and duplexes that lined that street, not one single trick-or-treater. In our little duplex and townhome neighborhood in Lindale, not one single trick-or-treater.

Now to My Question

Is trick-or-treating coming to an end in East Texas?

I don't know, but it almost seems like it is. Are there only certain areas where kids go trick-or-treating anymore? Does anyone do hayrides in rural areas anymore for kids to trick-or-treat? Has the complaining about the age of a trick-or-treater caused some to just stop all together? Is it something that kids even look forward to anymore? Have the massively boring Trunk or Treats taken over? These are lot of rhetorical questions, yes, but I'm sure you've asked one or more of these questions yourself.

Halloween should be a fun time for both kids and teenagers. Just a quick tangent, to those who complain about a 15-year-old coming to your door to trick-or-treat, shame on you. Teenagers can trick-or-treat, too.

Maybe I'm Wrong and There's a Reason

It's sad to think that it might be dead. Trick-or-treating should be a fun night for both the kiddos collecting candy and the people who are handing out the candy. It just seems that nowadays, unless you're in an exclusive neighborhood, you are the only one who can participate.

Or maybe I'm just wrong on all of this and there is a specific reason that it's like this now. No matter, I think the kids are missing out on hopping in a trailer full of hay with their friends and riding the roads to fill their pillow case for the sugar rush later.