No Costume No Candy

I don't know about you but every Halloween I spend many hours designing and building my yard haunt. I only have it up for one night so setup starts a day or two before with a tear down of all the valuable elements that Halloween night!

I invest the dollars and hours to do this because I enjoy Halloween and I have a lot of fun creating a spooky environment for kids and adults to visit.

But I do have one small issue with all of this: It really bugs me that after putting in the effort to create a spooky environment, that kids and teens will show up without a costume, asking for treats. Sorry - it doesn't and shouldn't work that way.

How about showing some appreciation for what I (and others) have done by putting an effort into your Halloween costume. Half the fun of the night is seeing all the costumes! I don't care how old you are, if you are wearing a costume then you can get treats. However, if you show up at my haunt without any costume, just trying to capitalize on the spirit of the occasion, well I am afraid we have a rule at my haunt: No Costume, No Candy, No Exceptions!

With weeks, if not the entire year, to prepare your costume, there is no excuse not to have one. Some would argue that there are people whot can't afford one - true, but it does not require very much money to make a costume: An old sheet over your head and you are a ghost, some old tattered, dirty clothes and you are a zombie or a Hobo. A little resourcefulness combined with imagination and a commitment and everyone can have a costume.

So if you plan to Trick or Treat in New Westminster, and you come by my yard haunt, you better be in costume otherwise you could miss out on a real treat...