Movies

2001

“Halloweentown II: Kalabar’s Revenge,” a childhood favorite for many, was released to theaters across the country on Oct. 12, 2001. The movie came as a sequel to the original “Halloweentown” released in 1998 that, despite having a budget of only $4 million, received generally positive reviews from kids and adults alike. It follows an adventure of Marnie Cromwell, a young and particularly talented witch, that must stop an evil warlock from sabotaging Halloween night. Kalabar, the warlock antagonist, has stolen Marnie’s grandmother’s all-powerful spellbook, and he plans to use it to turn humans into their costumes permanently at the stroke of midnight. The movie included many Halloween traditions like bobbing for apples, decorating with spider webs and cauldrons and dancing to songs such as “Monster Mash” and “Thriller” to help get its audience into the fall spirit.

2020

The star-studded movie “Hubie Halloween” premiered Oct. 7 on Netflix. Set in Salem, Massachusetts, perhaps the most eerie town in America, the film focuses on the devoted outcast of the town, Hubie (Adam Sandler), who is more often than not the victim of his community’s pranks and mockery. This Halloween, however, Salem finds itself in the midst of a murder investigation, and it’s up to Hubie to save his beloved town as well as its favorite holiday. The stunning cast of “Hubie Halloween” has been the reason for much of its publicity, sporting a seemingly endless list of accomplished actors like Maya Rudolph, Kevin James, China Anne McClain and Shaquille O’Neal. As Halloween restrictions continue to be set because of the coronavirus, a home-showing of  “Hubie Halloween” with friends and family may emerge as a popular celebration of the ghostly holiday.

Candy

2001

The candy for which everybody wanted to trade in 2001 was Twizzlers, the strawberry-flavored licorice strings. The Twizzlers sudden rise in popularity can be attributed to the company’s highly effective commercial that showed a grown man pretending to be a walrus while at a zoo with two Twizzlers in his mouth. An obviously ridiculous scene, the advertisement seems to have fit perfectly with the brand’s former slogan “play first, eat later.”

2020

The candy that was preferred by most Americans in 2019 and is expected to earn the title of most popular Halloween treat in 2020 is Reese’s Cups. The chocolate and peanut butter concoction was listed as the most beloved candy of a whopping 36% of Americans, beating out its closest competitor Snickers by 18%. With an abundance of spin-off products like Reese’s Pieces, Reese’s Fast Breaks and Reese’s Thins, it’s hard to find a candy basket today without the iconic brand.

Costumes

2001

In agreement with the magical nature of the holiday, the most popular Halloween costume in 2001 was either Harry Potter or Hermione Granger from J.K. Rowling’s book and movie series also titled “Harry Potter.” Although the first book, “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” came out in 1997, it wasn’t until Nov. 14, 2001 that its movie counterpart was released, therefore building up excitement and anticipation about the series and its characters once more. In addition to this, many chose to dress up as the people who they considered to be “true heroes” after the tragic terrorist attacks of 9/11, which led to an increase of police officers, fire fighters and other patriotic references like Captain America and Wonder Woman on Halloween night.

2020

This Halloween, people can expect to see many costumes that reflect the recent events of a pandemic and widespread quarantine. One example of this is Joe Exotic or Carol Baskin themed costumes that are expected to be all over the U.S. after so many of its citizens binge-watched the show “Tiger King” while in lockdown. In addition to this, people may get creative with their masks and style them into costumes such as participants in “The Purge,” a 2013 horror movie. Lastly, the social media trend of dressing up your pets is likely to result in many dogs and cats not-so-happily tricked into being pumpkins, devils, hotdogs and more for the festive night.