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“I believe in chasing the ghost of my former lighthearted self,” my colleague Faith Hill wrote last year. And “if there’s one day when I might almost catch up, it’s Halloween: the most ridiculous, inherently childish holiday, and perhaps the one grown-ups need most.”

As we get older, experiences of pure, full-body fun and joy become more fleeting. Faith argues that adult Halloween is the perfect opportunity to get in touch with that kind of fun, and the freedom it can yield: “When everyone is wearing a dumb outfit and surrounded by tacky decorations, you all withhold judgment together. You might even remember, just for a second, who you were as a young child: unencumbered by pretensions and insecurities, present and goofy and willing to take things as they are.”

On Halloween

Adult Halloween Is Stupid, Embarrassing, and Very Important

By Faith Hill

The most inherently childish holiday might be the one grown-ups need the most.

Trick-or-Treating Isn’t What It Used to Be

By Julie Beck

Instead of going door-to-door on Halloween night, many parents are taking their kids elsewhere to get candy.

You Must Respect Candy Corn

By Ian Bogost

Even in paradise, death lurks.

Still Curious?

How candy and Halloween became best friends: The origins of trick-or-treating, a relatively recent phenomenon (From 2010) Pumpkins, an American obsession: The beloved vegetable that fed New England’s starving settlers now produces more than $100 million in sales. (From 2016)

Other Diversions

The science behind basketball’s biggest debate Are pet cloners happy with their choice? The hero Gen Z needs

P.S.

Spending Halloween on the couch and looking for some on-theme movie options? Our critic suggested five Halloween movies in 2021, for both the scaredy-cats and the horror lovers among you.

— Isabel