7 Ways Halloween Changes After Your 30s

Growing up, experiences change how the holidays and seasons are seen. Halloween is the same. You may have moved beyond gathering candies and screaming, “Trick or treat, smell my feet!” to not dressing up and sipping ghoul-themed cocktails. Now that you have reached that time of your life where you are no longer a kid (physically), let’s look at how Halloween has changed and will keep on changing.

1 Trick-or-treating

There was a time when we would run from door-to-door anxiously anticipating what kind of treats we would receive in exchange for smiles and giggles. Sometimes we got the best candy ever… or a sock. Sometimes those giving the candy would scare the stuffing out of us. But somehow, knocking on doors as an adult when dressed in costume has come to give off very different vibes.

You might also notice how few places actually have neighborhood trick-or-treating anymore and is not that kind of sad? Though you fondly look back on the ages when that pillowcase filled with candy was heaven on earth, the 30-year-old version of you would rather keep it at a distance, because you know, metabolism.

2 Halloween costumes

Kids can be put in anything and still look cute. Now, just try pulling off that princess costume. As we get older, our Halloween costumes get less innocent and more suggestive – at least the commercial ones anyway. Or, maybe you took up the responsibility of sewing your own unicorn costume this year.

But let’s face it, most of us do not even feel like dressing up anymore. Just give us our hot chocolate and leftover candy already. If you do feel like putting on a Halloween costume, by now you have probably mastered the art of the sarcastic t-shirt or line, “Oh, but at least I have on pants.”

3 Decorations

Oddly enough, our attention to the Halloween-themed decorations all around us seems to increase as we get older. Kids couldn’t care less about the toy Poltergeist TV, but I have watched my Mom tinker with a skeleton butler for a good 15 minutes in the department store then jump out of her skin when I turned on the TV (sorry, Mom).

Some of my friends make entire shrines to Halloween in their homes this time of year. Others turn their front lawns into scenes from the horror movies. It is fantastic. Plus, the scarier you make your front lawn, the more screams you get from those little trick-or-treaters. Really, hearing kids shriek and run away shouldn’t be this thrilling.

Read also – 15 Cheap Outdoor Halloween Decorating Ideas

4 Scary movies

Speaking of horror movies, remember the ones that used to scare the pants off you and all the crumby remakes coming out? As we get older, the terror we felt watching some of these movies seems to fade as we look beyond the fantasy elements and realize that real life is much frightening at times.

Still, your 30s mean you have a new appreciative view on the classics. Halloween might even become a movie-binge on Netflix with a glass of red blood… I mean wine.

5 Attractions

When we were younger, we often found hay rides one of two things: terrifying or exhilarating. Of course, aging means realizing the clown with the saggy face is really just some teenager in an ill-fitting mask.

But guess what? Instead of hay rides, adults can enjoy masquerade balls, concerts, Halloween parties with alcohol at the casino, gory haunted houses, and any amusement park attracted rated about PG 13. If you love Halloween, this is a huge victory.

6 Partying

In elementary school, we have the typical classroom Halloween party where we’re forced to bob for apples. In college, we have parties on October 31st, which are just slightly more wild than the usual shenanigans.

Then we grow up and now our idea of Halloween partying is a cupcake at the office and Pumpkin Spiced booze when we get home. If the desire is there, we might pick up the phone to call an old friend and get nostalgic about Halloween. On Halloween.

7 Kids

I would say one of the biggest Halloween changes happens when you have kids of your own. No longer are you the one dressed up like the toddler version of Disney. You are the one now giving the warnings about mischief night, instead of the receiver who’s rolling their eyes.

You are the one who has earned the right to DIY Halloween costumes, make creepy cupcakes with gummy worms, host the kid-friendly festivities, and see their little faces filled with fright during haunted hay rides. You see in yourself the shades of your childhood that made you love Halloween, to begin with.

Read also – 10 Kid-Friendly Ways to Celebrate Halloween at Home

Halloween matures just as people do, and it changes just as we do. There are some traditional elements to the season that will continue to reside in that special place in your heart, like the candied apples and Halloween-themed Disney flicks.

Whether you have chosen to carve pumpkins over hoarding candy or dressing down and staying in, Halloween will always be a special time of the year no matter what age you are.