Where to Trick or Treat this Halloween
It takes a village (to scare you to death)
By Patrick Knowles September 29, 2015
This article originally appeared in the October 2015 issue of Seattle magazine.
Stumbling across neighborhoods that collectively celebrate Halloween is a bit like admiring holiday displays of luminaria—only with the bonus of skeletons, dug-up graves, strobe lights and Vincent Price recordings. Here are a few spirited ’hoods inspired by the terror and the treats of the season.
“Trick or Treat Street” in Montlake (aka “Hauntlake”) is known for turning heads (almost 360 degrees). Over the past 13 years, James Sutherland’s Trick or Treat House (2236 E Blaine St.) has infused this neighborhood with a haunting spirit: front yards become cemeteries and this year, a group of skeletons will run a food drive and bake sale. (On display Monday the 5th to Nov 2nd.)
Ichabod Crane would not be out of place in the Sleepy Hollow–like avenues of Magnolia, and on October 31 (4–6 p.m.), visitors are invited to roam McGraw Street between storefronts and street games. On the evening of Halloween, intrepid trick-or-treaters flock to Viewmont Way, where, as legend has it, some homes give away full-size candy bars.
For one day out of the year (10/31), Mercer Island’s Lakes neighborhood becomes almost like a trick-or-treating Neverland, just west of the South Mercer Playfields. At sunset, the area turns over its streets to the local warm-blooded undead for the annual Lakes Halloween Food Drive (miyfs.org). Bring a can, and hold onto your soul.
For the quintessential Seattle-neighborhood Halloween experience, head over to Capitol Hill’s Mitchell Activity Center at the Seattle Central College gymnasium (10/31. 11 a.m.–3 p.m. 1701 Broadway) for the annual “Hilloween” gathering. From there festivities move to the family-friendly streets on Broadway and onto the elaborate residential displays in North Capitol Hill. caphilloween.com.
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