Back in 2011, I started collecting data on Calgary’s trick-or-treaters for the Herald. On the newspaper’s website, I asked readers to tell us their neighbourhood, the number of trick-or-treaters who came to their door, and the most memorable costume they saw. Thousands of submissions have come in over the years, and, while hardly scientific, they’ve taught us a few things about Halloween in Calgary.
100: Number of ripped-from-the-headlines costumes that are very clever but may induce head-scratching when looking back at the photos in the future. These include anybody from the reality-TV series Duck Dynasty, Psy the Korean pop star behind “Gangnam Style,” a Steve Jobs zombie, Deadmou5 and the iPhone 4S (who remembers old versions of smartphones?).
0: Number of kids reported by residents of more than a dozen neighbourhoods each year, ranging from Elbow Park to Kincora. The saddest message, however, came from someone in Housefield Heights who received only one trick-or-treater and confessed that even her own kids went to a neighbouring community for the night. On the bright side, she had 49 bags of chips left over to eat by herself.
500: The number of Kerr’s Molasses Kisses to stock up on if you live in one of the city’s most Halloween-friendly neighbourhoods, which include pockets of Altadore, Lake Bonavista and Evergreen, among a few others. But let’s get real: if you’re attracting 500 kids, you’re probably giving out full-sized Oh Henrys.
20: Estimated percentage of reported costumes that were inanimate objects, including a shower, a refrigerator, a dust bunny, and Stephen Harper (badaboom). The most common food items include hot dogs, tacos and bananas inexplicably festooned with moustaches.
4:Costumes you should avoid if you don’t want to look like everybody else: zombies, princesses, superheroes or anything from Star Wars. Hundreds of each have been reported every year. If you are looking for something that is unique and shows off your nerdist tendencies, try Marvin the Paranoid Android from A Hitchhiker’s Guide to The Galaxy. Only one of those has ever been listed.
1: The number of gated communities that have topped our kid count over the years. A resident of McKenzie Lake Island, an inaccurately named manmade suburban isthmus that is home to, depending on whom you believe, CEOs, Calgary Flames or none of the above, reported nearly 600 kids flocking to her house after the gates swung open to trick-or-treaters one year. And, since we’re spreading tasty rumours about the residents, we also hear they give away entire cheesecakes to those who sing “Werewolves of London.”
