Halloween is an annual festivity where people of all ages are free to play pranks, wear outrageous costumes, and eat their weight in candy. Unfortunately, the holiday is the latest victim of the Corona Virus. The pandemic has restricted large gatherings of people, subsequently canceling haunted houses, costume parties, and trick or treating. The threat of COVID-19 has encouraged candy companies to instill more creative marketing campaigns this season.

Hershey’s is responsible for creating many of our favorite childhood candies, and now they’ve made it their mission to save Halloween. They’ve enlisted help from the Halloween Costume Association and the Harvard Global Health Institute to build a website where users can access a geographical map. The map measures the risk of covid in each state and its counties. The risk level corresponds with a chart that details alternate methods of celebration. To help maintain the tradition of knocking on doors while simultaneously respecting safety guidelines, Hershey has installed Reese’s doors in select locations where trick or treaters can knock and retrieve candy from its mail slot.

Mars Wrigley prepares for the Halloween season two years in advance, but the pandemic shattered their carefully devised marketing plan. They needed to work quickly to create a new tactic around the unprecedented phenomenon. Instead of hosting their usual festivities, Mars has created “Treat Town;” a free app providing a virtual Trick or Treat experience where users can obtain credits redeemable for real candy.

Big box companies have managed to quickly adapt to a new version of the spooky season, but what about families or small businesses that do not have access to millions of dollars? What about older groups who had high hopes for a Halloween party?

Families wanting to be extra careful have resorted to a trick or treat at home, transforming their bedroom doors into different themed rooms for their children. Communities have taken advice from the Easter bunny and transformed their neighborhoods into a spooky wonderland complete with a candy scavenger hunt.

Unfortunately, there isn’t much maneuvering around CDC guidelines regarding hosting a Halloween bash. A small gathering themed around mask oriented characters are ideal, but party alternatives exist for celebrators wanting to stay extra safe this holiday season.

The Rainforest Car Wash in Medina, Ohio, has transformed a usually mundane errand into an excitingly haunting experience where guests enjoy candy and screams. Carwashes around the country have followed suit forming an irresistible trend. For those who reminisce in haunted houses, Drive-thru haunted houses have become an exciting new activity. Their owners have displayed real talent in prop making and acting talent, assuring the same if not, better quality than pre-social distance times. Drive-in movies are a revived outing appealing to those who aren’t fond of jump scare attractions. Great for a small group of friends to relax and those who can’t remember their last visit to a movie theater!

Although Halloween will be very different than previous years. To ensure Halloween 2020 will be equally as fun as past celebrations and twice as safe, businesses and families have banded together with limited resources to create new seasonal traditions that many will look forward to long after Corona. When life returns to normal, we will recall their creativity and effort with gratitude.