scaracter n.—Gloss: an actor at a Halloween-themed amusement park or haunted house. Note: From scare + ch(ar)acter. «“I absolutely love Halloween.”…Once he learned about Scarowinds, he immediately signed on to interview for a “scaracter,” as they...
haunter n.— «It started out innocently, as these things often do, with a few strings of pumpkin lights. Then I discovered the secondary market in anatomical displays. Medical-school skeletons with misaligned femurs don’t get sent to the dustheap...
field show-up n.— «With closing arguments set to begin today, the case against 10 Long Beach youths accused of beating three white women Halloween night hinges almost entirely on identifications made in a Ralphs parking lot the night of the attack...
Halloween hangover n.— «The days after the biggest candy holiday in America are often considered some of the worst days of the year because of what’s known as the “Halloween Hangover.” Every Halloween, trick-or-treaters collect billions of dollars...
trunk-or-treating n.— «You go trick-or-treating when you go to people’s houses to get candy.…You go trunk-or-treating when you go to people’s cars to get candy, and that’s much better because you can go around the cars a million dozen times and you...
‘kinning n.— «It’s fast approaching ‘kinning time. ‘Kinning, as in pumpkinning. The peculiar, age-old Springfield tradition of rolling Halloween pumpkins—preferably pilfered—down the steep downtown hills into the Square has yet this year to begin...