Mysteries

And the winner for Best Halloween City is…

Okay, this is a gimme. It’s New Orleans, of course!

NOLA never met a holiday it didn’t celebrate on steroids and given its boast that it’s the most haunted city in America, Halloween is particularly popular with those who love to decorate.

I’ve spent the last three years here in the Big Easy around Halloween time. I’m that very rare kid who dreaded Halloween growing up. It felt like a license for bullies to do their worst and the candy collected provided small comfort against the fear someone would leap out from the bushes and yell “Boo!” then follow it with a maniacal laugh. There was one single picture of me in a Halloween costume from my childhood and it got chewed up by one of the family dogs. I look miserable in it, partially because my mother pulled my bun so tight it hurt, but also because I knew the night of darkness and fright was nigh.

But as much as I didn’t like Halloween growing up, I adore it in New Orleans. Krewe of Boo runs a parade the third Saturday night of October to kick things off and it’s a hoot. Krewe of the Rolling Elvi featuring Elvises of all ages, shapes, and sizes? Check. Fabulous floats? Check. Quirky marching dance troupes? Check. My friend marches with the Amelia Earhawt troupe and I got to watch her do a number last year…

Every streetcar traveling down St. Charles Avenue turns into a party, depositing costumed crowds on Bourbon Street. Usually the purview of drunk tourists, the infamous street becomes an impromptu festival of creative outfits.

Last year, we attended the yearly memorial for legendary late former resident Anne Rice. Like most New Orleans memorials, it quickly transformed from somber to celebratory…

Inspired by these visits, my third Vintage Cookbook Mystery is titled French Quarter Fright Night and takes place over the weeks prior to and including Halloween. Is there a parade in the book? You bet there is. Ooky spooky houses? Yessir.

My October visits to New Orleans have taught me that it’s almost impossible not to love Halloween, at least in the Big Spooky, I mean, the Big Easy. Even for a Halloween h8r like a certain devilish someone you know…

Readers, do you have happy or horrific memories of Halloween? Or both?!

28 thoughts on “And the winner for Best Halloween City is…”

  1. Mostly I remember running from house to house getting as candy as I could. Once I ran into the guy wire holding up a new tree. I wasn’t really hurt, but it pretty much ended the running around for the night. I loved Halloween.

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    1. Happy Halloween, Ellen! I absolutely loved Halloween growing up and still do. Instead of trick or treating, I’ll watch Young Frankenstein and laugh my head off.
      BYW, Nancy and I are visiting New Orleans the first week of December. Last time we went, it was in June and super hot. Hoping for milder temps this time around!

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  5. Ellen,
    Thanks so much for this timely post. I love the pictures of NOLA in its Halloween finery. We’re flying there on 1 Nov so we’ll miss the spectacular but still looking forward to our short trip.
    Never been a big Halloween fan except when I became an adult and on very rare occasions. When we lived by DC, we joined friends at the National Zoo’s Halloween fundraiser. It was open at night; we went in costume (I make a spectacular witch!) and got to enjoy drinks and nibbles while wandering the zoo at night. We even rode the carousel!
    Enjoy your travels!

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  7. As a kid I believed there really were ghosts and witches out there on Halloween. Now, I’m not entirely sure, but I’m not ruling it out. There’s something eerily magical for sure. If you’re here in New England for Halloween season, you may want to watch your step in Salem, MA (if you can, in fact, move at all). Or maybe Fall River, if you’re feeling extra brave. I have formerly-skeptic friends who spent the night in Lizzie Borden’s house as a lark (you can actually pay to do so).

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  10. I’m the opposite of you, El: I loved Halloween growing up–and into my twenties, as well, when I would create elaborate costumes and spend the night partying and dancing in downtown Santa Cruz (which tries its best to be a mini-NOLA on that most hallowed of nights).

    But these days, I turn out all the lights in the front of the house and hide in my bedroom, partly for the sake of my pooch Ziggy, who shakes and shivers all evening long if I let the doorbell ring and the strangely-clad children come to the door. But also because the whole thing makes me kind of anxious as well.

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  11. I have mostly happy memories of Halloween. As a kid, we never had anyone trying to scare us at school or in the neighborhood. And I avoid that kind of thing like the plague as an adult.

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  12. As a kid, I loved the free treats, especially the huge candy bars! But I didn’t like people TPing and egging houses… 😦

    As an adult, I’ll dress up if there’s a themed event or for interacting with little ones. And I do marvel at others’ creative outfits!

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  13. These photos are amazing, Ellen!!! And what a great post!

    Since I’m pro candy but anti-costume, my favorite way to spend Halloween has been doling out the goods to trick-or-treaters. (“One for you, three for me.”) However, in my old age, I’m warming to dressing up–as long as I don’t have to put a coat over my costume as in days of yore!

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  14. Wonderful post and pics, Ellen! Halloween was pretty quiet in our rural town, but the scariest thing was the country dark. If the sky was overcast, it was pitch black by 5:00. Shiver!

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  15. Good morning, all!
    El, I adore the pics! Our local Trick or Treat is the Friday night before Halloween. While in high school, my neighbor and BFF and I made black coffins (open tops) we wore black. Popped up when we heard kids in the driveway. There *may* have been more than one wet child costume that night. Ummmm, I’m a naughty naughtykins.
    In case it posts anon. Tracy Hartman loves all y’all!

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  16. I have always loved Halloween. I do not have any photos of me in costumes as a child, but I play a witch every year as I have been fascinated by witchcraft since I was a teen. My grandfather gave me a vintage book on it when I was off to college that he had in a collection of books that he bought in the 1930s or so. My cousins and I played that we were witches through college even. Two years ago, there were no kids in the neighborhood and as I am getting older and it is getting harder to drag all of the decorations up, I don’t do it anymore. I set out flags and a mailbox cover, Humphrey my full-size skeleton, my absolutely fantastic Day of the Dead wreath that a neighbor made me, and some other decorations. I have so many other things, but not doing them. We now set Humphrey (the skeleton) in an easy chair at the top of our drive (it is long and at an angle going downhill) with candles and candy. What will I do with all of the decorations in the basement? But I do love Halloween in NOLA. We went several times near Halloween and have great photos. We have some photos of that house that puts out so many skeletons in the yard. Texie used to dress up like a lion with me as the witch and all we needed was the wardrobe. I used to love Anne Rice and went by her house, but I do not like those scary things anymore in movies or books. Thank you for sharing your Halloween NOLA memories.

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  17. Now I have a new item on my bucket list—celebrate Halloween in New Orleans. It looks like a blast.

    I loved Halloween as a kid and still do. Husband and I used to go all out decorating. We don’t do much now b/c our neighborhood gets no trick or treaters, and I miss it/them.

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